Roy Black (30 October 1927 – 28 December 2009) was a British-born businessman, known for his work at Electronic Rentals Group, a UK public company during the 1960s in Dublin, Ireland specialising in television rentals. By 1970, ERG was the world's second largest Electronic Rental Company in the world with operations in 22 countries. From 1967 to 1973, ERG owned Gola and the Leisure Division was run by Alan Christopher Cowell MC along with companies like Camping Gaz Gola Sporting Goods. He is the nephew of Sir Adolph Weiner of

Viners Viners is a United Kingdom brand of cutlery, kitchenware and dinnerware products, founded in 1901 in Sheffield, England by Adolphe Viener and his sons. By the 1960s, it had expanded to subsidiaries in Ireland, Australia and France. In mid-2000, ...

Cutlery, who headed a prominent silversmith family in Sheffield and was knighted by the British monarchy. His wife, Maureen Black (née Peres) is the daughter of Harold Peres, legendary music producer and record distributor of

Solomon and Peres Solomon and Peres was a music and entertainment retailer, distributor and music production house based in Belfast, Northern Ireland and Ireland from 1924 to 1981, before becoming acquired by Decca Records. It was owned and operated by brothe ...

, a UK and Northern Ireland based company which later was acquired by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

. In 1986, The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) invited private sector companies to apply for a new television franchise via satellite. In an attempt to win the bid and operate ''The Direct Broadcasting by Satellite System'', Electronic Rentals Group was acquired by

Granada Limited Granada plc (previously called Granada Ltd, Granada Group plc, and Granada Media plc) was a British Conglomerate (company), conglomerate best known as the parent from 1954 to 2004 of the Manchester-based ITV Granada, Granada Television. The com ...

for an estimated £450M. The acquisition helped

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

to be awarded the fifteen-year franchise. In 1978, Black with his adult son Anthony Black and family moved to Johannesburg, South Africa to help establish broadcasting throughout Southern Africa. In 1978, Black's ERG subsidiary, Vision Hire, along with

King Sobhuza II Sobhuza II, (; also known as Nkhotfotjeni, Mona; 22 July 1899 – 21 August 1982) was the Paramount Chief and later Ngwenyama of Swaziland for 82 years and 254 days, the longest verifiable reign of any monarch in recorded history. Sobhuza was ...

Swaziland Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

, founded the Swaziland Television Broadcasting Corporation (STBC). From 1978 to 1979, the Swaziland Government positioned television satellites toward South Africa to provide anti-Apartheid broadcasting to South Africa. Black was considered a silent player in the fight against Apartheid. In 1983, the government of the

Kingdom of Swaziland Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

nationalised Black's privately owned company. The company had a monopoly in all television gadgets or equipment, as a result, they government also acquired and operated Vision Hire. With the change of the television station from STBC to STVA, the name of Vision Hire was changed to the Swaziland Television Authority Rentals (STAR).

Later years

In 1982, Black moved to San Diego, California, US, where he owned and operated Video Library, which later became known as Blockbuster Inc. In retirement, he served as a member of the board of directors of the Mingei International Museum and was California Western School of Law's chairman of the board of Trustees from 1991 to 1994, and continued to serve as chairman

Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

. In 1995, he was awarded an Honorary

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

. Later that year, California Western School of Law opened the Black Family Law Library in his honour. His wife, Maureen, is the cousin to Phil Solomon of

Major Minor Records Major Minor Records was a Northern Irish record label started by Phil Solomon in 1966. It had a distribution deal with Decca Records. Artists on the label included the Dubliners and Johnny Nash. Phil Solomon was also co-director of Radio Caroli ...

and Mervyn Solomon MBE, founder of

Emerald Music Emerald Music is an independent record label that specializes in Irish, Scottish, and Celtic music. It is based in Roughfort, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Background Emerald Music was founded in 1964 by Mervyn Solomon, the first person to r ...

. In 1970, Black and Solomon sold Major Minor Records to the EMI Group for a reported £10M. For many years, Black and the Solomon Brothers were among the largest shareholders of

. In 1993, ''

The London Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' featured an article on Black, the Solomon brothers, and the Oppenheim family, discussing their influence and pioneering success in British politics and British Pop Culture for over 50 years. The Times described them as one of the most influential dynasties in Great Britain.''The Times,'' 12 December 1993; pg. 32; "The Pioneers of British Pop Culture" By Julian Haviland

Notes

References

"Roy Black Obituary." 2009-12-29. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
* ttp://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-6521471.html "Video Power Plays on Availability." 1986-01-27 ''San Diego Business Journal''. Retrieved 2010-02-07.br>"Video Library Goes Public." 1987-11-17. ''Los Angeles Times.'' Retrieved 2010-02-07.
Encyclopedia.com, 1987-01-04

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Roy 1927 births 2009 deaths English businesspeople in retailing English expatriates in the United States Businesspeople from London Businesspeople from San Diego People educated at King William's College 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century English businesspeople