Thomas Ranald "Ran" Ide, (February 20, 1919 – October 23, 1996) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

educator and the founding Chairman of

TVOntario TVO (stylized in all lowercase as tvo), formerly known as TVOntario, is a Canadian Public broadcasting, publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It operates ...

Biography

Born in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, he received a degree in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and served in the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

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 ...

. Ide first got involved in broadcasting while he was a teenager in Saint John,

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

and had an after school job doing

movie review Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Academic criticism by film scholars, who study the composition of film theory and publish their findin ...

s at a radio station.David Lancashire, "The Godfather who made a network tick", ''Globe and Mail'', June 21, 1979 After the war, he became a high school teacher in

Port Arthur, Ontario Port Arthur was a city in Northern Ontario, Canada, located on Lake Superior. In January 1970, it was amalgamated with Fort William and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay. Port Arthur became the district seat ...

and eventually became principal of Port Arthur Collegiate Institute and then, in 1965, superintendent of schools in the area. In 1966, he was appointed director of educational television at the Ontario Ministry of Education by then

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

Bill Davis William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Behind Oliver Mowat, Davis was the List of premiers of Ontario by time in office, second-longes ...

. His unit bought air time from the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

and produced 150 programs in the first year. He helped create the

Ontario Educational Communications Authority TVO (stylized in all lowercase as tvo), formerly known as TVOntario, is a Canadian publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It operates flagship station CI ...

serving as its first chairman from 1970 to 1979. OECA launched its own television station in 1970, CICA, broadcasting from Toronto; by 1979 what had become TVOntario employed a staff of 400 and had transmitters across the province reaching 85% of Ontario's population and 88% of its schools. Ide faced controversy in 1978 when he backed the production of ''The Jesus Trial'', a series in which historical scholars staged a mock trial of Jews for the murder of Christ. The series was acclaimed by theologians and academics but was criticized by the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

archdiocese in Toronto which pressured the provincial government to cancel the series. It aired but, the next year, the government of

cut TVO's budget for the first time. After retiring from TVO in 1979 Ide chaired the federal Department of Communications Research Advisory Board, the Science Council of Canada's Communications board and served as acting vice-president of planning at the

. In 1995, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

. He died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

in 1996. Former Premier Davis delivered a eulogy at Ide's memorial service.William G. Davis, "Nurture TVOntario in founder's memory", ''Toronto Star'', November 20, 1996

References

External links

1919 births 1996 deaths Businesspeople from Ottawa Canadian television executives Ontario civil servants Officers of the Order of Canada Television pioneers TVO executives {{Canada-tv-bio-stub