Bob Rogers
Born (1926-12-03) 3 December 1926
Occupation(s)Disc jockey, radio announcer, television host
Years active1942–2020

Bob Rogers OAM[1][2] (born 3 December 1926)[3] is an Australian disc jockey and radio broadcaster. He is noted for introducing Top 40 radio programming to Australia in 1958, on 2UE.[4]

Before his retirement in October 2020, Rogers presented the six-hour Saturday evening Reminiscing program on Sydney radio station 2CH. He had previously presented The Bob Rogers Show on weekday mornings.[5][6]

Early life

Rogers was born to British parents[7] and raised in Donald, Victoria.[8] His father had been a junior butcher before becoming a farmer. He used to help his father round up the sheep and catch the lambs before slaughter.[9]

Career

Rogers began his career as a panel operator for 3XY in Melbourne in 1942. Moving onto a Hobart station, he worked six days a week as a radio announcer, including presenting racing on Saturdays. Soon, Rogers was given permission to start a Sunday afternoon music program, playing new records given to him by American sailors.

Rogers resigned and started a similar music program on Brisbane's 4BH in 1950. In 1957, Rogers discovered the Slim Dusty song Pub With No Beer and was the first DJ in Australia to play the song and bring it to number one on the charts.[10] Rogers subsequently presented Australia's first Top 40 show on 2UE from 1958 to 1962.

For the next 8 years, Rogers was Australia's top radio DJ.[3][11][12] He was tried out in a television talk show format on TCN-9, following Daly at Night with Jonathan Daly. He later established himself as a television host, on ATN-7, with a run from 1969 of over four years.[13]

In 1962 Rogers joined 2SM, one of the "Good Guys" DJ team the station recruited, with Mike Walsh and others;[14] 2SM jumped in the ratings to number 1. In 1964 Rogers was chosen to represent 2SM on The Beatles' tour through Europe, Asia and Australia. He made radio interviews with them in June.[15][16]

Rogers returned to 2UE and presented his morning radio show with a new format of provocative commentary, gossip and music. His programme became popular amongst interview-hungry artists.[11][12] In 1976, Rogers wrote Rock And Roll Australia, a book about the birth of the Australian rock industry.[10] In 1982, he started a chain of women's dress shops.[10]

In October 1976, Rogers joined 2GB,[17] but his time with the station was short-lived. While compering the 2GB morning program, in June 1977, Rogers was sacked, after he failed to use the seven-second-delay button, during an on-air conversation with John Singleton. Singleton's use of a 'four-letter word' was broadcast. The topic of conversation was Rogers' imminent change of time slot to an afternoon segment.[18]

2CH radio

In November 1995, Rogers accepted John Singleton's offer and joined Sydney radio station 2CH. On 21 February 2007, according to the Nielsen radio ratings survey, Bob Rogers' Morning show became the fourth most heard radio programme in Sydney in that particular timeslot by beating John Laws of 2UE into fifth place. It is generally more difficult for an easy listening station in Sydney to achieve a greater audience share than a talkback station. Overall, 2CH has overtaken 2UE to claim sixth place.[19][20][21]

On 5 December 2007, Rogers was verbally abused with obscenities by long-time professional rival John Laws, in unprovoked circumstances whilst dining at lunch with 3AW personality Derryn Hinch in a Woolloomooloo restaurant.[22][23][24][25][26] After suffering a stroke while on air in 2018, Rogers announced in November 2018 that he would stop presenting his morning programme.[27] He continued presenting his Reminiscing program on Saturdays until 3 October 2020, when he finally retired.[28][29]

Radio career breakdown

Network Tenure Role
3XY 1942–1950 Panel operator
Hobart radio Radio announcer and Host of Sunday Afternoon Music Program
4BH 1950–1957 Disc Jockey
2UE| 1958–1962 Presenter of Top 40
2SM 1962–1995 Disc Jockey
2UE Morning program presenter
2GB 1976-1977 Morning program presenter
2CH 1995–2018 Morning program presenter and Host of program Reminising

References

  1. ↑ Bob Rogers awarded OAM – Bigpondnews, 14 June 2010, retrieved 7 May 2011.
  2. ↑ Bob Rogers – Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) – Radio 2CH, retrieved 7 May 2011.
  3. 1 2 Bob Rogers takes the cake – The Sydney Morning Herald 27 November 2006, retrieved 19 June 2008.
  4. ↑ Cunningham, Stuart (October 2010). The Media and Communications in Australia. ReadHowYouWant.com. p. 188. ISBN 978-1-4596-0385-1.
  5. ↑ Sydney's daggiest radio station a giant killer The Daily Telegraph, 10 May 2008, retrieved 10 July 2008.
  6. ↑ "Legendary broadcaster Bob Rogers confirms radio retirement". Radio Today. 28 September 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  7. ↑ The Bob Rogers Show, Radio 2CH 10:33 AEDT 15 March 2007.
  8. ↑ Drive with Derryn Hinch, Radio 3AW, 17:31 ADST, 9 October 2009.
  9. ↑ The Bob Rogers Show, Radio 2CH, 11:26:30 AEST 24 June 2008.
  10. 1 2 3 Bob Rogers Archived 28 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine – 2CH
  11. 1 2 The great survivor – The Sydney Morning Herald 28 October 2003, retrieved 18 June 2008.
  12. 1 2 Program eight: Policy Archived 8 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine – Australian Broadcasting Corporation 1999, retrieved 18 June 2008.
  13. ↑ Beilby, Peter (1981). Australian TV: The First 25 Years. Nelson. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-17-005998-5.
  14. ↑ Moran, Albert; Keating, Chris (4 August 2009). The A to Z of Australian Radio and Television. Scarecrow Press. p. 232. ISBN 978-0-8108-7022-2.
  15. ↑ Apter, Jeff (4 August 2020). Friday on My Mind: The life of George Young. Allen & Unwin. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-76087-494-0.
  16. ↑ Winn, John C. (9 December 2008). Way Beyond Compare: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Volume One, 1957-1965. Crown. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-307-45238-2.
  17. ↑ "Bob Rogers". Canberra Times. 7 October 1976. p. 20. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  18. ↑ "Bob Rogers fired over swearing". Canberra Times. 29 June 1977. p. 9. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  19. ↑ Classic Rogers a big hit – Daily Telegraph
  20. ↑ Talk beats music in radio ratings – The Australian
  21. ↑ Brought to book, but Jones is still a hit – Sydney Morning Herald
  22. ↑ Laws didn't call me an 'armpit transplant' – Hinch Archived 8 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine – Daily Telegraph
  23. ↑ Radio stars 'go each other' in Sydney restaurant Archived 8 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine – Livenews
  24. ↑ Laws launches tirade at Hinch and Rogers – The Sydney Morning
  25. ↑ Herald Laws launches obscene tirade at Hinch Archived 7 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine – Ninemsn
  26. ↑ "sound file" (MP£). Mpegmedia.abc.net.au. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  27. ↑ "Bob Rogers hangs up the headphones". Radioinfo. 9 November 2018. Archived from the original on 4 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  28. ↑ "Tim Webster replaces Bob Rogers and Chris Kearns goes live at nights on 2CH". Radioinfo. 21 January 2019. Archived from the original on 4 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  29. ↑ "Classic Hits 2CH Legend Bob Rogers announces his retirement". Radioinfo.com.au. 27 September 2020.
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