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Bruce Gordon ranks 891 on The World's Billionaires 2007 with a net worth of $1.2 billion. He is 78 years of age. Although an Australian Citizenship, Bruce resides mostly in Bermuda. Bruce is married with 2 children, Andrew and Genevieve.
Through his WIN Corporation (which owns WIN Television), Bruce owns 24 regional TV stations as well as the property on which they sit. Changes in Australian media ownership rules in 2007 were expected to make WIN a prime buyout target, though Gordon said he would only entertain bids of at least $780. In April 2007, however, WIN has instead made binding offers to buy both 9 Perth and NBN Television, also owns public shares in PBL, Ten Network and Sunraysia Television. Gordon has proposed making WIN independent of the Nine Network
Bruce Gordon worked as a magician during the 1939-45 War, in promotion for the Tivoli theatre circuit and managed Australian sales for Desilu Studios (US comedian Lucille Ball's production house) before serving as an executive for Paramount International Distribution. He worked at Paramount International Television for 35 years.
He gained control of Television Wollongong Transmission Ltd (later rebadged as WIN) in 1979. Gordon expanded WIN's operations in the 1990s, buying out the other shareholders in 1991 after buying two licenses in Queensland and the Crawford film/video production house that dated from 1945 and passed through the control of Rupert Murdoch and Christopher Skase. By the end of the decade WIN had licenses and transmitters in NSW, WA, QLD, SA, Victoria, ACT and Tasmania. The WIN group also operated property and land development operations, network management and a radio station in Wollongong.
WIN has a 48% stake in Sunraysia Television, holder of the STW 9 television broadcast licence in Perth (March 2007) and thus of Channel Nine Perth. The company is controlled by Eva Presser, whose husband Dan runs the Sunraysia Natural Beverages company. She resisted a 1995 takeover bid by WIN for the Perth station, which remained Sunraysia's only significant television broadcasting asset. In February 2007 PBL Media announced that it would acquire 100% of Sunraysia Television subsidiary Swan Television & Radio Broadcasters Pty Ltd (ie Channel Nine Perth) for $136.4 million. On the 21st of April the board of Sunraysia Television endorsed WIN's revised offer of $163 million .
There has been no major independent biography of Gordon or study of WIN. Some insights are offered by reports of licence inquiries by the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA), available on its site, and in works dealing with competitors such as Packer, Murdoch and Bond.
- Sharples, Ben (2007-04-21). "WIN wins Perth station". Herald Sun.
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