Murray Howard Chercover (18 August 1929 – 3 July 2010) was a Canadian television producer and executive, particularly known as the president of the CTV Television Network

CTV television network

CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...

 from 1967 until 1990.

Early life

Chercover was born in Montreal, but moved with his family to Port Arthur, Ontario

Port Arthur, Ontario

Port Arthur was a city in Northern Ontario which amalgamated with Fort William and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay in January 1970. Port Arthur was the district seat of Thunder Bay District.- History :...

 in his youth. There in 1944, his first broadcast job was with radio station CFPA

CKTG-FM

CKTG-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 105.3 FM in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The station is owned by Northwoods Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Acadia Broadcasting, and broadcasts adult hits using the brand name 105.3 The New Giant FM...

.

Career

From the late 1940s, Chercover worked in New York on various theatre and television projects. When CBC Television

CBC Television

CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...

 began in 1952, he returned to Toronto to produce and direct various programmes there including Space Command

Space Command (TV series)

Space Command was a Canadian children's science fiction television adventure series, broadcast on CBC Television in 1953 and 1954, the first time the network aired its own dramatic series....

, General Motors Presents

General Motors Theatre

General Motors Theatre was a Canadian television anthology series, which ran on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation under its various titles from 1953 until 1961. First transmitted under the sponsored title on October 5 1954, a new 60-minute drama would be presented each week...

, On Camera and Ford's Playbill.

Chercover left CBC for CFTO-TV

CFTO-TV

CFTO-DT, broadcast on channel 9 and cable 8, is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, owned by Bell Media. Currently branded as CTV Toronto, it is the flagship station of the CTV Television Network, and was one of the charter members of the network when it was launched in 1961. It...

 in 1960 which became the flagship station for CTV when the network began in 1961. He became the network's president in 1967. He also served as its chief operating officer in 1967, its managing director from 1968, then chief executive officer from 1986. Chercover resigned from CTV in 1990.

He died from pneumonia complications on 3 July 2010 at Hill House Hospice in Richmond Hill, Ontario

Richmond Hill, Ontario

Richmond Hill is a town located in Southern Ontario, Canada in the central portion of York Region, Ontario. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area, being located about halfway between Toronto and Lake Simcoe...

.

Awards and recognition

• 1986 - Canadian Association of Broadcasters
  Canadian Association of Broadcasters
  The Canadian Association of Broadcasters was the national voice of Canada's private broadcasters, representing the vast majority of Canadian programming services, including private radio and television stations, specialty, pay and pay-per-view services....
  
   Distinguished Service Gold Ribbon
• 1988 - Canadian Film and Television Association Lifetime Achievement Gold Medal
• 1990 - Banff World Television Festival Rockie Lifetime Achievement Award
• 1991 - Broadcast Executives Society Achievement Award

External links