Robert Rosencrans

Robert Morris "Bob" Rosencrans (March 26, 1927 – August 3, 2016) was a cable television industry pioneer who helped create C-SPAN, an American public affairs television network. In addition, he helped launch the television networks BET and MSG, a predecessor of the USA Network.

Early life and education Rosencrans was born on March 26, 1927, in New York City. His parents were Alvin, an Austrian immigrant who imported ornaments for women's hats, and Eva Greene, a Russian immigrant who was a fashion designer for Alvin's sister, Nettie Rosenstein. Rosencrans was raised in Woodmere, New York.

Rosencrans is credited for persuading Madison Square Garden to launch the television network MSG. He and Kay Koplovitz helped create this as a sports channel, which later expanded its programming to become USA Network, the first basic cable channel distributed via satellite. Rosencrans and his partner Ken Gunter contributed $25,000 and convinced other industry leaders to contribute an additional $450,000 to launch the network. C-SPAN began broadcasting on March 19, 1979, with additional funding from UA-Columbia and several other cable television companies.

Rosencrans' role at UA-Columbia was eliminated when the company split in 1984. He started the cable multiple system operator Columbia International, which sold in 1995 for an estimated $600 million. The honor was bestowed by The Cable Center, a nonprofit, educational organization serving the industry.

In addition to his work in cable television, Rosencrans was an early investor in PublicAffairs, a publishing company established in 1997 by Peter Osnos. He was also an investor in the video discussion website Bloggingheads.tv in 2007.

Personal life Rosencrans was Jewish and described by The New York Times as a "political liberal".

As of May 2012, Rosencrans was retired and living in Connecticut. Rosencrans died at a hospital from stroke complications on August 3, 2016, in Greenwich, Connecticut, at the age of 89. He and his wife of 59 years, Marjorie Meyers, had four children.