Turner South was an American cable television network launched on October 1, 1999 by Turner Broadcasting System as the first regional entertainment network developed especially for viewers in the southern United States. The regional cable TV network offered movies, tv series, sitcoms, regional news updates, and unique original programming, plus professional sports coverage for the Atlanta Braves (Major League Baseball), Atlanta Hawks (National Basketball Association), and Atlanta Thrashers (National Hockey League), all of which were owned by Turner Broadcasting at network launch.
The cable and satellite television service reached approximately 8 million subscribers across a six-state region comprising Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, South Carolina, and regions of western North Carolina.
Turner South's original productions could be broadly termed "southern lifestyle", including cooking and gardening shows. The sitcoms and dramas featured on the network, such as Major Dad and In the Heat of the Night, also tended to appeal to Southerners, or were set in the South. Beginning in 2002, the lineup also included a live simulcast of The Rick and Bubba Show.
On February 23, 2006, Fox Cable Networks agreed to purchase Turner South, reportedly for $375 million. On May 1, 2006, Fox took over operations of the cable network, and the bulk of the Turner South schedule, including Rick and Bubba and the movie blocks, was discontinued. During the brief transition period which followed, repeats of Turner South's lifestyle and how-to programming (including Blue Ribbon, Home Plate, Home Makers, and Junkin') were aired in two weekday blocks (8:00-11:00 am and 3:00-5:00 pm ET). Much of the remaining programming was repurposed from other Fox Sports Net properties, most notably Fox Sports South.
On October 13, 2006, the network officially changed its name to SportSouth. Ironically, Fox Sports purchased another channel named SportSouth from Turner in 1996, changing its name to FSN South. The channel is operated as a sister network, much like FSN West and Prime Ticket in Southern California.
Famous quotes containing the words turner and/or south:
“We inherit plots.... There are only two or three in the world, five or six at most. We ride them like treadmills.”
—Janette Turner Hospital (b. 1942)
“We have heard all of our lives how, after the Civil War was over, the South went back to straighten itself out and make a living again. It was for many years a voiceless part of the government. The balance of power moved away from it—to the north and the east. The problems of the north and the east became the big problem of the country and nobody paid much attention to the economic unbalance the South had left as its only choice.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)