Rye’s Burke, Ex-Cap Cities ABC Exec is Dead

Rye's Daniel Burke, an accomplished broadcast executive, has died at age 82. From Variety:

"Daniel Burke, former Capital Cities/ABC president and CEO and the father of NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke, died of complications from diabetes at his home in Rye, N.Y., on Wednesday. He was 82.

Over a period of three decades, Daniel Burke and his business partner Tom Murphy built Capital Cities from a television station in Albany, N.Y., into a company with TV and radio operations as well as newspapers and magazines.

Burke oversaw its surprise 1986 purchase of ABC, a much larger company, which thrust him and longtime business partner Murphy into the national spotlight. At the time, the $3.5 billion deal (undertaken with Warren Buffett's backing) was the largest non-oil merger in business history…

In addition to Steve Burke, a former president of ABC, Daniel Burke is survived by his wife of 54 years, Harriet "Bunny" Burke; sons Bill, a former president of TBS and the Weather Channel, and Frank; daughter Sally; a brother and a sister; and 14 grandchildren.

A visitation service will be held at Graham Funeral Home, 1036 Post Road in Rye on Monday, from 3-7 p.m. The funeral will take place at St. Martha Church, 30 Portland Road in Kennebunk, Me."

Also see The New York Times obit.