The Peter Rodgers Organization (PRO) is a

television syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...

company based in

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

. It distributes more than 2,000

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

s, and dozens of documentaries and off-network

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

series to global markets.

History

The company was founded in 1976 by Peter S. Rodgers, a

Viennese Viennese may refer to: * Vienna, the capital of Austria * Viennese people, List of people from Vienna * Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna * Viennese classicism * Viennese coffee house, an eating establishment and part of Viennese ...

escapee of

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

persecution, who arrived in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1938. Following a distinguished tour of service in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

as a

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...

officer during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Rodgers moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1954 to work for

National Telefilm Associates National Telefilm Associates (NTA) was a distribution company primarily concerned with the syndication of American film libraries to television, including the Republic Pictures film library. It was successful enough on cable television between 19 ...

(NTA), where he would serve as Vice President of Domestic Distribution and Sales, reporting to President and Chairman of the Board Ely Landau. In 1976, he left NTA to form the Peter Rodgers Organization. Over the last four decades, the company has represented and managed the rights to classic television shows. Peter Rodgers died on February 21, 1988, at age 68. He was succeeded by his son, Stephen Rodgers. Rodgers' death left family members arguing, with some of them wanting to liquidate the prestigious and prosperous entertainment company he had formed. After resulting legal clashes, Rodgers’ son Stephen surrendered all inheritance left to him by his father, and purchased the agency from the estate in 1988. He has served as its CEO since that time. At the time, Stephen Rodgers was believed to be the youngest CEO of any active business in this field, having succeeded his father at age 25.Article by Cathy Baron, titled "The Next Generation," ''Television/Radio Age Magazine'', page 20, 1/23/1989.

References

{{Authority control Film distributors of the United States Television syndication distributors Entertainment companies based in California Companies based in Los Angeles Entertainment companies established in 1976 1976 establishments in California