Edward Rogers Jr., Canadian media mogul, dies at 75

Edward Rogers Jr., who transformed Canada's first FM radio station into one of North America's most diverse communications and media companies, died on Tuesday at his home in Toronto. He was 75.

The death was announced by Rogers Communications, the company he founded and of which he remained chief executive. The announcement said that the death of Rogers, who was known as Ted, was related to congestive heart failure.

Businesses controlled by Rogers included Canada's largest wireless operator, its biggest cable television system, several of its largest-circulation magazines, the leading provider of residential Internet service, 52 radio stations, 10 television stations, a shopping channel, a national sports cable network, and the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team.

Rogers Communications, which posted revenue of about 10 billion Canadian dollars last year, currently outperforms its rivals, particularly Bell Canada, by most financial measures. But in the past, Rogers' reliance on debt brought the operation close to ruin more than once. And his relentless drive for expansion sometimes created clashes with regulators, competitors, and consumers.

As Rogers told his story, the creation of his company was almost predestined as a way to honor the memory of his father, who had the same name.

The senior Rogers had invented the first vacuum tube that allowed radios to be plugged into wall outlets and operate off household alternating current, rather than rely on batteries.

His father used the proceeds from his invention to build a radio manufacturing company and opened a Toronto radio station, CFRB, for Canada's First Rogers Batteryless.

When the younger Rogers was 5 years old, his father died. Three years later, in financial distress, his mother, Velma, sold the family's stake in the business.

With help from his stepfather, John Graham, Rogers made his first broadcast acquisition, an FM radio station, while still a law student in Toronto, using mostly borrowed money.

When he bought the station, CHFI, in 1960, fewer than 3 percent of homes in the Toronto area had FM radio receivers. While Rogers was an FM broadcaster more out of financial necessity than by choice, he did believe that its superior sound quality would eventually make it the dominant radio system. He overcame Toronto's lack of receivers by selling low-cost FM sets that doubled as ads for CHFI.

From that point on, Rogers tried to focus his efforts on new technologies.

"If you've got a product that's on the growth trend your company can just explode," he said.

That was certainly the case with cable television, the business that was to create the foundation of the Rogers operation.

In its early days, cable was an easier sell in Canada than in the United States because it offered Canadian viewers a clear view of American channels, which had a wider variety of programming.

Not everything worked according to plan. Rogers Communications lost $500 million in the 1990s when it joined a partnership to start the first alternative long-distance telephone company in Canada when the monopoly system ended. And debt, much of it with low ratings and high interest rates, grew alarmingly as his acquisitions continued, particularly his hostile takeover of Maclean-Hunter in 1994 for 3.1 billion Canadian dollars.

While Rogers was mainly interested in Maclean-Hunter's cable operations, he retained most of its magazines, including Maclean's, the largest Canadian news magazine, and Chatelaine, the leading Canadian publication aimed at women.

Everything eventually worked out, and the debts were largely retired. While cable companies in the United States are just now making forays into wireless phone service, Rogers Communications has Canada's most up-to-date network and the country's largest wireless customer base.

Rogers was active in the company's daily operations until last October, when he was hospitalized.

His successor is not clear; a trust will maintain his family's control over the company. His son, Edward III, is currently the head of the Rogers cable unit, while his daughter Melinda Rogers is the senior vice president of strategy and development for the overall holding company. Rogers is also survived by his wife, Loretta, and two other daughters, Lisa Rogers and Martha Rogers.

While it is a very small part of Rogers' business, the acquisition with the least obvious purpose was the company's purchase of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2000. Rogers was not a big baseball fan, and he never became strongly associated with the team.

But the team ownership did enable Rogers to buy the SkyDome, the retractable-roofed stadium where the Jays play, a feature of Toronto's skyline. Soon after the deal, the stadium was emblazoned with the Rogers name.

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