29 May 2024
One of the great Australian radio broadcasters, with a career that started in 1942, has died at age 97.
Bob Rogers is notably remembered for introducing Top 40 radio programming to Australia in 1958, on 2UE Sydney. He will also be remembered as “The 5th Beatle” in 1964.
Born in country Victoria, Bob began at 3XY Melbourne in 1942 as a 15-year-old panel operator. He had a brief stint as an announcer at 7HO in Hobart in 1950 before going to 4BH Brisbane, until he left for 2UE in 1958. 2UE was the first station in Australia to introduce Top 40 charts and Bob was the nation’s first Top 40 disc jockey.
From there he went to 2SM, where he covered the Beatles’ tour in Australia, New Zealand and other countries. See/hear some clips below.
Later, Bob returned to 2UE before going to 2GB. As well as radio, he hosted a late night TV variety show called The Bob Rogers Show on Channel Seven.
Bob’s final move was to 2CH in 1995 where he presented the morning show into his 90s, until he suffered a stroke in 2018. Bob continued on a 2CH Saturday night show called Reminiscing before fully retiring less than four years ago, in October 2020.
Bob was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2002 and awarded an OAM for his contribution to broadcasting in 2010.
Bob interviewing The Beatles:
Bob talks about being with The Beatles:
Studio 10 feature introduced by Jono Coleman: Bob Rogers – the 5th Beatle:
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