Obituaries
Ed Ansin, WHDH/Channel 7 Owner, Dead At 84
Ansin, a billionaire titan of the local TV market who stayed successful even after losing his NBC affiliation in Boston, has died.
Ed Ansin, the billionaire from Worcester who went on help found Sunbeam Television and own local news station WHDH, has died, according to reporters at the station. He was 84.
WHDH, or Channel 7 in the Boston area, became independent after NBC ended its 22-year-long affiliation in 2017. Without the major network partnership, Ansin doubled down on WHDH as an independent player in the local news market.
Sunbeam also owns WLVI (Channel 56) and Miami's WSVN-TV (Channel 7.)
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He was still active in his business up until his death.
"I want to die with my boots on," Ansin told The Boston Globe several months ago.
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WHDH reporters reacted to the news on Twitter.
Breaking News: saddened to report the owner of channel 7 Ed Ansin passed away today...it was an honor to work for him for 21 years and we will continue to carry on his legacy and commitment to the news profession #7news pic.twitter.com/6kuGko37dz
— Steve Cooper (@scooperon7) July 26, 2020
The ch 7 family @7News @wsvn is in shock over the sudden death of our owner, Ed Ansin. The man lived and breathed local news and proclaimed in January “I want to die with my boots on.” He sure did. We were CBS when Ed and Joel Cheatwood hired me in late 1993.
— Jonathan Hall (@JHall7news) July 26, 2020
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