Zach Wichter

Whether you are reading these words online or in print, there is a strong chance that Harold A. Rosen played a part in getting them to you. He was a driving force in the invention of modern communication satellite technology.

His inspiration came in 1957, when, as a young engineer, he watched the Sputnik satellite, the first ever launched, streak across the night sky in Los Angeles on its historic journey. From its orbit, the Soviet Sputnik could transmit only beeps back to Earth. But Rosen could see that the future of relaying information over long distances was in space, and he began imagining the possibilities. In those days, telephones were the best way to communicate between two points, but the terrestrial telephone system was reaching its operational limits. Long-distance phone calls were made by means of overtaxed cables and radio towers, and connectivity was limited. Some parts of the world were unreachable. Rosen set out to design a satellite that would usher in a new era of telecommunications.

Robert Bennett, who guided the transformation of a Boston television station into an uncommon font of original programming and went on to run the nation’s largest broadcast station group, died on Nov 29 in Newport Beach CA. He was 89.

In 1971, Bennett was overseeing WNEW-TV, a successful local station in New York City, but, as he later recalled, he was getting bored. “I was very anxious to do more live television.” And a new opportunity arose. A group in Boston was trying to gain control of the license for Channel 5, which was then WHDH, and promised to create 50 hours of original programming each week. Mr. Bennett joined the group, Boston Broadcasters Inc., after securing a guarantee of creative control and an ownership stake in the station should it be granted the license. In 1972, Boston Broadcasters acquired the station, WHDH became WCVB and Mr. Bennett began work to make good on the group’s promise of original programming. While other local stations were making big profits carrying reruns, Mr. Bennett turned to homegrown content. Although it was an ABC affiliate, the station far surpassed its promise on original programming, broadcasting as much as 62 hours each week — about 30 percent of its content — at a time when most local stations devoted less than 10 percent of their airtime to shows produced in-house.