DENVER – In May, Rogers Communications vice-chairman Phil Lind, will become just the third Canadian inducted into the Cable Center’s prestigious Cable Hall of Fame. (Ted Rogers and JR Shaw are the other two.)
Lind, long recognized as Ted Rogers’ right-hand-man, is a 42-year veteran of the Canadian cable, broadcasting and telecommunications company. When he first came on board, Rogers owned just two small radio stations and about 15,000 cable subscribers.
Lind (pictured) was Ted’s point man as the company gobbled up other Canadian cable companies and was legendary, Stateside, as Rogers became a major cable player there as well in the 1980s, operating cable systems in Minneapolis, San Antonio, Southern California, New Jersey and other places. Before selling its American cable assets,. Rogers’ subscribers numbered in the millions.
“At home, Phil turned his mind to content. His passion for sports inspired Rogers’ acquisition of the Toronto Blue Jays; launched Sportsnet, now Canada’s premier sports network; secured previously satellite-exclusive NFL Sunday Ticket for cable in Canada and brought annual regular season Buffalo Bills games to Toronto. He helped launch both Rogers’ many community television stations and OMNI, North America’s only multi-cultural television network,” reads the Cable Center announcement of Lind’s induction.
A 1999 Cable TV Pioneer, Phil is on the board of the U.S. Cable Center, was chairman of the now defunct Canadian Cable Television Association, served on the Board of NCTA, was founding chairman of Ontario’s Sierra Club and serves on numerous non-profit and cultural organizations. He has endowed the University of British Columbia with two Chairs in US Political Studies. In 2002, he was appointed to the Order of Canada.
Lind will be officially inducted (alongside broadcaster Larry King and former TCI head Leo Hindery, among others) at a gala event in Boston May 20 during the National Cable Television Association’s Cable Show.
