Roy Thomson

Notable work and positions

The Times / The Sunday Times (Thomson Organisation) - owner
The Scotsman - owner
Scottish Television - founder
Thomson Newspapers (Canada/U.S.) - founder

Biography

Roy Herbert Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet (June 5, 1894 - August 4, 1976), was a Canadian-born newspaper proprietor who built one of the largest newspaper empires of the 20th century. Born in Toronto, the son of a barber, he worked as a radio salesman in Northern Ontario before launching his own radio station, CFCH, in North Bay in 1931 to give customers something to listen to. In 1934 he took over an ailing weekly newspaper in Timmins, Ontario, and turned it into a daily, beginning a chain that grew to include newspapers across Canada and, later, the United States. In 1952 he moved to Edinburgh to buy The Scotsman, and in 1957 he won the ITV franchise for central Scotland, launching Scottish Television, which he described as "a licence to print money." In 1959 he purchased the Kemsley group, then Britain's largest newspaper group, which included The Sunday Times, and in 1962 he launched the first color newspaper supplement, the Sunday Times Magazine. In 1966 he acquired The Times of London from the Astor family, investing heavily to secure its financial future. He became a British citizen in 1963, established the Thomson Foundation for journalism training, and was created Baron Thomson of Fleet in 1964. At the time of his death in 1976, his holdings included more than 200 newspapers across Canada, the United States and Britain, along with television and travel interests; the company he founded continues today as Thomson Reuters.

Career highlights

• Founding CFCH radio 1931 · Launched his first radio station in North Bay, Ontario, the origin of his media empire.
• Acquiring The Sunday Times 1959 · Purchased the Kemsley newspaper group, then the largest in Britain.
• Acquiring The Times 1966 · Bought The Times of London from the Astor family, his most prominent newspaper acquisition.
• Baron Thomson of Fleet 1964 · Created a peer in recognition of his public and newspaper-industry service.