HarperCollins Canada Ltd. remembers Edward S. “Ted” Rogers, 1933–2008
As president and CEO of Rogers Communications Inc., Ted Rogers was for decades at the head of a communications and media company that operates Canada’s largest wireless carrier, its largest cable provider, 53 radio stations, 70 consumer and trade magazines, the OMNI and CityTV networks, and other properties as diverse as The Shopping Channel and the Toronto Blue Jays. Outspoken, sometimes controversial and always forward-thinking, Rogers was a legendary innovator whose brand stands among the top in Canadian business.
Ted Rogers, who passed away in December 2008, tells in Relentless the story of how he built Rogers Communications into one of the largest companies in Canadian history -- and in only one generation. The tragic, premature death of his father, radio pioneer Ted Rogers Sr., left his family with little except the burning desire to reclaim what they had lost. From an early age, Ted was fascinated with radio and television; he once strung wires out of his dorm room to a roof-top antenna to bring in U.S. programming to Toronto before the city had any stations. As a law student, he invested everything he had in an FM station, buying CHFI when only five percent of the market actually owned an FM radio.
Rogers was always characteristically frank about his successes and his failures. Over the years, he faced challenges to his domain, sometimes risking so much that it nearly cost him everything. Each time, however, he returned stronger than ever. Written in a highly accessible style, Relentless will appeal as much to Main Street as to Bay Street. Filled with backroom deals, on-air battles and the often outrageous exploits of this communications visionary, Relentless is as vibrant and honest as Ted Rogers was himself.