-Caveat Lector- Yahoo! News Entertainment Headlines Monday December 27 07:57 PM EST ABC TV Pioneer Dies His name might not be of the household variety, but the network he built is. Broadcast visionary Leonard H. Goldenson, the man who took ABC from an also-ran to No. 1 juggernaut, died today in his Sarasota, Florida, home after a long illness, the network announced. He was 94. "Leonard Goldenson was a giant among broadcasters, and his influence on the business today is wide-ranging...[H]is impact on our business and on our company will be long remembered," said Robert Iger, chairman of the ABC Group. When Goldenson, then president of United Paramount Theaters, bought the American Broadcasting Company in 1953, the fledgling network barely existed--even below the level of a UPN or WB today. William Paley's CBS and David Sarnoff's NBC owned the airwaves. Under Goldenson's careful watch, the network pioneered the idea of movie studios making TV shows, and soon Disney and Warner Bros. created fare to rival entrenched variety programs hosted by the likes of Ed Sullivan, Bob Hope and Jack Benny. Goldenson's ABC went on to produce such indelible shows as The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, The Mickey Mouse Club, American Bandstand, Monday Night Football, Good Morning America, Maverick, The Fugitive, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Charlie's Angels and Roots, and, by 1977, reigned as the top-rated network. When he sold ABC to Capital Cities in 1986, the little-seen network he snapped up for $2.5 million was a $3.5 billion empire, owning eight stations, lording over 200-plus affiliates, having an interest in three cable networks and 17 radio stations and publishing 11 newspapers and several magazines. Born in Scottsdale, Pennsylvania, in 1905, Goldenson was schooled as a lawyer at Harvard before taking control of then-bankrupt United Paramount Theaters in 1951. A noted humanitarian, Goldenson helped found United Cerebral Palsy after the disease claimed the life of one of his daughters. He is survived by his wife, Isabelle, two daughters and one grandson. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://messenger.yahoo.com DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
