DuMont Television Network
Allen B. DuMont Laboratories began with just $1,000 in 1931 inside a basement laboratory. The company produced the first consumer electronic television receiver in 1938. A team extended cathode ray tube life from 24 hours to 1,000 hours, making sets practical for home use. During World War II, DuMont developed radar systems that generated $5 million in revenue by 1942. Experimental broadcasts started on the 13th of April 1940, at station W2XWV in Manhattan. This station received its commercial license as WABD in 1944. An experimental Washington station opened on the 19th of May 1945, becoming WTTG later that year. Regular network service officially launched on the 15th of August 1946, connecting New York and Washington via coaxial cable.
DuMont broke the standard business model of the 1950s where one advertiser controlled an entire show. Instead, the network sold commercials to multiple advertisers, freeing producers from veto power. Jackie Gleason hosted Cavalcade of Stars, which became the birthplace of The Honeymooners skits. Bishop Fulton J. Sheen won an Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Personality in 1952-53. Life Is Worth Living attracted over 10 million viewers and competed successfully against Milton Berle's variety show. The Morey Amsterdam Show moved from CBS to DuMont in 1949. Captain Video and His Video Rangers became a hugely popular children's science fiction series. The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong starred Anna May Wong, the first American TV show to feature an Asian American person. The Hazel Scott Show was the first American network TV series hosted by a black woman.
Paramount Pictures held a 40% share in DuMont Laboratories after advancing $400,000 in 1939. Relations between the two companies grew strained as early as 1939 when Paramount opened experimental stations without DuMont's involvement. Dr. DuMont claimed the original acquisition required Paramount to expand through DuMont, but Paul Raibourn denied this restriction existed. In 1947, DuMont applied for new licenses in Cincinnati and Cleveland to reach five owned-and-operated stations. The FCC ruled that Paramount controlled DuMont because it owned stations in Los Angeles and Chicago. This effectively placed the network at the maximum five-station cap allowed by regulations. Paramount refused to sell its shares or provide programs to DuMont. By 1953, Paramount publicly derided DuMont television set quality during court testimony regarding the ABC-United Paramount merger.
Television signals traveled via coaxial cable and microwave links owned by AT&T Corporation. In 1950, AT&T allotted NBC and CBS over 100 hours of live prime time service each. ABC received 53 hours while DuMont got only 37 hours. DuMont was forced to pay for radio lines it did not use since it lacked a radio network. The FCC imposed a freeze on new station applications from 1948 until 1952. When the freeze lifted, the FCC opened the UHF spectrum without requiring manufacturers to include tuning capabilities. Consumers had to buy expensive converters to see UHF stations. Picture quality remained marginal depending on geographic location. Television sets would not require all-channel tuning until 1964 with the All-Channel Receiver Act. DuMont bought KCTY channel 25 in Kansas City in 1954 but shut it down after three months losing $250,000.
DuMont survived early years thanks to WDTV in Pittsburgh, the sole commercial VHF station in the sixth-largest market. By 1953, ABC secured a merger with United Paramount Theaters providing needed cash infusion. ABC president Leonard Goldenson brokered a deal with Ted Bergmann to merge networks as ABC-DuMont. The merged entity would have owned stations in five of six largest US markets. However, Paramount vetoed the plan due to antitrust concerns. DuMont sold WDTV to Westinghouse for $9.75 million in late 1954. This eliminated leverage used to get program clearances in other markets. Advertising revenue shrank to less than half that of 1953. By February 1955, DuMont realized it could not continue network operations. Most entertainment programs dropped on the 1st of April 1955. The last non-sports program aired the 23rd of September 1955. A boxing match marked the final broadcast on the 6th of August 1956.
DuMont produced more than 20,000 television episodes from 1946 to 1956. These were recorded on film kinescopes since electronic videotape did not exist until late 1956. By the early 1970s, a successor network disposed of vast libraries of 35mm and 16mm kinescopes in New York City's East River. Actress Edie Adams testified before a Library of Congress panel in 1996 about this destruction. She claimed stored films were loaded into three trucks and dumped into Upper New York Bay. No salvage-diving efforts have located or recovered the archive. It is estimated that only about 350 complete shows survive today. Most existing episodes came from personal archives of hosts like Jackie Gleason and Dennis James. Some films submerged for decades have been successfully recovered including The Carpet from Bagdad. Other kinescopes underwent reclaiming processes to recover silver from photo emulsion on black-and-white film.
All three DuMont-owned stations still operate as owned-and-operated stations of their respective networks. Washington's WTTG retains its original call letters while New York's WABD became WNYW. Both survived as Metromedia-owned independents until 1986 when News Corporation purchased them to form Fox television network. Westinghouse changed WDTV's call letters to KDKA-TV after switching primary affiliation to CBS immediately after sale. Two other primary affiliates eventually joined Fox including KTTV and WSYX. KTTV was purchased by Metromedia in 1963 becoming one of charter Fox O&Os. WSYX added Fox programming to its third digital subchannel in 2021. WGN-TV and KWGN-TV remain currently owned by Nexstar Media Group as CW O&Os. For fifty years, DuMont remained the only major broadcast network to cease operations until UPN and The WB merged in September 2006 creating The CW Television Network.
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Common questions
When did the DuMont Television Network officially launch regular service?
Regular network service officially launched on the 15th of August 1946. This event connected New York and Washington via coaxial cable.
What caused the DuMont Television Network to cease operations in 1956?
DuMont ceased operations due to FCC regulations limiting it to five owned-and-operated stations while losing key markets like Pittsburgh. Advertising revenue shrank to less than half that of 1953, leading to the final broadcast on the 6th of August 1956.
How many television episodes did the DuMont Television Network produce between 1946 and 1956?
The DuMont Television Network produced more than 20,000 television episodes from 1946 to 1956. These were recorded on film kinescopes since electronic videotape did not exist until late 1956.
Why was the DuMont Television Network archive largely destroyed?
A successor network disposed of vast libraries of 35mm and 16mm kinescopes in New York City's East River by the early 1970s. Actress Edie Adams testified before a Library of Congress panel in 1996 about this destruction where stored films were loaded into three trucks and dumped into Upper New York Bay.
Which current television networks trace their origins to former DuMont Television Network stations?
Washington's WTTG retains its original call letters while New York's WABD became WNYW after News Corporation purchased them to form Fox television network. Westinghouse changed WDTV's call letters to KDKA-TV after switching primary affiliation to CBS immediately after sale.