Bob Rogers, seven-decade radio veteran and former TV presenter, has died at age 97.

Born in country Victoria, he got his first job as a panel operator at radio 3XY in Melbourne in the 1940s before his first ‘on-air’ job at 3MA, Mildura . He later went on to work in Hobart, Brisbane, and a return to Melbourne in the 1970s, but his radio career was predominantly based in Sydney. He was a pioneer of Top 40 radio at 2UE in the 1950s, leading him to become informally labelled “the fifth Beatle” as he accompanied the band to cover their mid-1960s Australian tour.

His career also covered Sydney stations 2GB, 2SM, 2KY and over 20 years at 2CH before he retired in 2020.

In the 1960s he had a short stint hosting Tonight at TCN9 in Sydney and featured in the comedy special Ready When You Are, CB, before moving to Seven to host The Bob Rogers Show for four years.

The Bob Rogers Show won two TV Week Logies for Best Show in New South Wales, and Rogers himself won a Logie for Best Male Personality in NSW in 1972.

He was reported to have quit the show three times during 1973 — citing frustrations at the show’s irregular timeslot and lack of celebrity guests. He was persuaded twice to reconsider before Seven finally agreed to end the show.

While he continued to work on radio, he still appeared on television hosting commercials — and twice posed for a Cleo centrefold!

YouTube: Shadow Archive

In 2002 he was inducted into the Australian Radio Hall of Fame, and in 2010 was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the media as a radio broadcaster.

Bob Rogers is survived by his wife Jerry, their four daughters and four grandchildren.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 9Honey, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. TV Week, 1 December 1973. TV Times, 17 February 1973.