DuMont Television Network

The DuMont Television Network was a pioneer American television network, beginning operation in 1946; when DuMont began operations, rivals CBS and NBC had not revived their pre-war experimental efforts, and ABC had no television plans. DuMont was controlled by DuMont Labratories, Inc., a broadcasting-equipment and set manufacturer started by inventor Dr. Allen B. DuMont. A minority shareholder in DuMont was Paramount Pictures, an early investor in television broadcasting with station interests of its own. DuMont owned and operated three television stations, WABD (named for Allen B. DuMont) in New York City (now WNYW), WDTV in Pittsburgh (now KDKA-TV), and WTTG (named for Dr. Thomas T. Goldsmith, DuMont's Vice-President of Research, and his best friend) in Washington, D.C.

Dissolution

DuMont stayed afloat in the early 1950s by a de-facto monopoly WDTV held in Pittsburgh, the nation's sixth-largest market. WDTV's only competition came from UHF stations, so it was the only reliably-seen station in town. Since WDTV offered secondary affiliations to NBC, CBS and ABC, DuMont could use this as a bargaining chip for comparable clearances in other markets. But by 1953 DuMont was in severe financial straits. That year, the struggling ABC (with only fourteen affiliates) was bought by United Paramount Theaters (recently spun off from Paramount Pictures.) An idea was floated to merge DuMont and ABC, but this was rejected by Paramount Pictures. With no other way to readily obtain cash, DuMont sold WDTV to Westinghouse Electric Corporation for $6.75 million. While this gave DuMont a short-term cash infusion, it eliminated the leverage DuMont needed to obtain clearances in other markets. By February 1955, DuMont realized it could not continue in network television, and decided to shut down network operations and operate WABD and WTTG as independents. On April 1, 1955, regularly scheduled DuMont network programming was cancelled, with only sports and re-runs sustaining the network through the summer.

Related Topics:
1950s - 1953 - Westinghouse Electric Corporation - 1955 - April 1

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A few months later, Paramount staged a boardroom coup and seized full control of DuMont Laboratories. The last non-sports program on DuMont television aired on September 23, 1955. After that, DuMont used its network feed only for occasional sporting events. DuMont's last broadcast, a boxing match, occurred on August 8, 1956. At Paramount's command, DuMont spun off WABD and WTTG as the "DuMont Broadcasting Corporation," which later changed its name to Metropolitan Broadcasting to distance itself from what was seen as a failure. John Kluge bought Paramount's shares in 1958 and changed the company's name to Metromedia two years later.

Related Topics:
Boardroom coup - September 23 - August 8 - 1956 - John Kluge - 1958 - Metromedia

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