Paley, William S. 1901-1990

TELEVISION NETWORK EXECUTIVE

Tycoon.

William S. Paley was the most dynamic tycoon in the television industry of the 1950s. As president and chairman of the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), Paley built a struggling radio network into a radio and teleivision empire. No person had greater influence on the development of television, its broadcasting content, and its cultural power.

Early Career.

Born in Chicago in 1901, Paley began his career in the Congress Cigar Company, which the Paley family owned. As vice-president of Congress, Paley contracted in the mid 1920s to advertise on the Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System, a small struggling radio network headquartered in Philadelphia and owned by United Independent Broadcastings. His interest in broadcasting piqued, Paley bought United in 1928 for five hundred thousand dollars and renamed it Columbia Broadcasting System. By 1929 he had increased the...

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