King World Loses Its Leader

The world of syndicated television shows has lost its king. Roger M. King, an executive for both King World and its parent company, CBS. He leaves behind a television empire, as the man responsible for both the success of Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Phil.

In 1964, Charles King began King World Productions. Its sole function was to distribute the old Our Gang comedy series, but because of licensing, the name was changed to The Little Rascals. After King’s sons, Michael and Roger, officially took over King World in 1972,they sought to expand the company past its limiting Our Gang series distribution. They acquired the game shows The Joker’s Wild and Tic Tac Dough. Amid this limited success, in 1977, Roger was made C.E.O.

Already tripling their stable from one series to three, the King brothers decided to go after more game shows, and pursued Wheel of Fortune and its producer, Merv Griffin. Within a short time, Wheel of Fortune was the number one game show in the country, toppling the previous favorite, Family Feud. The Kings went after another Griffin-produced game show, Jeopardy, and turned that into a hit as well.

With the successes of game shows under their belts, the decision was to branch out into other shows they could syndicate. They turned to a Chicago morning talk show host, Oprah Winfrey. Within a very short time, they managed to turn her into one of the richest women in the world and definitely a household name. Their next step was to take her frequent guest, Dr. Phil McGraw, and create a spin-off talk show around him, which became second in syndication only to Oprah.

King World became well-known for being premiere in the syndication industry, and with a deal with CBS, began syndicating their shows, such as Everybody Loves Raymond, Survivor, The Amazing Race, and all the C.S.I. series. King World and CBS merged in 2006, leaving Roger as the C.E.O. of the syndication division, and Michael with a consulting role.

Roger King, 63, suffered a stroke at his home in Boca Raton, Florida, on Saturday, and was rushed to the hospital, where he later died. In statements after the news spread, Leslie Moonves, President and CEO of CBS Broadcasting, stated, “It’s a very sad day for CBS and for all of broadcasting.” Dr. Phil believes there will never be another Roger King, and that his passing will leave a huge void in all their lives. Winery stated she will never forget what he had done for her, and that the industry will never forget King’s legendary presence.

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