Geoff Stirling

Notable work and positions

Newfoundland Broadcasting Company Ltd. (NTV) - Founder
The Newfoundland Herald (formerly The Sunday Herald) - Founder
OZFM - Founder
CKGM (Montreal) - Founder

Biography

Geoffrey William Stirling (1921-2013) was a Canadian-American businessman and media magnate based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. At age 24, he launched The St. John's Sunday Herald in 1946 with $1,000 in savings; the weekly publication later became The Newfoundland Herald. In 1951, in partnership with Don Jamieson, he obtained a licence for a new radio station in St. John's, and in 1955 the two launched CJON-TV, Newfoundland's first television station, later branded NTV. Under Stirling's leadership the station pioneered 24-hour television broadcasting in North America beginning in 1972 and was the first in Newfoundland to broadcast in colour. In 1977, Stirling launched OZFM, Newfoundland's first commercial FM radio station. He also founded CKGM, an English-language radio station in Montreal, in 1959, owning it until 1985. Stirling supervised the creation of the graphic novel Atlantis, featuring the superhero characters Captain Atlantis and Captain Canada. He was inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' Broadcast Hall of Fame in 2001 and received the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2009. Following his death in December 2013, effective control of Newfoundland Broadcasting Company Ltd. passed to his son, G. Scott Stirling.

Career highlights

• Founded CJON-TV (NTV) 1955 · Newfoundland's first television station, still Newfoundland and Labrador's only privately owned television station.
• First 24-hour television broadcasting in North America 1972.
• CAB Broadcast Hall of Fame Inducted 2001.
• Order of Newfoundland and Labrador 2009.