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This
profile considers entrepreneur Jack Kent Cooke and his
media interests.
It covers -
introduction
Jack Kent Cooke (1912-1997) attracted attention as a colourful
character - notably high profile marraiges and divorces
- and associate of figures such as Roy Thomson. His family
has minor US broadcasting and newspaper interests.
activities
Jack Kent Cooke sold encyclopaedias during the 1930s Depression
before managing Roy Thomson's
CJCS Stratford radio station and then serving as a Thomson
group executive. He became a business partner of Thomson
in 1941. In 1944, with proceeds from the partnership's
sale of three Quebec radio stations, he bought CKCL Toronto
(renamed CKEY). Cooke sold CKEY in 1961.
In 1946 Cooke and Thomson bought a chain of drive-in movie
theatres and Canadian Liberty magazine. In 1948
Cooke acquired Montreal-based New World Illustrated,
which was merged with Liberty, apparently as a way around
differing provincial restrictions on alcohol advertising.
Thomson sold his 50% of Liberty to Cooke in 1949.
In 1951 Cooke bought the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball
team, followed by acquisition of magazine publisher Consolidated
Press (which included Saturday Night magazine)
and became manager of the CKOY Ottawa radio station owned
by the expanding Southam newspaper chain (subsequently
acquired by Hollinger).
Consolidated was sold in 1960 when Cooke became a US citizen
- supposedly discouraged by failure to receive a TV licence.
In the US he bought and sold newspapers, notably the Los
Angeles Daily News group (acquired from Tribune
and sold to MediaNews). He gained
control of TelePrompter, at that time the largest US cable
television operator, and built extensive cable tv interests
after TelePrompter's sale to Westinghouse.
In 1971 he underwrote the first fight between Muhammad
Ali and Joe Frazier, billed as 'the fight of the century',
with global closed-circuit tv viewing rights.
Cooke attracted attention for property speculation - in
particular rights to the landmark Chrysler building in
New York - and as a hands-on proprietor of major sports
teams. He owned the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team,
the LA Kings of the NHL and the NFL Washington Redskins.
Heir John Kent Cooke controls Cooke Communications, which
has minor US broadcasting and newspaper interests. It
acquired the Key West Citizen and several non-daily
Florida Keys newspapers from Thomson during the latter's
disposal of its US newspaper holdings.
holdings
As of 2003 Cooke Communications encompasses Florida Keys
newspapers -
The
Key West Citizen
Solares Hill
Free Press in Marathon
Free Press in Big Pine
Free Press in Islamorada
Free Press in Key Largo
Ocean Reef Press
Southernmost Flyer
and
radio stations WWUS-FM and WCNK-FM as part of Cooke Broadcasting.
studies
Jack Kent Cooke is profiled in Adrian Havill's gossipy
The Last Mogul - The Unauthorized Biography of Jack
Kent Cooke (New York: St Martins 1992). He appears
in works regarding Roy Thomson, John Malone
and other entrepreneurs. He was reputedly the basis for
tycoon Garfield Smith in Ralph Allen's novel The Chartered
Libertine (Toronto: Macmillan 1954).
chronology
This chronology is indicative only. Context is provided
by the separate, more general communications and media
timeline.
1912 Jack Kent Cooke born in Hamilton, Ontario
1934 door-to-door encyclopedia sales in Canada
1937 manages Stratford radio station CJCS for Roy Thomson
1941 becomes partner with Thomson
1944 buys radio station CKCL (CKEY)
1949 buys Canadian Liberty from Thomson
1951 buys Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team
1952 buys Consolidated Press
1959 buys country and western radio station in Los Angeles
1960 Cooke becomes US citizen, moves to California
1960 sells Consolidated Press
1960 buys 25% of Washington Redskins for US$350,000
1961 sells radio station CKCL (CKEY)
1962 General Tire & Rubber announces
merger, later abandoned, with H&B American
1965 buys NBA's Los Angeles Lakers from trucking magnate
Bob Short for US$5.2m
1965 buys Rochester cable tv system
1966 gains NHL Kings franchise
1967 builds Los Angeles "Fabulous'' Forum
1968 merges cable tv interests with H&B American to
form largest US cable tv operator
1970 gains control of TelePrompter cable tv group
1971 promoter of first fight between Muhammad Ali and
Joe Frazier
1972
TelePrompter buys Musak from Wrather Corp
1974 Cooke becomes majority owner of Washington Redskins
1979 sells Lakers and Kings for US$67.5m, then the largest
business transaction in sports history
1979 US$49m divorce of first wife enters Guinness
Book of World Records as the largest at that time
1981 sells TelePrompter to Westinghouse
Broadcasting & Cable (personal stake goes for US$70m)
1985 buys Los Angeles Daily News from Chicago
Tribune Co for US$176m
1986 Cooke Cablevision buys McCaw Cablevision for US$755m
1987 marriage to third wife dissolved after 73 days
1991 Cooke CableVision sold to TCI
1993 fourth marriage declared void
1994 sells newspapers in western US
1995 re-marries fourth wife
1998 sells Los Angeles Daily News group to MediaNews
1999 death of Jack Kent Cooke
1999 Washington Redskins sold
2000 Cooke Communications buys Thomson's Florida Keys
newspapers
2003 Crain Communications sells radio stations WWUS-FM
and WCNK-FM to Cooke Broadcasting
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