Columbia Broadcasting System

CBS network, which traditionally is called the "Tiffany network" among the largest television systems, has in recent years come more and more like Wal-Mart. Ironically, this is often the prestige-laden television institution began almost as an afterthought. In 1927, David Sarnoff once did not consider it appropriate to include some of the talent agent Arthur Judson's clients in his catalog of stars in the new NBC radio network, Judson defiantly founded his own network --- United independent television stations. Soon merged with the Columbia Phonograph Company, the network went live on 18 September 1927 as the Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting Company. Within a year of heavy losses forced sale of the company to Jerome Louchheim and Ike and Leon Levy, the latter the fiance of the sister of William Paley. Paley, who had been in love with radio as a result of advertising the family's La Palina cigars over a local station, bought the fledgling network, then consisting of 22 subsidiaries and 16 employees for $ 400,000 on 18 January 1929, and renamed the Columbia Broadcasting System.

Relatively untested as a business executive, Paley immediately shown an excellent entrepreneur. He assured that the success of the new network by offering affiliates free programming in exchange for an option on advertising time and was very aggressive in getting publicity for the network. Paley's greatest gift, however, was to recognize talent. He soon signed singers as Bing Crosby, Kate Smith and Morton Downey for the network. Unfortunately, when some of them gained a reputation at CBS, they were lured away from the much richer and more popular NBC. This was not the case with the news. Starved for programming Paley initially allowed his network to be used by the likes of the demagogic Father Charles Coughlin. But by 1931 had Paley denounced Coughlin's broadcasts, and led by former New York Times Editor Edward Klauber and ex-United Press reporter Paul White, began to build a strong news division. CBS News did not come of age, however, until Klauber awarded the young Edward R. Murrow in London as director of the European negotiations. On March 13, 1937 at the time of the Anschluss, gone Murrow with former newspaper foreign correspondent William L. Shirer and some others to describe those events in what would become the forerunner for the CBS World News Roundup. Later, during World War II, Murrow together an excellent team of reporters, known collectively as "Murrow's Boys", as Eric Sevareid, Charles Collingwood, Howard K. Smith, Winston Burdett, Richard K. Hottelet and Larry Lesueur.

In 1948 Paley turned the tables on NBC and signed some of its premier talent such as Jack Benny, Red Skelton, and Burns and Allen. He also stole a march on his rivals in what they considered their undisputed realm - technology --- when his CBS Research Center, led by the brilliant inventor Peter Goldmark, developed Long Playing phonograph recording technique and color TV. Even with this success, Paley was still disgusted by entering television. But with strong encouragement from Dr. Frank Stanton, whom he had appointed CBS president in 1946, and his growing awareness of how quickly television grew, Paley began increasing investments in CBS-TV programs. Indeed, with talent that CBS had taken from NBC and homemade artists and programming such as I Love Lucy, Ed Sullivan, Arthur Godfrey, and Gunsmoke, CBS dominated audience rating system for almost twenty years.

After the war years was hardly a peaceful Triumfmarsch for CBS. The network was even called the Communist Broadcasting System conservatives during the McCarthy era. Nor differs by requiring loyalty oaths its staff, and hiring a former FBI man as leader of a loyalty clearance office. These measures were however largely redeemed by Edward R. Murrow 's March 9, 1954, and it now sends investigate Senator McCarthy. Unfortunately Murrow's penchant for controversy seen him in the eyes of many CBS executives and shortly thereafter, in 1961, he retired as head of U.S. Information Agency.

More and more news division, who thought of himself as the crown jewel of CBS, was subject to entertainment values of the company, a trend highlighted in the late 1950s by the quiz show scandals. Indeed Paley that CBS had taken public in 1937, now seemed to make a profit his priority. Perhaps the clearest sign of this development took place when Fred Friendly, one of Murrow's closest associates, and then CBS News Division President, resigned after the repeat of I Love Lucy was shown instead of the 1966 Senate hearings on the Vietnam War.

This tendency was only exacerbated in the sixties when, despite nearly universal critical disdain, was The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres and Petticoat Junction CBS's biggest hits. However, an abrupt shift away from these programs took place in early 1970. Programming executives Robert Wood and Fred Silverman inaugurated a series of such shows as All in the Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and M * A * S * H.

These changes had less to do with any contempt for the rural idiocy "barnyard comedy" than is necessary to appeal to a younger audience for urban areas with larger disposable incomes. But the newer programs, with their socially conscious themes garnered both audience and criticism.

In these years, the surplus increased to such an extent that the 1974 Columbia Broadcasting System was CBS, Inc. and consisted not only of radio and television networks, but a publishing division (Holt, Reinhart and Winston), a magazine Division ( Woman's Day), a recording division (Columbia Records), and even for a time, The New York Yankees (1964-73). Nonetheless, CBS, Inc. was hardly serene. Actually it was rather excited over the question of who would succeed William S. Paley.

In violation of its own rule, Paley refused to retire. He has, however, force in the 1973 withdrawal of its logical successor, Frank Stanton. He installed and quickly forced to resign by Arthur Taylor, John Backe, and Thomas Wyman, president and CEO of CBS, Inc. Anxiety about each other at CBS began to threaten the network's independence. Declining audience left the company vulnerable. The biggest threat came from a takeover bid from cable mogul Ted Turner. To defend itself against a takeover CBS turned to the Loew's president, Lawrence Tisch, who once owned a 25% share in the company and became CEO in 1986.

Within a year Tisch cuts in staff and budget, and his sale of assets such as registration, magazines, and publishing divisions had alienated many. Dan Rather, who had succeeded the avuncular Walter Cronkite as anchor of CBS Evening News in 1981, wrote a scathing New York Times opinion editorial called "From Murrow to mediocrity." In 1990 years, Paley's death, CBS Evening News, which had led in the ratings for eighteen years during Cronkite, and a long period of time instead of number three in the rankings. After what seemed a short ratings resurrection as a result of a successful 1992 Winter Olympics and the 1993 coup by wresting The David Letterman Show away from NBC, CBS was outbid for the rights to the NFL professional football, which is still in its infancy Fox network and so on leaving twelve electoral subsidiaries of the same company. Despite repeated rejection, it was for sale, traded Tisch that perspective clients who formerly Paramount and Fox chairman Barry Diller. In November 1995, CBS sold to Westinghouse Corporation for $ 5.4 billion, effectively bringing a close to CBS's history as an independent company.