News

Ted Rogers had a habit of comparing the evolution of his cable and telecom empire to a baseball game. When asked by one of his closest friends recently where he thought Rogers Communications Inc. was in its growth, Mr. Rogers told company vice-chairman Phil Lind it was barely the fifth inning.

The death of Mr. Rogers Tuesday at the age of 75, after years of battling health problems, leaves Canada's biggest cable and telecom company with a vacancy at the top. But as Rogers prepares to let an executive committee begin the search for a new chief executive officer, the company is vowing that even with new players, the game plan remains the same.

“I think the company will change somewhat,” Mr. Lind said of the new era facing the $21-billion company.

“But it will be for a long time a Rogers company. … He has left such a mark that those of us who have been there for a while, we know, sort of, what he wanted. And how he wanted to do it.”

Mr. Rogers death did not come as a shock since he had spent the past few weeks under medical attention after relinquishing the CEO role to company chairman Alan Horn on an interim basis a little over a month ago. Even as his health failed him, though, colleagues said his mind remained sharp.

As recently as last week, Mr. Rogers was still calling up company executives from a bedside phone involving himself in company strategy and querying them on matters as picayune as regulatory rulings and how many cable boxes the company was selling.

He was remembered Tuesday as a businessman who rarely stopped to celebrate, not even when Mr. Lind pressed him to have a drink after closing a deal, and who never stopped working – driven instead to become a titan after the death of his father, at 38, led to the family losing the radio business he started.

Friends and long-time colleagues describe him as a man who thought he was the underdog, even when he wasn't. The search to replace him as CEO of the company will include several names: Nadir Mohammed, the head of the company's wireless division; Mr. Rogers' son, Edward, who runs the cable division; and daughter Melinda, a senior vice-president of strategy. The company has also said it will entertain external candidates.

With Mr. Rogers' passing, analysts expect the company he created to slip into a new channel, where it is no longer defined by bold, dramatic moves, but instead runs more like a blue-chip operation, with a focus on boosting profitability and strengthening operations.

Some of the biggest moves Mr. Rogers made pushed the company to the brink of bankruptcy after borrowing heavily in the 1980s and 1990s.

Today the company is a picture of financial health even in the face of a recession, has returned its debt to investment grade – a personal mission of Mr. Rogers in his final years. The next CEO will focus on maximizing profits from those assets rather than more make-or-break acquisitions, some analysts say.

“Ted Rogers leaves behind an industrial strength company,” said Dvai Ghose, of Genuity Capital in Toronto. Rogers Communications “is arguably in the strongest fundamental position in its history.”

Several Bay Street analysts favour Mr. Mohamed, 52, as the next leader. He successfully ran Rogers Wireless for four years before being named president and chief operating officer of the communications division, responsible for about 90 per cent of Rogers' $10-billion in annual income.

Whether Mr. Mohamed gets the nod or the top job goes elsewhere, there are enormous shoes to fill. JR Shaw, chairman and founder of Shaw Communications in Calgary, credits Mr. Rogers for building Canada's cable industry. “Because of his drive, I think he drove a lot of the rest of us to be successful, many times just trying to keep up to him.”

A merger between Shaw and Rogers has long been rumoured, but Mr. Shaw said he can't see the marriage of Shaw and Rogers happening. “I think the two companies will continue to go forward the way they are and co-operate,” he said. “I think these companies are built for long-term by both families. And I don't think there was any sentiment to put them together.”

Ian Greenberg, CEO Astral Media Inc., was a long-time friend of Mr. Rogers. “I don't often call people my heroes. And Ted Rogers was a man I refer to as my hero,” he said.

Mr. Greenberg said many business leaders would not have been able to carry the debt Rogers did as the company built itself. “He faced a lot of adversity, most people would have succumbed to the pressure.”

Peter Godsoe, the former Bank of Nova Scotia head, who sits on the company's board, said when Rogers debt was declared investment grade, it was a personal victory for the cable magnate. “Always he had his vision. And his vision had to be built with debt,” Mr. Godsoe said. “He came very close to bankruptcy. But once he had built this great company.”

One area Mr. Rogers never seemed able to fix to his satisfaction was customer service, according to Mr. Lind.

“On the customer service side he was deeply unhappy with stories that he would hear around the place about people who didn't get what they wanted from Rogers. He was embarrassed and deeply hurt,” Mr. Lind said. “He wanted to fix customer satisfaction. … He was not able to do that. I mean it always improved, year after year, but it started so low and it didn't come up as nearly as fast as he wanted it to.”

Rogers (RCI.B)

Close: $33.48, down $1.04