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The DuMont Television Network was the world's first officially licensed commercial television network, beginning operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont Laboratories, a television equipment and set manufacturer. The network was hindered by the prohibitive cost of broadcasting, FCC regulations which restricted the company's growth, and by the company's own partner, Paramount Pictures. Despite several innovations in broadcasting and creating one of television's biggest stars of the 1950s, the network never found itself on solid financial ground. Forced to expand on UHF channels during an era when UHF was not profitable, DuMont closed its doors and ceased broadcasting in 1956. The network is not well-remembered today, prompting several TV historians to refer to DuMont as the "Forgotten Network". A few popular DuMont programs, such as Cavalcade of Stars and Emmy-award winner Life is Worth Living, appear in TV retrospectives or are mentioned in passing, but almost all the network's programming was destroyed by the early 1970s. As the few viewers who still remember the network grow older, a time will come when no one will remember the DuMont Network.
Origins DuMont Laboratories was founded in 1932 by Dr. Allen B. DuMont. He and his staff were responsible for many early technical innovations, including the first all-electronic consumer television set in 1938. Its television sets soon became the gold standard of the industry. A few months after selling his first television set, DuMont opened an experimental television station in New York City, W2XWV. Unlike CBS and NBC, he continued experimental broadcasts throughout World War II. In 1944, W2XWV became WABD (after DuMont's initials), the third commercial television station in New York. On May 19, 1945, DuMont opened experimental W3XWT in Washington, D.C. A minority shareholder in DuMont Laboratories was Paramount Pictures, which had advanced $400,000 in 1939 for a 40% share in the company. Paramount had television interests of its own, having launched experimental stations in Los Angeles in 1939 and Chicago in 1940. DuMont's association with Paramount ultimately proved to be a mistake. Soon after his experimental Washington station signed on, DuMont began experimental coaxial cable hookups between his laboratories in Passaic, New Jersey and his two stations. One of those hookups was the announcement of the U.S.'s dropping of an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945. This was later considered by both Thomas T. Goldsmith, the network's chief engineer (and DuMont's best friend), and Dr. DuMont himself as the official beginning of DuMont. Regular network service began on August 15, 1946 on WABD and W3XWT. In 1947, W3XWT became WTTG, named after Goldsmith. The pair were joined in 1949 by WDTV in Pittsburgh. Although NBC was known to have had a station-to-station link as early as 1943, DuMont received a network license before CBS and NBC even resumed their experimental broadcasts. ABC had just come into existence as a radio network in 1943 and at the time had no plans for television. Programming Despite no history of radio programming to draw on and perennial cash shortages, DuMont was an innovative and creative network. Without the radio revenues that supported mighty NBC and CBS, DuMont programmers had to rely on their wits and on connections in Broadway to provide original programs still remembered fifty-plus years later. The network also largely ignored the standard business model of 1950s television, in which one advertiser sponsored an entire show, enabling it to have complete control over its content. Instead, DuMont sold commercials to many different advertisers, freeing producers of its shows from the veto power held by sole sponsors. This eventually became the standard model for U.S. television. DuMont also holds another important place in American television history. WDTV's sign-on made it possible for stations in the Midwest to receive live network programming from stations on the East Coast, and vice versa. Before then, the networks relied on regional Eastern and Midwest networks for live programming, and the West Coast received network programming from kinescopes (films shot directly from live television screens) shot on the East Coast. On January 11, 1949, the coaxial cable linking the two regions (known in television circles as "the Golden Spike") was activated. The ceremony, hosted by DuMont and WDTV, was carried on all four networks. It would be another two years before the West Coast could get live programming, but this was the beginning of the modern era of network television. The first broadcasts came from DuMont's Madison Avenue headquarters, but it soon found additional space, including a fully-functioning theater, in the New York branch of Wanamaker's department store. Still later, a lease on the Adelphi Theater on 54th Street gave the network a site for variety shows, and in 1954, the lavish DuMont Tele-Center was opened in the former New York Opera House at 205 East 67th Street. Among some of DuMont's better-remembered programs: DuMont also offered: Although DuMont's programming pre-dated videotape, many DuMont offerings were caught on kinescopes. These kinescopes were said to be stored in an ABC network warehouse until the 1970s. Actress Edie Adams, the wife of comedian Ernie Kovacs (both regular performers on early television) testified in 1996 before a panel of the Library of Congress on the preservation of television and video. Adams claimed that so little value was given to these films that in the early 1970s the kinescopes were removed from ABC's warehouse and dumped into Upper New York Bay. Nevertheless, a number of DuMont programs survive at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York City, the UCLA television archives in Los Angeles, and the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago. Halted at the start DuMont began with one basic disadvantage: unlike NBC and CBS, it did not have a radio network from which to draw revenue and talent. Also, most early television licenses were granted to established radio broadcasters, and many long-time relationships with radio networks carried over to the new medium. As CBS and NBC gained their footing, they began to offer programming that drew on their radio backgrounds, bringing over the most popular radio stars. Early television stations, when asked to choose between an affiliation with CBS offering Jack Benny, Lucille Ball and Ed Sullivan, or DuMont with a then-unknown Jackie Gleason and Bishop Sheen, chose the well-travelled route. In smaller markets, with a limited number of stations, DuMont and ABC were often relegated to secondary status, so their programs got clearance only if the primary network was off the air or on a delayed basis via a kinescope recording (or "teletranscriptions" as they were referred to by DuMont). DuMont aspired to grow beyond its three stations, applying for licenses in Boston (or Philadelphia, depending on the source) and Cincinnati. This would have given the network five stations, the maximum allowed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) at the time. However, DuMont was hampered by minority owner Paramount's two stations, KTLA-TV in Los Angeles and WBKB-TV (now WBBM-TV) in Chicago. Although these stations never carried DuMont programming (with the exception of one year on KTLA from 1947–48), and in fact competed with the DuMont affiliates in those cities, the FCC ruled that Paramount's two licenses were in theory DuMont owned and operated stations, which effectively placed DuMont at the five-station cap. Adding to DuMont's troubles was the FCC's 1948 "freeze" on television-license applications. This was done to sort out the thousands of applications that had come streaming in, but also to rethink the allocation and technical standards laid down prior to World War II. It became clear soon after the war that 12 channels (48 MHz–54 MHz had been removed from television broadcasting use) were not nearly enough for national television service. What was to be a six-month freeze lasted until 1952, when the FCC opened the UHF spectrum. The FCC, however, did not require television manufacturers to include UHF capability. In order to see UHF stations, most people had to buy an expensive converter. Even then, the picture quality was marginal at best. Tied to this was a decision to restrict VHF allocations in medium- and smaller-sized markets. Television sets were not required to have all-channel tuning until 1964. Forced to rely on UHF to expand, DuMont saw one station after another go dark due to dismal ratings. DuMont bought a small, distressed UHF station in Kansas City in 1954, but ran it for just two months before shutting it down at a considerable loss, after attempting to compete with three established VHF stations. The FCC's Dr. Hyman Goldin said in 1960, "If there had been four VHF outlets in the top markets, there's no question DuMont would have lived and would have eventually turned the corner in terms of profitability. I have no doubt in my mind of that at all." The end DuMont only survived the early 1950s because of WDTV in Pittsburgh, the only commercial VHF station in what was then the sixth-largest market. WDTV's only competition came from UHF stations and grade B signals from stations in Youngstown , Johnstown and Wheeling. No other commercial VHF station signed on in Pittsburgh until 1957, giving WDTV a de facto monopoly on television in Pittsburgh. Since WDTV carried secondary affiliations with the other three networks, DuMont used this as a bargaining chip to get its programs cleared in other large markets. Despite its severe financial straits, by 1953 DuMont appeared to be on its way to establishing itself as the third national network. DuMont programs aired live on 16 stations, but it could only count on five primary stations (its three O&Os plus WGN-TV in Chicago and KTTV in Los Angeles). In contrast, ABC had a full complement of five O&Os augmented by nine primary affiliates. ABC also had a radio network (it was descended from NBC's Blue Network) on which to draw revenue. However, DuMont had by this time turned its biggest liability—its lack of live clearances—into an asset. Claiming CBS and NBC were too expensive, DuMont sought to offer a medium for advertisers to pick and choose where their programs aired, thus saving them millions of dollars. ABC, on the other hand, operated in a similar manner as CBS and NBC, slapping advertisers with a "must buy" station lineup. However, with only 14 primary stations, compared to CBS and NBC, which had over 40 primary stations each, it soon found itself badly overextended and on the verge of bankruptcy. The picture was dramatically altered in 1953, when ABC was bought by United Paramount Theaters (recently spun off from Paramount Pictures). The merger provided ABC with a huge cash infusion. Also, through UPT president Leonard Goldenson, it gained ties with the Hollywood studios that more than matched the ties DuMont's producers had with Broadway. Realizing that the ABC-UPT deal put the company on life support, the staff at DuMont was very receptive to a merger offer from ABC. Goldenson quickly brokered a deal with Ted Bergmann, DuMont's managing director, under which the merged network would have been called "ABC-DuMont" until at least 1958, and would honor all of DuMont's network commitments. In return, DuMont would get $5 million in cash, guaranteed advertising time for DuMont sets, and a secure future for its staff. However, Paramount vetoed the plan almost out of hand due to antitrust concerns. A few months earlier, the FCC had ruled that Paramount controlled DuMont, and there were still some questions about whether UPT had really separated from Paramount. In any case, a merged ABC-DuMont would have had to sell a New York station—either DuMont's WABD or ABC's WJZ-TV (now WABC-TV)—as well as two other stations. With no other way to readily obtain cash, DuMont sold WDTV to Westinghouse Electric Corporation for $9.75 million. While this gave DuMont a short-term cash infusion, it eliminated the leverage DuMont had to get clearances in other markets. Without the exclusive Pittsburgh market, the company's advertising revenue shrank to less than half that of 1953. By February 1955, DuMont realized it could not continue as a television network. It decided to shut down network operations and operate WABD and WTTG as independents. On April 1, 1955, most of DuMont's entertainment programs were dropped. Bishop Sheen aired his last program on DuMont on April 26 and later moved to ABC. By May, only eight programs were left on the network, with only inexpensive shows and sporting events keeping what was left of the network going through the summer. The network also abandoned the use of the intercity network coaxial cable, on which it had spent $3 million in 1954 to transmit shows that mostly lacked station clearance. In August, Paramount, with the help of other stockholders, seized full control of DuMont Laboratories. The last non-sports program on DuMont aired on September 23, 1955. After that, DuMont's network feed was used only for occasional sporting events. DuMont's last broadcast, a boxing match, occurred on August 6, 1956. DuMont spun off WABD and WTTG as the "DuMont Broadcasting Corporation". The name was later changed to "Metropolitan Broadcasting" to distance the company from what was seen as a complete all-around failure. John Kluge bought Paramount's shares for $4 million in 1958, changing the company's name to Metromedia in 1960. WABD became WNEW-TV and later WNYW; WTTG still broadcasts under its original call letters. For 50 years, DuMont was the only major television network to go off the air, until UPN and the WB networks shut down in 2006 to merge and form the CW network. Fate of the DuMont stations All three DuMont-owned stations are still operating, though they are now affiliated with other networks. Coincidentally, all three are O&Os, just as when they were part of DuMont. Of the three, only Washington's WTTG still has its original call letters. New York's WABD—later WNEW-TV, and now WNYW—and Washington's WTTG survived as independents in the Metromedia Group before being bought by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation for its Fox Broadcasting Company, in 1986. Clarke Ingram, who maintains a DuMont memorial site, has suggested that Fox is a revival or at least a linear descendant of DuMont. Indeed, WNYW is still headquartered in the former DuMont Tele-Centre, now known as the Fox Broadcasting Center. Westinghouse changed WDTV's calls to KDKA-TV, and switched its primary affiliation to CBS immediately after the sale. Westinghouse's acquisition of CBS in 1995 made KDKA-TV a CBS owned-and-operated station. DuMont affiliates At its peak in 1954, DuMont was affiliated with around 200 TV stations. In those days, TV stations were free to "cherry-pick" which programs they would air, and many stations affiliated with multiple networks. Many of DuMont's "affiliates" carried very little DuMont programming, choosing to air one or two more popular programs (such as Life is Worth Living) and/or sports programming on the weekends. Few stations carried the full DuMont program line-up. In its later years, DuMont was carried mostly on poorly-watched UHF channels or had only secondary affiliations on VHF stations. DuMont ended most operations on April 1, 1955, but honored network commitments until August 1956. Notes | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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