Cable, Broadcast Pioneer Peter Storer Dies at 81

CEO of Storer Communications built broadcast group into large MSO

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/10/2009 1:40:23 PM

Cable and broadcast pioneer Peter Storer, 81, died Nov. 8 of cardiovascular disease at his home in Saratoga, Wyoming.

Storer, whose father was pioneering broadcaster George Storer, built Storer Communications from a broadcast group into the fourth largest MSO at the time.

Born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1928, Storer grew up in Michigan and graduated from the University of Miami, where he met his wife, Virginia. Storer began his career at Storer's WJBK-TV Detroit and, after a stint with CBS Radio, returned to hold sales and management positions at various Storer stations, as well as opening rep firm Storer TV Sales in 1961.

He was named CEO of Storer Broadcasting in 1975 upon the death of his father, subsequently expanding the company into the cable business and changing the name to Storer Communications.

By 1985, the company owned seven TV stations and cable franchises serving 500 communities in 18 states.

Storer was acquired by Kohlberg, Kravis Roberts in a leveraged buyout in 1986.

Storer was a former board member of the National Association of Broadcasters and was TV board chairman. He was also a member of the National Association of Television Arts and Sciences Management Hall of Fame.

Survivors include brothers Jim and Robert, and four children, Leslie, Elizabeth, Linda and Peter Jr., who is president and founder of TV program management software company StorerTV.

Services are scheduled for Nov. 14 in Saratoga. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to the Platte Valley Community Center, the Corbett Medical
Center, both of Saratoga, or Trout Unlimited.