Tribute To A Toronto Titan: Ted Rogers Dies At 75

He was, like so many people, a contradiction in terms, capable of incredible humour and stubborn will. He was a man who watched where his money went, but was generous with it, too, giving away millions. He was a risk taker and a Conservative. And he was a businessman who worked relentlessly yet cared passionately about his family.

Ted Rogers, who died early Tuesday morning with that family by his bedside, was all those things and more, a man who above all, loved the art of the deal and being first with the next big thing, guessing right more often than not about the technology to come.

He was 75, and packed a lot into those seven and a half decades.

Rogers died as one of the richest men in North America, with an estimated worth of $7 billion. But there was little reason to believe he would have achieved it.

He was born into a well known family, after his father created the world’s first batteryless radio. But when Ted Rogers Sr. died suddenly at just 38, the young son who shared his name was left heartbroken and devastated. His mother never let him forget the legacy, which he often felt was taken away from the family through legal means.

It inspired the legendary drive that would follow him throughout his life. “I was five years old when he died,” he recalled. “And from then on my mother, Velma Taylor Rogers Graham, instilled in me a great capacity to work and rebuild what had been lost and never, ever give up.”

As was common back then, the young boy was sent to boarding school, where he got into the usual amount of trouble. He was somewhat of a loner who managed to use his ingenuity to part some of his schoolmates from their money thanks to his entrepreneurial spirit.

His biography, aptly named “Relentless” talks about those days, which often landed him repeated canings. But even then, it was the deal that was paramount.

Once out of school at age 17, he began to claim his fortune and his fame. It began with small enterprises in the 1950s, which included supplying orchestras and sound systems and taking pictures using a Polaroid camera, then selling those snapshots to his subjects at a small profit.

He would even offer to do a tap dance for you – for $10 extra.

That fancy footwork would pay off when he attended Osgoode Hall Law School, and while he graduated as a lawyer he never actually practiced. The reason: he had a business to run.

In 1960, Rogers, always feeling that radio station CFRB (the RB stood for “Rogers Batteryless”) was taken from his family, decided to beat the new owners at their own game.

He scraped together $85,000 and bought CHFI, a then-obscure station on the FM dial. Few had FM radios in those days and the station had almost no listeners.

That didn’t stop Rogers, who promptly decided to buy FM radios in bulk and then sell them cheap, creating a market for his station. It was a successful philosophy employed by other broadcast pioneers like NBC’s David Sarnoff and it worked north of the border, too.

It was the first time that legendary “visionary” title came through. “I may have van Gogh’s ear for music, but I could see crystal clear that FM with its superior sound was the future for radio,” he commented.

Things were moving so fast for the up and coming mogul that he often had to send his own secretary to his law classes to take notes – he was too busy to attend.

Rogers amassed enough money to start an AM station at 1540 on the dial, but it didn’t stay there long. With typical aplomb and letting nothing stand in his way, Rogers worked out a deal to move the station’s frequency to 680, paying off other stations in the U.S. to occupy the better dial position.

That worked, too, and in the early 1970’s the station replaced its stodgy “Sounds Familiar” middle-of-the-road format with a Top 40 style, complete with crazy disc jockeys, legendary stunts and big prizes. Ratings and profits both rose until the newly named CFTR (for “T”ed “R”ogers) eventually did the impossible, besting CHUM in the ratings for top rock station in T.O.

It was getting CHFI coverage on cable that led to his interest in delivering TV signals over the wire. It was 1967, when every signal was available off antenna. Yet Rogers realized there was room for a lot more channels and invested heavily in the idea.

A lot of money people told him he was crazy. A lot of them were wrong.

As cable caught on, Rogers expanded both his areas of service and what it offered. It was soon the biggest cable company in Canada.

But he wasn’t perfect and he was the first one to admit it. His worst and costliest mistake came in 1992, when he took over half of CN/CP Telecommunications, later known as Unitel, an attempt to get into the newly deregulated long distance business.

It was a failure and cost him $500 million – and almost took the company down. Rogers’ response: work harder and find the next big thing. Which he did.

When he heard an engineer talking about the potential future for mobile phones, he became intrigued.  Before long, he’d started another company, getting in on the ground floor of an industry that had yet to really exist.

He followed the same principles with the Internet, using his already laid cable lines to relay faster access to the web. That business took off, too.

So did his publishing interests, which now include Maclean’s and MoneySense.

By the time he looked around, he was the chief executive of an empire that employed nearly 30,000 people and controlled millions of dollars in assets. And still he didn’t relax.

In 2007, after buying control of several Omni TV stations, Rogers jumped at the chance to take over the suddenly-for-sale Citytv stations across the country. He paid millions for the well known franchise and thought it was worth every penny.

Yet through it all, Rogers was a man of many contradictions.

He could be both difficult and gracious. In his earlier driven days, there were stories of a mercurial temper.  Yet he could be the most charming man you’d ever meet, hardly seeming the driven mogul.

He feared dying young like his father yet he worked himself hard and spent endless hours at the office, further damaging his already frail health.

He was afraid of going broke but thought nothing of risking his entire company on a concept he believed in.

He wasn’t interested in sports – yet spent millions buying the Toronto Blue Jays and creating Rogers Sportsnet.

And there were legendary stories about him – some of which may even be true.

In the early 80s, as CFTR was in its Top 40 ascendancy, Rogers walked into the station’s headquarters one day and proceeded straight to the announce booth just as the disc jockey was about to go on air. Stunned staff members were frozen – should they tell him he was about to walk in on a live broadcast?

At the last second, someone tapped Rogers on the shoulder and asked him to wait. The mogul laughed and thanked the staffer for not letting him make a mistake that would have made his ‘product’ sound bad.
 
In another famous instance, Rogers made a steak dinner bet with Jim Shaw of Shaw Communications, a rival cable company. When Shaw won the bet over who could sign up the most Internet customers, Rogers sent a live 1,200 pound steer to his home with a sign on its back that read, “As requested, a big STEAK.”

And when it became apparent that Citytv would have to move out of its longtime Queen St. W. headquarters, there were questions about where a station devoted to all things Toronto should go. It was quickly decided that Yonge and Dundas, the “Times Square” of T.O., would be the most appropriate.

But there were no buildings available and no one wanted to sell some of the most valuable land in Canada.

The company zeroed in on the Olympic Spirit building across the street from Dundas Square. But the owner refused to sell. The story goes that Rogers himself wandered into the building, asked the reluctant man what he wanted to buy it and then wrote him a check for the full amount on the spot.

True or not, it shows the drive of the man who went after what he wanted and more often than not got it.

Rogers was always careful with money but he was also generous with it. He gave millions to charity, including hospitals, women’s shelters and educational institutions, most especially the U. of T. and Ryerson University, which has a school that bears his name.

His long hours and relentless intensity took its toll in his later years, and he survived many scares, including cancer and other heart problems. But when it was announced in late October that he was stepping aside because of health problems, many feared the worst.

Sadly, those fears came true early Tuesday morning when he finally found the one obstacle he couldn’t overcome – his own fight against mortality. He died from heart failure just after midnight, with his wife Loretta, and their four children, Edward, Lisa, Melinda and Martha, by his side.

Funeral arrangements can be found here.

He leaves behind an astounding legacy in the communications industry and a legend that lives on in the way he always ended every speech – “the best is yet to come.” It was a motto he strongly believed in and one friends, relatives and co-workers who will now ensure continues to shine in his name.

Rogers was family man to relatives and employees

Tributes pour in

Viewer tributes

The 12 things you never knew about Ted Rogers

What happens to the Rogers empire?

Here’s a look at just some of the well known entities the company controls:

Sports

Toronto Blue Jays
Rogers Centre

TV

5 Citytv stations in Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Vancouver
5 Omni stations including 2 in Toronto, two more in Alberta and an outlet in B.C.

Cable

Rogers Cable TV, including 36 community stations across the country
Rogers Sportsnet
Biography
The Shopping Channel
G4 Tech TV
Outdoor Life Network

Radio

52 stations, including 680 News (CFTR), CHFI-FM, Jack FM and the Fan 590 in Toronto, 19 more in Ontario, 13 others in Alberta, 11 in B.C., 2 in Manitoba and New Brunswick and an-all news FM station in Halifax.

Magazines

There are more than 74 of them, including some trade-only publications you’ve likely never heard of like “Canadian Grocer,” “The Medical Post” and “Canadian Metalworking.”

But you’re certainly aware of the others, including:

Maclean’s (which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary)
Chatelaine
Flare
Hello! Canada
LouLou
Today’s Parent
Money Sense
Canadian Business

Statement From Rogers Communications
 
It is with great sadness that the Board of Directors of Rogers Communications Inc. announces the death of our colleague, leader and friend, Edward Samuel “Ted” Rogers, the founder of the company, a visionary communications industry pioneer and an icon in Canadian business. He was 75.

Mr. Rogers, known for his indefatigable drive, built Rogers Communications into a Canadian and North American leader in wireless telecommunications, cable television, broadcasting, publishing and more. Mr. Rogers’ name is synonymous with innovative, high-quality communications products across Canada, products that improved and simplified the everyday lives of Canadians.

“We wish to express our deepest sympathy to Loretta and all of the Rogers family for this loss,” said Alan Horn, Chairman of Rogers Communications and acting CEO. “Ted Rogers was one of a kind who built this company from one FM radio station into Canada’s largest wireless, cable and media company. A leader also in giving to the community through his and Loretta’s many philanthropic initiatives. He will be sadly missed.”

Phil Lind, Rogers Vice-Chairman, worked alongside Mr. Rogers for almost 40 years. “Our sincerest condolences to Loretta, the children and the grandchildren. He will be missed by so many. Though Ted was relentless in business and building this company over the years, he was also very much a family man. His impact on family, community and country was as impressive as his business success,” Mr. Lind said.

Mr. Rogers, who suffered from congestive heart failure, saw his health weaken over the past few years. He was surrounded by loved ones when he died at his home in Toronto.

Mr. Rogers’ successor as Chief Executive Officer will be addressed by the Rogers Communications Inc. Board of Directors which intends to form a special committee to lead a search considering internal and external candidates. In the meantime, Alan Horn, Chairman of Rogers Communications Inc., will continue to serve as acting Chief Executive Officer and lead the company’s office of the president.

Funeral arrangements will be announced by the family.