John Bassett
John White Hughes Bassett, PC CC OOnt (August 25, 1915 – April 27, 1998) was a Canadian media proprietor and politician.
Born in Ottawa, Ontario, he was the son of John Bassett (1886–1958), publisher of the Montreal Gazette, and Margaret Avery.
Education
Bassett attended Ashbury College and graduated from Bishop's University with a BA in 1936.
Politics
After fighting with the Army in World War II, Bassett ran unsuccessfully for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, in the 1945 Canadian election in the riding of Sherbrooke, losing to Liberal incumbent, Maurice Gingues. He also ran in the 1962 election in the riding of Spadina losing to Liberal candidate Perry Ryan by less than 2,000 votes.
Publishing and broadcasting
He became a reporter for the Toronto Globe and Mail after graduating from university. After World War II, he was hired by the Toronto Telegram as advertising director. His first experience in newspaper ownership was with the Sherbrooke Daily Record, which he bought from his father. In 1952, Bassett purchased part ownership of the Toronto Telegram. In 1960, he founded Baton Broadcasting to run Toronto's first commercial television station, CFTO-TV. A few months later, he won the television rights to the Eastern Conference of the Canadian Football League. He needed a network in order to broadcast the games. The result was the Canadian Television Network, later to become CTV, with CFTO as the flagship station. Starting in the 1980s, Bassett began a drive to take over CTV by buying as many stations as possible. He succeeded in 1997, a year before his death.
