James T. Aubrey, Jr.

James Thomas Aubrey, Jr. (December 14, 1918–September 3, 1994) was an American television and film executive. President of the CBS Television Network during the early 1960s, he put some of television's most successful series, including Gilligan's Island and The Beverly Hillbillies, on the air and consequently CBS dominated American television: during the 1963-1964 season, CBS had fourteen of the fifteen top-rated prime-time series. The New York Times Magazine in 1964 called him "a master of programming whose divinations led to successes that are breathtaking."

President of CBS

During his five years running the CBS network, he made it tremendously successful, increasing ratings and doubling the company's profits. In the 1963-1964 season, all twelve of the top day-time programs (such as As the World Turns, The Edge of Night, Search for Tomorrow, The Secret Storm and The Guiding Light) and fourteen of the top fifteen prime-time shows were on CBS–the lone exception was NBC's Bonanza, ranked number two. His formula was characterized as "broads, bosoms, and fun," resulting in such shows as The Beverly Hillbillies and Gilligan's Island, despised by the critics (and CBS chairman William S. Paley) but extremely popular with viewers. Aubrey said in 1986:

Related Topics:
1963 - 1964 - As the World Turns - The Edge of Night - Search for Tomorrow - The Secret Storm - The Guiding Light - NBC - Bonanza - The Beverly Hillbillies - Gilligan's Island - William S. Paley - 1986

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:I'd gone to CBS, and I'd become convinced `Beverly Hillbillies' was going to work. Bill Paley wasn't convinced. Bill has this great sense of propriety. Putting aside the Sarnoffs and all the other great names of broadcasting, Paley stood-stands-head and shoulders above everyone else. He had this blasting genius of instinctively looking at a show and knowing if it should be on the air. He could also be ruthless and distant. . . But Bill was intuitive about both the business and creative sides of TV. And he genuinely disliked `Beverly Hillbillies.' I put it on the schedule anyway.

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CBS's dominance was so great that when the fall schedules were announced, ABC and NBC would wait until CBS announced its plans, effectively making Aubrey programmer for all three networks. CBS had great success with rural-themed programs such as the Hillbillies, The Andy Griffith Show, Mr. Ed, Green Acres, and Petticoat Junction. Yet another hit that Paley hated was The Munsters.

Related Topics:
The Andy Griffith Show - Mr. Ed - Green Acres - Petticoat Junction - The Munsters

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"The hucksters' huckster," David Halberstam labeled him, "whose greatest legacy to television was a program called The Beverly Hillbillies, a series so demented and tasteless that it boggles the mind, depicting as it did, in the words of Murray Kempton, ' a confrontation of the characters of John Steinbeck with the environment of Spyros Skouras." Aubrey had a great feel for what would be successful with viewers, but had nothing but contempt for them: "The American public is something I fly over."

Related Topics:
David Halberstam - Murray Kempton - John Steinbeck - Spyros Skouras

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In 1962, a United States Senate committee investigating juvenile delinquency held hearings on sex on television and called executives from the three networks. The chairman Thomas J. Dodd (D-Connecticut) blasted "an unmistakable pattern." "You all seem to use the same terminology–to think alike–and to jam this stuff down the people's throat." Dodd accused Aubrey of putting "prurient sex" in the CBS program Route 66 and confronted him with his "bosoms, broads, and fun" quotation, a remark Aubrey denied ever saying.

Related Topics:
1962 - United States Senate - Juvenile delinquency - Thomas J. Dodd - D - Connecticut - Route 66

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When Spyros Skouras, the chairman of Twentieth Century Fox, was forced out in July 1962, Aubrey was widely mentioned to be his successor, but he openly denied he had any intention of leaving CBS.

Related Topics:
Spyros Skouras - Twentieth Century Fox - 1962

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