Syndication Legend Stan Moger Dies

Stanley Moger, a producer and distributor of many popular TV shows whose remarkable career also included work as a radio announcer, TV personality, show biz publicist, voice-over artist, account executive and media buyer, died July 25 in Purchase, N.Y., after a long battle with liver cancer and other ailments. He was 81.

NATPE once named Moger a “legend of syndication,” but he hardly needed such certification. The many shows he either produced, syndicated or otherwise distributed trace the history of television.

They include everything from Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club and The Joey Bishop Show to the Lost Kennedy Home Movies and the Battle of the Network Stars.

Stanley Moger

“Stan was the world’s best — bar none — salesperson,” Moger’s son-in-law Michael Maizes said at the memorial service last Friday. “Stan never forgot; always followed up; never took no for an answer, and never stopped. No favor was too big or too small. His generosity without boundary.

“We would be in a sales call and the buyer would say, ‘Stan, great to see you, but there is no way we can buy this.’ And Stan would say, ‘Great, I will take that as a definite maybe. I will call you in a few weeks.’

“He then would follow up, just as he said, after a deluge of AFI posters, return of the buyer’s business card in a laminated luggage tag, and several job interviews set up for the buyer’s kid. More likely than not, he would make the sale.

“His superpower was empathy. Each of you who are here today to honor this man knows what I am talking about. The man’s energy and presence was simply overwhelming and indescribable.

“His ability to put himself into the shoes of those around him was unmatched. He always knew what the other person wanted or was thinking. He always knew how to make all round him feel special, important, and loved.”

After graduating from Colby College, Moger and two partners co-founded SFM Media Corporation in 1969, as the first of a new group of media buying services, which became the largest media buying independent in the U.S.

In 1998, Havas Media purchased the media buying service, keeping Moger to run its entertainment division, which is credited with developing and implementing advertiser product placement in media programming.

Moger was recognized as a national media expert whose services were sought by the academic, legal and multimedia communities.

He served on the boards of the International Documentary Association, the Broadcasters Foundation of America, the International Radio & Television Foundation, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences; was a voting member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, a member of the Hollywood Broadcast Pioneers and a member/consultant of The American Film Institute.

He was honored with a Doctorate of Letters in media and communications from Grand Canyon University.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Marcia Fleishman Moger; their two daughters Robin Maizes and Wendy Bross; and grandchildren Jeffrey, Alexa, Paige Maizes and Sophie Bross.