From Grokipedia
Full articleRalph Baruch is an American media executive known for his leadership as the founding president and chief executive officer of Viacom, where he guided the company through its formative years and played a key role in expanding the cable television industry.
Born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1923, Baruch fled Nazi persecution with his family in the mid-1930s, first to Paris, and immigrated to the United States in 1940, where he became a naturalized citizen. He began his career in broadcasting at CBS in the 1950s, eventually rising to vice president of CBS Enterprises, the division responsible for program syndication. When CBS spun off its syndication and cable operations to form Viacom in 1971, Baruch was appointed its first president and later CEO, positions he held until 1983.
Under his tenure, Viacom grew from a modest syndication business into a major cable programming force, launching Showtime in 1976 and contributing to the development of cable television content and distribution. Baruch advocated for the industry through organizations like the Cable Television Administration and Marketing Society and received recognition for his contributions, including induction into the Cable Television Hall of Fame.
After leaving Viacom, Baruch remained active as a consultant and industry advocate, later authoring the memoir "Television Tightrope: How I Escaped Hitler, Survived CBS and Fathered Viacom" reflecting on his experiences in media. He died in New York City on March 3, 2016, at the age of 92.
In brief
Ralph Baruch left Germany and learned American television from the inside of CBS. When Viacom was set loose, he was the executive trusted to make a new company feel inevitable.
First president is an easy line to skip. It is also the line that means someone had to hire the staff, keep the syndicators paid, and invent a culture from a filing cabinet.
