John White Hughes Bassett, (August 25, 1915 – April 27, 1998) was a Canadian media proprietor. Born in Ottawa, Ontario, he was the son of John Bassett (1886–1958), publisher of the Montreal Gazette, and Marion Avery (née Wright). Education Bassett attended Ashbury College, Bishop's College School and graduated from Bishop's University with a BA in 1936. Politics After fighting with the Army in World War II, Bassett ran unsuccessfully for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, in the 1945 Canadian election in the riding of Sherbrooke, losing to Liberal incumbent, Maurice Gingues. He also ran in the 1962 election in the riding of Spadina losing to Liberal candidate Perry Ryan by less than 2,000 votes. Publishing and broadcasting He became a reporter for Toronto's The Globe and Mail newspaper after graduating from university. After World War II, he was hired by the Toronto Telegram as advertising director. His first experience in newspaper ownership was with the Sherbrooke Daily Record, which he bought from his father. In 1952, Bassett purchased part ownership of the Toronto Telegram. In 1960, he founded Baton Broadcasting to run Toronto's first commercial television station, CFTO-TV. A few months later, he won the television rights to the Eastern Conference of the Canadian Football League. He needed a network in order to broadcast the games. The result was the Canadian Television Network, later to become CTV, with CFTO as the flagship station. Starting in the 1980s, Bassett began a drive to take over CTV by buying as many stations as possible. He succeeded in 1997, a year before his death. Sports From 1957 to 1974, Bassett was the owner of the Toronto Argonauts, a team in the Canadian Football League. In 1957, he was named to the "Silver Seven," a committee that oversaw hockey operations for the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 1961, longtime Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe sold most of his shares in Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. (which owned the Maple Leafs and Maple Leaf Gardens) to a partnership of his son Stafford, Toronto Marlboros president Harold Ballard and Bassett for $2.3 million. Smythe later claimed that he thought he was selling only to his son, but it is very unlikely that Stafford would have been able to raise the money on his own. Bassett became chairman of the Gardens' board of directors, when Smythe resigned shortly after Toronto won the Stanley Cup in 1962. Bassett's name