Bob Rogers Show, The

1 9 6 9 – 1 9 7 3 (Australia)
75 minute episodes

Fresh from a spot as a judge on Australia’s version of New Faces, veteran Sydney radio broadcaster Bob Rogers took the desk on his own Tonight show

Premiering on Wednesday 27 August 1969, the show was originally broadcast live until 1971, when – primarily to accommodate Melbourne audiences – it was recorded and broadcast later.

Regular segments on the show included the ‘Bob’s Odds’ quiz and a “Dubious Achievement” award. On 19 November 1969, the show broadcast the live moon walk of the Apollo 12 astronauts.

Bob’s guests over the years included Tiny Tim, The Ink Spots, Roy Orbison, Paul Anka, Elton John, Jerry Lewis, Spike Milligan, Lulu, Johnnie Ray, Engelbert Humperdinck, Mary Quant, David Frost, The Bachelors, Bill Cosby, Sid James, Des O’Connor, The Carpenters, Buddy Greco, Zager and Evans, Gough Whitlam, Wee Willie Harris, Patrick Macnee from The Avengers, Rolf Harris, Johnny Farnham, Val Doonican, Sergio Mendes and Brazil 66, Johnny O’Keefe, Bobbie Gentry, Jack Jones, Little Pattie, Dr Joyce Brothers, Julie Felix, Mel Torme, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Larry Hagman, Kiki Dee, Clement Freud, Barry Humphries, Ed Devereaux from Skippy, Gene Barry, Charles Aznavour, Carol Channing, Honor Blackman, Judy Stone, Frankie Vaughan, Patrick Cargill, Dinah Lee, Normie Rowe, Barry Crocker and Ronnie Burns.

When Bob Rogers was stricken with glandular fever and forced to convalesce for six weeks in 1972, the show was compered by four stand-in hosts – Frank Ifield, Mike Preston, Tony Barber and Mary Hardy.  The show was actually earmarked for cancellation in August 1972, but was given a reprieve due to public response.

After four and a half years, The Bob Rogers Show finally came to a close at the end of 1973, with Rogers and ATN-7 coming to a mutual agreement not to renew the show in 1974. The final show aired on 7 December.

Bob was still heard on Sydney’s Radio 2UE every morning while his television show was on the air. In fact, he worked as a radio DJ for 76 years from 1944 to 2020 –  notably on 2UE, 2SM, 2GB and 2CH in Sydney.

Rogers died in Mosman, Sydney, on 29 May 2024, at the age of 97.

Host
Bob Rogers