Paul Franklin KAGAN

1937 - 2020

KAGAN--Paul Franklin. December 19, 1937 - August 23, 2020. Paul Kagan, 82, cable television pioneer who was among the first to discover the potential of cable TV, passed away peacefully at his home in Carmel, CA, from kidney failure. Born and raised in the Bronx, Paul went to Hunter College in New York and moved to Binghamton to become a sportswriter and play-by-play radio announcer for the New York Yankees farm team. He returned to New York City where he did public relations for Stan Lee of Marvel Comics, sold radio advertising at CBS and WOR-FM in New York, and was a freelance writer for newspapers, magazines, and Barron's. In 1968, while a broadcasting securities analyst for E.F. Hutton/ Wall Street, his fascination for the nascent cable television industry evolved, and in 1969, he left to create Paul Kagan Associates, Inc. and publish "Cable TV Investor," the first newsletter in this emerging media field. In 1978 he moved his growing business and family to Carmel, CA, and over the span of his almost 50-year career, Paul and PKA published over 38 newsletters and 95 data books on all aspects of the media in the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Dubbed "the Cable TV Guru," Paul conducted and participated in hundreds of seminars and conferences across the US and around the world. He was an appraiser of media values, managed stock and bond funds, consulted for leading companies and government agencies, and often appeared in major newspapers, magazines, and television. Paul wrote twice-monthly columns for Cable World magazine, which he co-founded and financed, and created Euromedia, the first pan-European business magazine. In 1989 he opened an office in London and soon followed with offices in Los Angeles, Denver, and Hong Kong. His website pkbaseline.com was the first to offer pay-per-view data; his newsletter "Media Investor" was the first publication to recognize the role of internet search engines as media companies. In 2000, Paul sold PKA, which was ultimately renamed Kagan Research, and continues to operate as SNL Kagan, a unit of S&P Global Market Intelligence. He launched PK Worldmedia Inc, in 2006, and as Chairman/ CEO, conducted conferences and provided research and consulting services to executives, financiers and investors in digital entertainment and communications. He was co-founder and director of The Cable Center in Denver and co-founder and director emeritus of the John Bayliss Broadcast Foundation; a fellow of the New York Society of Security Analysts, member of the Media Analysts Group of New York, and inducted into both the Cable Hall of Fame and Hunter College Hall of Fame. When Paul wasn't working, he was taking thousands of pictures of everyone he knew. He was a talented photographer, artist, guitar player, and an avid sports fan - especially of the Yankees and the Warriors. He loved newspapers, books, art, music, movies, TV, Broadway musicals, traveling, and a good joke. Most of all, he deeply loved and supported his family and friends, and his generosity towards everyone knew no bounds. He will be missed beyond comprehension. Survivors include his high school sweetheart and beloved wife of 62 years, Florrie; devoted daughters and sons-in-law, Melanie and Ross Canter and Linda and Ron Cosmero; adored grandchildren Mia Canter, Gabriel Canter and Matthew Cosmero; his loving sister Beatrice Kagan; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, goddaughters and friends who meant the world to him. A private burial was held on August 27th, in Pacific Grove, CA, but a celebration of his life will be planned for a later date. Donations in Paul's memory can be made to the Warriors Community Foundation: https://donorbox.org/ in-memory-of-paul-kagan