Roger Ogden, the man who changed the face of local television news, is retiring from the Gannett Co., he announced today.
Ogden, 62, who drove two Denver news operations to the top of the TV ratings during a 22-year career here, announced in McLean, Va., that he’ll retire on July 2.
Ogden joined KUSA-Channel 9 (then called KBTV) in 1967, and had a brief stay in Louisville, Ky., before returning in 1981 to become general manager at KCNC-Channel 4. He worked for a short while as president and managing director of NBC Europe.
By the time he was named president and CEO of Gannett’s broadcast division in July 2005, he had spent 14 years as general manager at Channel 4 and another eight years at Channel 9. Both stations became the city’s top rated during his tenure.
In March 2006, he added the title of senior vice president of design, innovation and strategy at Gannett. Last year, he engineered Gannett’s purchase of KTVD-Channel 20 in Denver.
In a brief note to Gannett employees, Ogden, inducted into the Denver Press Club Hall of Fame in 2004, wrote, “The list of things I want to do is growing longer and the time to do them is growing shorter.” In a Gannett press release, he said, “I’ve always said I’ll know when it’s time and that time has come.”
In a phone interview from his office in McLean, Ogden said today, “It’s not a surprise for people who know me. When I came back here I said it probably was for two years. It’s been a very rewarding job but that commute is a hard commute.”
A diehard Coloradan, born in Colorado Springs and reared in Denver (he started his broadcast career at radio station KPOF when he was 13), Ogden flew from the East Coast to Denver almost every weekend for the past two years. “Being able to spend more time in Colorado is important to me.”
He’ll also have Paris. “You want to keep your brain engaged. I’ve got this idea to go to Paris for three or four months and see if I can pick up the language.”
He’ll get a head start on that part of his life with a trip to Europe this summer with his son, Andrew, graduating from high school and enrolled at the University of Southern California.
He also will have a hand in KYSL 93.5-FM, a Breckenridge radio station owned by his wife, Ann Penny.
Channel 4 anchor Jim Benemann, whom Ogden hired on three occasions, twice at Channel 9, said, “I think all of Denver TV should be indebted to Roger for being one step ahead of the curve, from a technological standpoint and viewer interest.
“He always had a sixth sense about what would work. The term ‘visionary’ will pop up in a lot people’s words about him. He’s just really smart.”
Mark Cornetta, who succeeded Ogden as president and general manager at Channel 9, said, “We knew it would happen some day; we just didn’t know it would be so soon. He’s one of those visionaries in the industry.”
Plus, he added, “He’s just a great guy.”
