Tryg founded or co-founded six cable television networks including Food Network, E! Entertainment and Northwest Cable News.

Among Tryg’s most significant contributions was revolutionizing cable as a viable market for advertising through a “clustering strategy”, which also provided significant operating economies.

In the early 1980s, Tryg lobbied Congress to deregulate the cable industry, serving as the public face of the effort and acting as a liaison between government and industry. The resulting 1984 Communications Act was a defining regulatory achievement. He subsequently served on the FCC Advisory Committee for High-Definition Television.

Tryg co-founded several influential industry organizations including the Cable Advertising Bureau, Cable Labs and the Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing. He acted as chairman of the National Cable Television Association from 1986-1987.

Tryg was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame in 2004.

Tryg spent 13 years with American Television & Communications Corporation (ATC), starting as Vice President of Marketing in 1975 and ultimately serving as CEO from 1980-1988.

During Tryg’s time at ATC, the company was bought by Time, Inc., the HBO and CNN networks were introduced and ESPN, MTV, E! Entertainment and others were launched.

Under his leadership:

• ATC pioneered advancements in cable technology and capabilities, including video-on-demand, pay-per-view, advertising sales, data services and retail. 
• Sales grew 2,900 percent, from $50 million to $1.5 billion.  
• The 1986 IPO of ATC was the largest in the world that year. 

Tryg served on the Time Inc. Operating Committee, CNN Board of Directors, and internal boards including HBO, Temple Eastex and Time Magazine Group.

Tryg became president of the Providence Journal Company (ProJo) in 1990. In six years, he grew the company’s cable subscriber base from 250,000 to 800,000 and the broadcast station count from four to 14, eventually quadrupling the Company's valuation.

Under Tryg’s leadership, the Providence Journal-Bulletin, a publication of ProJo, received the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting. After negotiating the sale of ProJo’s cable TV assets to Continental Cable, taking the remaining Company public on the NYSE and concluding its subsequent sale to A.H. Belo Corp., he returned to Denver.