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- Chicago Tribune, 29 Apr 1998
John Bassett, 82, who ran Canadian Broadcasting Firm
John Bassett, a Canadian media baron who shifted from newspaper publishing to broadcasting, died Monday at age 82.
Mr. Bassett, chairman of Baton Broadcasting Inc., had been in failing health for some time.
His first news job was with the Toronto Globe and Mail. After World War II, he took over from his father as publisher of the Sherbrooke Record and in 1952 bought the Toronto Telegram.
By the time the Telegram ceased publication in 1971, he had won the first license for a privately owned television station in Toronto -- CFTO-TV, flagship of the CTV network. He later became chairman of Baton Broadcasting, Canada's largest broadcaster.
Mr. Bassett, who at one point owned part of the Toronto Maple Leafs professional hockey team, was the father of the late sports entrepreneur John F. Bassett and grandfather of tennis star Carling Bassett.
He is survived by his wife, Isabel, and five children.
Pioneer - Member of CAB Hall of Fame
Bassett, Honourable John White Hughes, P.C., C.C., O. Ontario (1915-1998)
Media baron John Bassett - parliamentary aspirant, reporter, soldier, newspaper publisher, sports entrepreneur, television station owner, was born in Ottawa in 1915. Educated at Ashbury College and the University of Bishop's College in Lennoxville, Quebec, he entered the newspaper business as a reporter with the Toronto Globe and Mail, a budding career that was interrupted in 1940 when he enlisted in the Canadian Army with the Black Watch regiment.
Following discharge with the rank of major, Bassett purchased his father's newspaper - The Sherbrooke Daily Record. In 1952, he bought the Toronto Telegram. In 1959, he turned his attention to television. During the preceding year, the Canadian government had created the Board of Broadcast Governors (BBG), a regulatory body to administer broadcasting. On October 8, 1959, the BBG issued a notice stating that applications for a license for the first private TV station in Toronto would commence on March 17, 1960. One of the eight applicants was a consortium organized and headed by John Bassett. The BBG approved the issuance of the Toronto license to Baton Aldred Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. CFTO-TV went on the air in 1960. Shortly thereafter, Baton Broadcasting Ltd., controlled by the Bassett and Eaton families, purchased the shares of Alder, Rogers and other minority shareholders.
CFTO became the flagship station for the CTV Television Network created by Spank Caldwell, to whom the BBG, in the fall of 1961, had awarded a license to organize and operate a network that would connect the other "second" private TV stations from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In due course, the major stations which comprised the network, became its shareholders. This condition continued until December of 1997, when Baton Broadcasting Incorporated took full control of CTV - a long-sought goal of John Bassett - realized just four months before his death.
Meanwhile, the money-losing Toronto Telegram had become a memory after being shut down in 1971. As the President of Baton Broadcasting, John Bassett had by then established CFTO-TV as the leading TV station in Canada and one of the finest on the continent.
When his son, Douglas Bassett succeeded him as President of Baton, John was able to spend more time to pursue his interests in sports and community activities. At one time, he was a major shareholder of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Argonauts.
He also accepted an appointment by the Government of Canada as Chairman of the Security Intelligence Review Commission. He was also appointed to the Privy Council of Canada.
In 1985, John Bassett, with the approval of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 1992, he was elevated to the highest rank of the Order - Companion of the Order of Canada. His appointment to the Order of Ontario was made in 1988.
John Bassett died at the age of 82, April 17, 1998. In November, 2000, he was inducted into the CAB Broadcast Hall of Fame.
Canadian News Digest, Monday, April 27, 1998
John Bassett dead at 82
Toronto (CP) - John Bassett, hard-driving media baron who left a colorful career in newspaper publishing for the boardrooms of Canadian broadcasting, died early Monday. He was 82. Bassett, who owned the now-defunct Toronto Daily Telegram, added yet another dimension to his varied career in 1989. He accepted a federal appointment which saw him head, until 1992, the civilian watchdog group overseeing the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
The patriarch of a sports-minded family - father of the late sports entrepreneur John F. Bassett and grandfather of tennis star Carling Bassett - the senior Bassett at one time owned huge chunks of the Toronoto Maple Leafs and Toronto Argonauts. He also had a stake at one time in the Montreal Forum.
He was a staunch supporter of the Conservative party and unsuccessfully ran twice for a House of Commons seat.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1915 - 1998 (82 years)