R.I.P.: Ed Ansin, Boston TV Owner-Operator

Ed Answin

Ed Ansin — the longtime owner of WHDH-TV (Channel 7) who shook up Boston television with flashy graphics and a breaking news style that has become the norm — died Sunday at his Miami home. He was 84, The Boston Globe reports.

Paul Magnes, executive vice president of Channel 7′s parent company, Sunbeam Television, confirmed Ansin’s death.

At an age when most people are retired, Ansin remained involved at Sunbeam, which owns Channel 7 and Boston sister station WLVI-TV (Channel 56) and WSVN-TV (Channel 7) in Miami.

“Most people think I’m crazy not to retire,” Ansin told the Globe in December. “Tom Brady plays football until he’s 42, and that’s crazy, too. I’m obsessed with television. I just like it.”

Even though Ansin had a succession plan in place with his two sons, the media mogul was not ready to relinquish control. “I want to die with my boots on,” Ansin said.

Magnes said Ansin had been healthy and was at work last week but didn’t feel well over the weekend.

In a memo to Sunbeam employees, Magnes wrote: “Besides his family, Ed loved nothing more than owning and operating his television stations. We are all so fortunate to have worked for a man who truly cared about his employees and the industry.”

Ansin’s two sons, Andy and James, will take over the leadership of the company, according to Magnes. The Ansin family has been in the television business for more than half a century, first in Miami and then in Boston, where Ed Ansin bought Channel 7 in 1993.

In recent years, Ansin was in the headlines after a bitter breakup with NBC. WHDH had been the longtime Boston affiliate for the network, which gave it programming lead-ins like “The Today Show” and “The Voice.”

But in 2017, the two parted ways after more than two decades. Ansin set up an independent station, and NBC set up NBC10 Boston. Ansin, known as a maverick in the industry, decided to double down on local news and added staff to WHDH to ensure it would remain competitive.