good evening. here we are in our prerecorded glory for a one-of-a-kind cable hall of fame celebration. we can't thank c-span enough for carrying this virtual event. c-span has always been a shining example for the best our industry has to offer. i don't know where we'd be

without them. >> a special heartfelt thanks to all of our sponsors. wow. covid certainly has changed our lives over the past couple years, hasn't it? tonight is a huge example of one of those changes. what saddens me the most about doing the cable hall of fame virtually is we're all missing out on the opportunity for us to reconnect in a big, beautiful ballroom, for an evening filled with good wine, good food and most importantly world class schmoozing. back in the ol den days, i can say that because i have a headful of great hair, we had numerous opportunities to get together every year at industry meetings, trade shows and those infamous news service launch parties. we all remember those today there are far less of those gatherings which makes the cable hall of fame celebration even more special. this is the 23rd annual cable hall of fame. our 2020 honorees have been waiting a long time to be

honored. we hoped by delaying the celebration we would be able to do it in person. sadly, that was not meant to be this year. that doesn't reduce the importance of these seven remarkable people who have had a tremendous impact on our industry. we're so excited to finally be able to salute them at last. better late than never. >> in the last few years we've had bagpipers, rope trick, a broadway chorus line, and i got to dance with little stephen van zandt. >> i hope this year is the first and last virtual hall of fame celebration. this year's event is unique for another reason. janet has decided it's time for her to focus on her family and philanthropic interests by retiring at the end of this year. that will bring her remarkable cable career to a close. it also means that this is the last time that the two of us will be co-hosting the cable hall of fame together. janna, you know i can be a bit sentimental. i'll say how much all of us will

miss your sunny disposition, your vision and most importantly, your amazing leadership. there's no doubt that you're leaving the cable center much better off than when you arrived. >> thank you, michael. it's been a lot of fun, a great adventure. i've loved working with you. it's been such a privilege to be a part of one of the most transformative industries the world has ever seen. connectivity has never been more important than it's been these last two years. through a global pandemic this industry has kept people connected, productive, informed, entertained and somewhat sane. that's an achievement every one of us can be proud of. it's one more reason we're celebrating tonight. >> it's always a special and deeply personal privilege to salute one of the founders of the cable center and a founder of the cable industry itself. one of my dearest friends in live, bill breslin left so many people better off for having known him. his ethical values were without

any come miepz whatsoever in both his business and personal life. he always treated his employees, his colleagues and customers with the highest degree of respect. that's why the breslin ethics in business award was created, in his honor. this year we're going to honor the one and only ted turner. ted is a one-of-a-kind entrepreneur as we all know. there's never a dull moment when ted is in the room. i love to think back to some of those wonderful moments with such fondness for his spirit, his sense of humor and, most of all, his enormous philanthropic generosity. ted couldn't be with us tonight. his daughter laura turner seidel will accept the award for her dad. first, let's take a look back and honor ted's unparalleled achievements. >> i first met and began to know and work with ted turner in the

late 1980s when i came to the national cable television association. he, of course, was on the board. i began to get to know him and watch him and learn from him. >> of kourks i had always known of ted turner since i'm a sailor and ted was the greatest amateur sailor that america produced. >> i don't think it's an overstatement to say that ted and others really broke the tyranny of the three-broadcast network model. he became the brand of the cable industry. brash, creative, competitive. >> he really would do anything for the industry. he never once said he would do something that he didn't do. he was on the tci board of directors for a number of years. it was a brotherhood. >> i think it's almost immeasurable in terms of the impact he had on me and our industry. i think there are a lot of people in the industry who don't know the impact he's had.

yet they benefit from the trail blazing he did. >> i can't swear that he's the first philanthropist to donate a billion of his wealth, but i know he did it. when it got tough, because after the aol deal, the time warner stock collapsed. any human being would have called up the u.n. and said, about that billion dollar commitment -- he didn't. he honored it. this is a guy of incredible integrity. >> one of my fondest memoies of ted is when he was chairman of the booed and he agreed to host this retreat on his ranch in montana. it was a marvelous two days of being in the west with ted where he could name every plant, the fish, the animals. it enabled me to understand his willingness to be a pioneer, to explore new territory. >> the next time we spent a lot

of time with ted was the good will games. ted thought it would be a good idea to have a u.s./russian version of olympics. he organized a trip to russia. so having dinner with a soviet official who i think was probably kgb, and ted says come on over to me over to this window. he says see that statue over there, who is that over there? he said oh, that's yuri greg garren, the great soviet koz naught hero. ted says you wouldn't want us to blow that up, would you? the guy say, no, of course not. he says we don't want you to blow our stuff up either. ted could boil these things down to the most real kind of comment. >> i think the highest honor that can be bestowed on any person in the cable industry is

the bill bresnan ethics in business award. what he's done is to show how acting ethically can be played out through fill on pi. it's part of his dna. >> his view of the world and his willingness to take it on, ted in that sense is incredibly unique. >> the power of that platform in ted's hands was a world-changer. >> hello. i'm laura turner seidel. on behalf of my brothers, teddy, rhett, beau and my sister jenny, it is truly an honor to accept the cable center bresnan ethics in business award for our father, ted turner. throughout his career, my father has used his media platform to

educate and build awareness, to inspire the people of the world to focus on social and environmental issues, even those which pose the biggest threats to humanity including climate change, loss of biodiversity and the threat of nuclear weapons. as my personal hero and one of the top 100 leaders who changed the world, he's truly one of the most ethical leaders in history. throughout his life he's created systemic sustainable change. he's influenced multi generations including his children and grandchildren to work together to save everything. if the platform or organization didn't exist, he created it, as he did for cnn and other major cable networks. and his many fill on pis including united nations foundation, nuclear tt