CNN Founder’s Secret ‘End of the World’ Tape Resurfaces After Death
Long before cable news became a 24-hour fixture in American homes, Ted Turner reportedly made plans for how CNN would sign off forever — with a somber hymn and a haunting farewell video meant only for the apocalypse…
Long before cable news became a 24-hour fixture in American homes, Ted Turner reportedly made plans for how CNN would sign off forever — with a somber hymn and a haunting farewell video meant only for the apocalypse.
According to the New York Post, the resurfaced clip gained renewed attention following Turner’s death on Wednesday at 87.
The CNN founder had secretly commissioned what employees later referred to as the network’s “Doomsday video,” according to archived reports and footage that eventually leaked online.
The eerie recording featured military bands from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines performing the Christian hymn “Nearer, My God, to Thee” outside CNN’s original headquarters in Atlanta.
Turner reportedly ordered the video shortly after launching CNN in 1980, insisting the network would remain on the air until the literal end of civilization.
“Barring satellite problems, we won’t be signing off until the world ends,” Turner declared at the time.
“We’ll be on, and we will cover it live, and that will be our last, last event.”
He also explained exactly how the network would end its broadcast.
“We’ll play the national anthem only one time, on the 1st of June , and when the end of the world comes, we’ll play ‘Nearer, My God, To Thee’ before we sign off.”