Roger King was an American television and media executive for King World Productions and CBS. He is credited with launching the careers of such noted television stars as Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Phil, Rachael Ray and Alex Trebek.

Roger King became chairman of the board of King World Productions in 1977. His father, Charles King, had founded King World in 1964.

Under Roger King’s leadership, King world became a leading distributor of popular syndicated television programming. King was also credited with launching the syndicated news magazine, Inside Edition. King also created Wheel of Fortune, which, according to CBS, has been the number one rated syndicated TV show for the past 23 years. Jeopardy, which was also created by King World under Roger King, has been one of the top three syndicated shows for 22 years.

Roger King joined CBS in 2000 following the merger of King World Productions with the broadcast network. King served as the CEO of CBS Television Distribution from 2000 until his unexpected death in 2007. King was responsible for the syndicated sale of reruns of several major CBS prime-time shows, including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Survivor, The Amazing Race, Everybody Loves Raymond and America’s Next Top Model.

King was officially inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame in 1992. He was also inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2004.

Roger King is survived by his wife, Raemali and three daughters, Kellie, Anna Rose and Lucinda.