Allan Slaight
John Allan Slaight, was a Canadian rock and roll radio pioneer, media mogul, and philanthropist. He began his career as an amateur magician before moving to radio. He was the founder of Slaight Communications and the president and CEO of Standard Broadcasting Corporation Limited, which was Canada's largest privately owned multimedia company at the time. He was also an active philanthropist and founder of the Slaight Family Foundation. On September 19, 2021, he died in his home in Toronto, Ontario, at the age of 90.
Biography
Slaight was born on July 19, 1931 in Galt, Ontario, Canada to Florence Eileen Wright and John Edgar Slaight. His father was a newspaperman who worked for the Galt Evening Reporter. His family, including his younger siblings Brian and Ann, moved to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan when their father bought the Moose Jaw Times-Herald in 1945. Jack Slaight was also the eventual co-owner of Moose Jaw radio station CHAB-AM, one of Canada's first radio stations.Career
A magician since his youth, Slaight's interest in magic started at age eight, after seeing Johnny Giordmaine's performance at the Toyland section of Eaton's department store in Toronto. Slaight began touring Western Canada as a mind reader under the stage name “Will Powers”, a career influenced by his interest in sleight-of-hand and magical inventions.He had performed a large-scale magic show under the "Slaight & Co" banner. His traveling magic show would often cause him to spend 14 hours away from home, visiting small towns to perform for $10. Slaight's show may have been inspired from his early days in the 1940s, performing for his grandfather's staff at a local bank in Galt for $2, or his regular performances at conventions and at the Rotary Club in Moose Jaw. Slaight toyed with the idea of performing on a permanent basis, and indicated that he would have done so had it been profitable.
While working in radio and broadcasting, magic continued to be a part of Slaight's life. In an interview with The Globe and Mail in 2005, Slaight showcased his collection of thousands of magic trick books.
Slaight is the author of several magic titles including Stewart James in Print: The First Fifty Years, The James File , and Essential Stewart James. Slaight co-hosted an annual magicians conference, 31 Faces North, with performing arts organization Magicana every summer. It is an annual invitation-only event inspired by and meant to resurrect the spirit of collaboration and camaraderie seen in the once-held magician's event hosted by P. Howard Lyons.
Slaight's magic tricks can be found in most magic magazines from the past 50 years such as Ibidem, Genii – The Conjurors' Magazine, and Magic – The Independent Magazine for Magicians. In recognition of his involvement in magic, Magicana presented Slaight with Spins and Needles: The Magic of Allan Slaight, a hardcover book featuring 62 of his magic tricks.
Business career
Radio Days (1948–1966)
CHAB
Slaight began his broadcasting career in Moose Jaw in 1948, at age 17, as an on-air news reporter and announcer for his father's station CHAB. His late-night jazz program, Spins and Needles, marked the beginning of his five-decade career in the radio industry. "I had never been inside a radio station before. But after one short visit to CHAB, I realized radio was what I wanted to do with my life," Slaight said in a 2002 interview.Slaight arrived at the University of Saskatchewan in autumn 1949, to uphold a bargain he made with his father. In exchange for working one year at CHAB, Slaight was required to attend university. While at the University of Saskatchewan, Slaight worked as a columnist and jazz reviewer for the college newspaper, The Sheaf. He dropped out of his studies at the University of Saskatchewan after his first year and balanced his burgeoning broadcasting career with his traveling magic show.
CFRN & CJCA
In 1950, Slaight and his wife Ada moved to Edmonton, Alberta. Unable to find a job in radio, he sold shoes at the Eaton's Department store before finally joining radio station CFRN that same year as a news reporter, before leaving to join CJCA in 1952.CHED-AM
In 1954 Slaight joined Edmonton-based radio station CHED-AM as the station's News Director. Two years later in 1956, he was appointed Merchandising Director.CHUM-1050 Ltd: music and talk
In early 1958, he was hired as program and promotions manager for the Toronto-based CHUM radio station. CHUM had earlier turned to rock and roll to achieve a larger listenership and it was hoped that importing Slaight from Edmonton would allow CHUM to reach the number one spot on Toronto's radio waves.By 1960, Slaight had been promoted to become CHUM-AM's Program Director, a position that he held until 1964.
English radio waves
With Terry Bate, Don McKenzie and Saundra MacKenzie, Slaight travelled to England to establish a sales agency for Radio Caroline. Radio Caroline had been founded by Ronan O'Rahilly in 1964 to overcome the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly.Slaight relocated to England to co-found a consulting firm specializing in sales, merchandising, and advertising within the emerging English commercial radio sector.
Canadian companies (1967–1984)
Slaight returned to Toronto in 1967, with a renewed passion to own his own radio station. Upon his return, he formed Allan Slaight Limited, a company engaged in advertising and communications. He then established a strategic partnership with Stephens & Towndrow, a sales firm that placed commercials with radio and TV stations, for his company to act as consultants in Programming, Sales and Marketing. They represented 18 AM and FM radio stations throughout Canada and had been acquired by Canadian broadcasters from CBS Radio. By September of that same year, Stephens & Towndrow publicly announced that Slaight was to be appointed President and Managing Director.Slaight Broadcasting Ltd.
In 1970, Slaight founded Slaight Broadcasting Ltd. and bought CFGM-1310 AM from owners John Graham and Stewart Coxford. for $2.5 million. In order to raise the necessary funds, Slaight put a second mortgage on his house and sought out investment partners including Gordon Lightfoot, guaranteeing them a generous return on investment should they back him. The following year, Allan Slaight took ownership of CFGM, which was Canada's first full-time country and western music station.On July 13, 1972, Slaight was granted permission by Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to acquire 80 per cent holdings of Montreal-based station CFOX-AM. Upon ownership, Slaight changed the format to "new country music" to match CFGM.
After receiving federal permission on May 22, 1973, Slaight Broadcasting Ltd. merged with IWC Communications on July 1, 1973. The merger resulted in Slaight acquiring other cable media systems in Mississauga, Barrie, Orillia, and Sarnia-based radio station CHOK, while retaining CFGM Broadcasting Ltd. and Radio CFOX Inc. Slaight had previously bought into IWC in 1970, becoming a shareholder. CFGM Broadcasting Ltd continued as a subsidiary of IWC Communications Ltd.
Global Television
After becoming president of a company running three radio stations and three cable systems, Slaight made a $12 million bid in early 1973 to acquire 52 percent of Bushnell Broadcasting of Ottawa, Vancouver, and Toronto. The CRTC rejected the bid on March 26, 1973. But, the following day, Slaight was pleased to find out he and the board of directors had been given permission to acquire the fledgling and debt-ridden Global Television Network that had been founded by Al Bruner.On April 15, 1974, under a restructuring and re-financing plan put forward by a group of investors, Allan Slaight purchased a 45 per cent interest in Global Communications Ltd, along with Global Ventures Holding Ltd. and Seymour Epstein.
At the time, Global was at least $5 million in debt and losing an estimated 1.5 million per month. Part of Slaight's strategy to turn Global around was to broadcast movies five nights a week at the 6:30 time slot with the news broadcast at the earlier 6:00 PM time. Slaight also incorporated a number of imports and reruns from the US, laid off employees, and doubled the amount of broadcasting time devoted to news and public affairs.
In 1974, Slaight authorized a rights offering of IWC's shares where proceeds would be used to finance a portion of Global Communications Ltd. Slaight also was granted approval from the network's original public investors to change voting power and repayment terms so that he could better financially negotiate for the September television line-up.
In 1975, Slaight proposed loosening CRTC Canadian content quotas for independent broadcast stations compared to other affiliates and vigorously advocated for rules that would benefit smaller broadcasters. Slaight, for example publicly "oppose the intrusion of any Canadian provincial government into any sector of Canadian broadcasting," when a probe on violence on television was launched for what Slaight considered to be a PR stunt.
By December 1976, Slaight had successfully navigated Global out of debt and the television station had reached a break-even point in its day-to-day operations. Slaight and IWC exercised a "buy-sell clause" on December 22 to buy out its investment and financing partners Global Communications Ltd. and Seymour Epstein. Collectively, the two partners held 55% of Global's holdings. Instead, Slaight and IWC were bought out by Winnipeg Theatre tycoon Paul Morton.
Radio IWC Ltd.
As a result of the buy-out, IWC's holdings were reduced significantly in the industry and in 1977 IWC prepared to sell off the controlling interest of its broadcasting holdings to Selkirk Holdings Ltd., and to sell off its cable television assets to Credit Valley Cable TV/FM Ltd. The CRTC denied the radio-related application but approved the cable application. In the wake of the ruling, Slaight distributed over $10 million among shareholders and successfully requested to change the company's name to Radio IWC Ltd.In 1978, Allan Slaight made a bid for all the common shares outside of Radio IWC Ltd. essentially becoming IWC's largest shareholder. At the time, he owned 14 per cent, with Allpak Products Ltd. controlling 36 per cent. Under the new agreement, Slaight acquired another 42 per cent, and purchased CFGM Broadcasting Ltd. from IWC Communications Ltd. in 1978 following the sale of his interest in the Global Television Network and IWC's cable interests. He renamed Radio IWC Ltd to Slaight Communications Inc. the following year.