Turner Program Services was the former syndication arm of

Turner Broadcasting Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner ( ...

. It served the same purpose as

Turner Entertainment Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...

's distribution unit, with the exception that TPS was more involved in distributing television series rather than films. Founded in 1982, the company was originally responsible for syndicating Turner-produced programs (such as the syndicated game show ''

Starcade ''Starcade'' is an American game show where contestants competed against one another by playing arcade video games. The series originally aired on WTBS from 1982 to 1983, followed by a run in syndication for the following season. The series w ...

'') as well as developing programming for TBS such as ''

Night Tracks ''Night Tracks'' is an American television series which ran from 1983 to 1992 on Super Station WTBS (later known as TBS Super Station) on late night weekends. It premiered on Friday, June 3, 1983, and the first music video it aired was "Family ...

''. TPS expanded its distribution into other networks' series in the 1990s, syndicating series such as ''

The Wonder Years ''The Wonder Years'' is an American coming-of-age comedy/drama television series created by Neal Marlens and Carol Black. It ran on ABC from January 31, 1988, until May 12, 1993. The series premiered immediately after ABC's coverage of Super ...

'' (which is now owned by

20th Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Comp ...

since 2011). When Turner bought the rights to the

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

library of cartoons, TPS became their distributor to local stations. TPS was also responsible for handling distribution and sales for

CNN Newsource CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the ...

. One of the more notable series TPS was responsible for developing was ''

Captain Planet and the Planeteers ''Captain Planet and the Planeteers'' is an American animated environmentalist superhero television series created by Barbara Pyle and Ted Turner and developed by Pyle, Nicholas Boxer, Thom Beers, Andy Heyward, Robby London, Bob Forward and Ca ...

'', which was a co-production with

DiC Entertainment DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production com ...

and centered on a character created by Turner Broadcasting founder

Ted Turner Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he ...

. DiC and Turner combined on the development of the series while TPS was responsible for the distribution of the series, which aired on both TBS and in syndication. (When the series' sequel, ''The New Adventures of Captain Planet'', debuted in 1993, Turner Entertainment through Hanna-Barbera developed and produced the series on its own, and neither TPS nor DiC was involved.) Also, earlier in 1986, TPS, with the help of veteran

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

translator

Fred Ladd Fred Laderman (February 19, 1927 – August 3, 2021),''Tol ...

, produced a second English translation of the 1970s

'' Science Ninja Team Gatchaman'' called '' G-Force: Guardians of Space'', which would subsequently air on TBS (1986) and

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

(1995–1997). TPS also held partial distribution rights to ''G-Force'' (along with King Features Entertainment) until all rights to the series reverted to license holder Sandy Frank Entertainment in 2003. In 1987, Turner Program Services expanded to built on the pre-1986 MGM library with various movie packages, provided by

Turner Entertainment Co. Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...

, as well as colorization of various older movie titles. Upon

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

's purchase of Turner in 1996, TPS was absorbed into

Telepictures Distribution Telepictures (also known as Telepictures Productions; formerly known as Telepictures Distribution and Telepictures Corporation) is an American television show and filmmaking company, currently operating as a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Television S ...

, which is now part of Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution (Telepictures still exists as a production company). CNN Newsource began to handle its own distribution and ad sales from then on.

References

{{US-media-company-stub Mass media companies established in 1982 Mass media companies disestablished in 1997 Television syndication distributors 1982 establishments in the United States