It is with sadness that we report the death of Dick Tauber of CNN, well-known and respected in the international broadcasting community.
Jack Womack, SVP, CNN Worldwide writes:
I’m sorry to share with you that we lost our friend and colleague Dick Tauber last night. Dick was 73 years old and died after a lengthy illness.
Dick started his career at CNN as second in command running the Satellite desk one year after its launch in 1980. After an incredible 32-year career at CNN, Dick retired in 2013 as VP Transmission Systems and New Technology.
Dick had so many accomplishments here at CNN. When CNN received wide acclaim for being the only network to Broadcast live from Baghdad during the first Gulf War, it was his idea to marry the Baghdad to Amman and Amman to Atlanta four-wire audio circuits in Amman, allowing CNN its historic coverage and being the only U.S. television network to broadcast live as bombs fell.
Dick also championed and pushed the network into new field transmission technologies and satellite transponder capacity. Along with others, he was instrumental in CNN with expanding the satellite truck fleet and acquisition and deployment of CNN’s fly-away uplinks.
Dick loved his job and being an important part of CNN. He always wanted to make sure CNN was first with transmission from any spot on the planet. Dick secured his place as one of the people that helped build CNN from almost the start of CNN in the 1980’s into what it is today.
Dick’s dedication to the industry included his long chairmanship of the World Broadcasting Unions-International Satellite Operations Group (WBU-ISOG) that worked to communicate to the satellite industry the most important requirements of broadcasters and to collaborate on procedures that protected interference issues. He also represented TBS/CNN at the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) and was on the board of directors from 1998-2003.
He won many industry awards spanning three decades, including the Outstanding Individual Achievement Emmy Award for Satellite Coordination for the Turner Broadcasting Systems GOODWILL GAMES from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1986, to a 2007 Science and Technology Emmy Award and IBC Judges Innovation Award, both for development and implementation of CNN’s revolutionary Digital Newsgathering transmission system. In 1991, Dick received an “Industry Visionary” award from Communications Week magazine as one of the “25 Most Influential” industry leaders for the year.
Dick had a great sense of humor and mentored so many people at CNN to share in his love for the news and satellite transmission industry.
Dick will be greatly missed. Please join me as we offer our condolences to the Tauber family.