Roger M. King, the CBS and King World Productions executive and Thoroughbred owner and breeder, died Saturday of a stroke, a CBS spokesman said Tuesday night. He was 63. King helped bring stars including Oprah Winfrey, Alex Trebek and "Dr. Phil" McGraw to television.
Racing as R and R King Stables, King raced stakes winner Courageous King and started Lifestyle in the 2005 Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I). He bought Courageous King with trainer Wesley Ward for $700,000 as a juvenile at the Keeneland April select 2-year-olds in training sale. The colt won the Green Flash Handicap at Del Mar. King also bred and raced stakes-placed Lucinda K., named after his daughter. He later sold Lucinda K. to B. Wayne Hughes for $900,000. She is the dam of grade II-placed Atswhatimtalknbout, who was raced by Hughes.
At the 2004 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling sale, King paid $1.4 million to acquire a daughter of Storm Cat produced from champion Jewel Princess, a daughter of Key to the Mint who won the Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I).
King was stricken at his home in Boca Raton, Fla., on Friday and died Saturday at a hospital, CBS spokesman Chris Ender told The Associated Press.
Before becoming chairman of the board of King World in 1977, King worked in newspaper sales, radio and television. His father, Charles King, founded King World in 1964.
King was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame in 1992 and the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2004.