Jack Kent Cooke
This profile considers entrepreneur Jack Kent Cooke and his media interests.
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It covers -
- introduction
- activities
- holdings
- studies
- chronology
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