{{Infobox Network
| name          = DuMont Television Network
| logo          = [[Image:dumont.jpg|250px]]
| country       = {{USA}}
| network_type  = [[Terrestrial television|Broadcast]] [[television network]]
| available     = defunct
| owner         = 
| key_people    = 
| launch_date   = [[August 15]], [[1946]]
| closure_date = [[August 6]], [[1956]]
| past_names    = 
| website       = 
|}}

The '''DuMont Television Network''' was the world's first commercial [[television network]], beginning operation in the [[United States]] in [[1946 in television|1946]].<ref name="DTNHWS">[http://members.aol.com/cingram/television/dumont2.htm DuMont Television Network Historical Web Site]</ref> It was owned by [[DuMont Laboratories]], a television equipment and set manufacturer. The network was hindered by the prohibitive cost of broadcasting, [[FCC]] regulations which restricted the company's growth, and by the company's own partner, [[Paramount Pictures]]. Despite several innovations in broadcasting and creating one of television's biggest stars of the 1950s, the network never found itself on solid financial ground. Forced to expand on [[Ultra high frequency|UHF]] channels during an era when UHF was not profitable, DuMont ceased broadcasting in [[1956 in television|1956]].

The network is not well-remembered today, prompting several TV historians to refer to DuMont as the "Forgotten Network". A few  popular DuMont programs, such as ''[[Cavalcade of Stars]]'' and [[Emmy]]-award winner ''[[Life is Worth Living]]'', appear in TV [[retrospective]]s or are mentioned in passing, but almost all the network's programming was destroyed by the early 1970s.

==Origins==
DuMont Laboratories was founded in 1932 by Dr. [[Allen B. DuMont]]. He and his staff were responsible for many early technical innovations, including the first all-electronic consumer television set in 1938. Its television sets soon became the gold standard of the industry.<ref name="DTNHWS"/><ref name="RWPDTV">[http://www.r-vcr.com/~television/TV/TV11.htm Radio with Pictures: DuMont TV]</ref>

A few months after selling his first television set, DuMont opened an experimental television station in [[New York City]], W2XWV. Unlike [[CBS]] and [[NBC]], he continued experimental broadcasts throughout [[World War II]].  In 1944, W2XWV became [[WNYW|WABD]] (after DuMont's initials), the third commercial television station in New York.  On [[May 19]], [[1945]], DuMont opened experimental W3XWT in [[Washington, D.C.]] A minority shareholder in DuMont Laboratories was Paramount Pictures, which had advanced $400,000 in 1939 for a 40% share in the company.<ref name="DTOFTN">[http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1995.00063.x DuMont: The Original Fourth Television Network]</ref> Paramount had television interests of its own, having launched experimental stations in [[Los Angeles]] in 1939 and [[Chicago]] in 1940. DuMont's association with Paramount ultimately proved to be a mistake.<ref name="TH">[http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/dumont.htm Television Heaven]</ref><ref name="RTDNACSA">[http://list.msu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0109b&L=aejmc&T=0&P=9926 Remembering the DuMont Network: A Case Study Approach]</ref>   

Soon after his experimental Washington station [[sign-on|signed on]], DuMont began experimental [[coaxial cable]] hookups between his laboratories in [[Passaic, New Jersey]] and his two stations. One of those hookups was the announcement of the U.S.'s dropping of an [[atomic bomb]] on [[Nagasaki, Japan]] on [[August 9]], [[1945]]. This was later considered by both Thomas T. Goldsmith, the network's chief engineer (and DuMont's best friend)<ref name="FN">[http://theforgottennetwork.com/DuMont/chronology.htm The Forgotten Network]</ref>, and Dr. DuMont himself as the official beginning of DuMont.<ref name="DTNHWS"/> Regular network service began on [[August 15]], [[1946]] on WABD and W3XWT.  In 1947, W3XWT became [[WTTG]], named after Goldsmith. The pair were joined in 1949 by WDTV in [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh]].

Although NBC was known to have had a station-to-station link as early as 1943, DuMont received a network license before CBS and NBC even resumed their experimental broadcasts.<ref name="DTNHWS"/> [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] had just come into existence as a radio network in 1943 and at the time had no plans for television.

==Programming==
<!-- Unsourced image removed: [[Image:DuMontPres.Jpg|thumb|"A DuMont Presentation" logo]] -->
Despite no history of radio programming to draw on and perennial cash shortages, DuMont was an innovative and creative network.<ref>[http://home.flash.net/~podrazik/DuMont.htm The Death of a Network: The DuMont Network]</ref><ref name="ABDTMOBC">[http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/D/htmlD/DuMont/DuMont.htm The Museum of Broadcast Communications: Allen B. DuMont]</ref> Without the radio revenues that supported mighty NBC and CBS, DuMont programmers had to rely on their wits and on connections in [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] to provide original programs still remembered fifty-plus years later.<ref name="FN"/>

The network also largely ignored the standard business model of 1950s television, in which one advertiser sponsored an entire show, enabling it to have complete control over its content. Instead, DuMont sold [[television commercial|commercials]] to many different advertisers, freeing producers of its shows from the veto power held by sole sponsors. This eventually became the standard model for U.S. television.

DuMont also holds another important place in American television history. WDTV's sign-on made it possible for stations in the Midwest to receive live network programming from stations on the East Coast, and vice versa.<ref name="GAOPT">[http://www.nb.net/~schaefer/tv1103.htm The Golden Age of Pittsburgh Television]</ref>  Before then, the networks relied on regional Eastern and Midwest networks for live programming, and the West Coast received network programming from [[kinescope]]s (films shot directly from live television screens) shot on the East Coast. On [[January 11]], [[1949]], the coaxial cable linking the two regions (known in television circles as "the Golden Spike") was activated. The ceremony, hosted by DuMont and WDTV, was carried on all four networks.  It would be another two years before the West Coast could get live programming, but this was the beginning of the modern era of network television.<ref name="UTGORMT">[http://list.msu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9602B&L=aejmc&T=0&P=2687 Unplugged: The Growth of Rural Midwestern Television Before Network Interconnection, 1949-1952]</ref>

The first broadcasts came from DuMont's [[Madison Avenue]] headquarters, but it soon found additional space, including a fully-functioning theater, in the New York branch of [[Wanamaker's]] department store.<ref name="TH"/> Still later, a lease on the [[Adelphi Theater]] on 54th Street gave the network a site for variety shows, and in 1954, the lavish DuMont Tele-Center was opened in the former New York Opera House at 205 East 67th Street.

Among some of DuMont's better-remembered programs:
* ''[[Mary Kay and Johnny]]'', the first television [[situation comedy]]
* ''[[Faraway Hill]]'', the first network-televised [[soap opera]]
* ''[[Cavalcade of Stars]]'', a [[variety show]] hosted by [[Jackie Gleason]] that served as the birthplace of ''[[The Honeymooners]]'' (Gleason left for CBS in 1952 just as his star began to rise).
* ''[[Life Is Worth Living]]'', Bishop [[Fulton J. Sheen]]'s [[Religious broadcasting|devotional program]]. It went up against [[Milton Berle]] in many cities, and was the first program to successfully compete in the ratings against "Mr. Television". In 1952 the series' star won an [[Emmy]] for "Most Outstanding Personality".<ref>McNeil, Alex. ''Total Television''. Fourth Edition. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-024916-8</ref>
* ''[[Ted Mack (television host)|Ted Mack]]'s [[Original Amateur Hour]]'', which had originated on radio in the 1930s under original host [[Major Bowes]].
* ''[[The Morey Amsterdam Show]]'', a comedy/variety show hosted by [[Morey Amsterdam]], which had started on CBS before moving to DuMont in 1949. 
* ''[[The Arthur Murray Party]]'', a dance program.
* ''[[With This Ring]]'', a panel show on [[marriage]].
* Live coverage of [[boxing]] and [[professional wrestling]], the latter of which showed matches from the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, the predecessor to [[World Wrestling Entertainment]]

DuMont also offered:
* ''[[Captain Video|Captain Video and His Video Rangers]]'', a hugely popular kids' [[science fiction]] series. <ref name="RR">[http://www.slick-net.com/space/text/index.phtml Roaring Rockets: The Space Hero Files]</ref>
* ''[[Rocky King, Inside Detective]]'', a private eye series starring [[Roscoe Karns]].
* ''The Plainclothesman'', a camera's-eye-view detective series.

Although DuMont's programming pre-dated [[videotape]], many DuMont offerings were caught on kinescopes. These kinescopes were said to be stored in an ABC network warehouse until the 1970s. <ref name="DTNHWS"/> Actress [[Edie Adams]], the wife of comedian [[Ernie Kovacs]] (both regular performers on early television) testified in 1996 before a panel of the [[Library of Congress]] on the preservation of television and video. Adams claimed that so little value was given to these films that in the early 1970s the kinescopes were removed from ABC's warehouse and dumped into [[Upper New York Bay]].<ref name="TH"/> Nevertheless, a number of DuMont programs survive at the [[Museum of Television and Radio]] in New York City, the [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]] [[UCLA Film and Television Archive|television archives]] in Los Angeles, and the [[Museum of Broadcast Communications]] in Chicago.<ref name="UCLA">[http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/collections/Profiles/earlytv.html UCLA Film and Television Archive]</ref>

Although nearly the entire DuMont film archive was destroyed, several surviving DuMont shows have been released on [[DVD]]. These include a few episodes of ''Rocky King, Inside Detective'';  ''Captain Video''; ''The Morey Amsterdam Show''; and ''Cavalcade of Stars''.

==Halted at the start==
DuMont began with one basic disadvantage: unlike NBC and CBS, it did not have a radio network from which to draw revenue and talent.<ref name="ABDTMOBC"/> Also, most early television licenses were granted to established radio broadcasters, and many long-time relationships with radio networks carried over to the new medium. As CBS and NBC gained their footing, they began to offer programming that drew on their radio backgrounds, bringing over the most popular radio stars. Early television stations, when asked to choose between an affiliation with CBS offering [[Jack Benny]], [[Lucille Ball]] and [[Ed Sullivan]], or DuMont with a then-unknown [[Jackie Gleason]] and [[Fulton Sheen|Bishop Sheen]], chose the well-travelled route.<ref name="CTTDN">[http://www.chicagotelevision.com/dumont.htm Chicago Television: The DuMont Network]</ref>  In smaller markets, with a limited number of stations, DuMont and ABC were often relegated to secondary status, so their programs got clearance only if the primary network was off the air or on a delayed basis via a kinescope recording (or "teletranscriptions" as they were referred to by DuMont).     

DuMont aspired to grow beyond its three stations, applying for licenses in [[Boston]] (or [[Philadelphia]], depending on the source) and [[Cincinnati]]. This would have given the network five stations, the maximum allowed by the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) at the time. However, DuMont was hampered by minority owner Paramount's two stations, [[KTLA-TV]] in Los Angeles and WBKB-TV (now [[WLS-TV]]) in Chicago. Although these stations never carried DuMont programming (with the exception of one year on KTLA from 1947–48), and in fact competed with the DuMont affiliates in those cities, the FCC ruled that Paramount's two licenses were in theory DuMont [[owned and operated station]]s, which effectively placed DuMont at the five-station cap.<ref>[http://www.ieee.org/web/aboutus/history_center/oral_history/abstracts/goldsmith8ab.html Thomas Goldsmith Interview. May 14, 1973]</ref>  

Adding to DuMont's troubles was the FCC's 1948 "freeze" on television-license applications.<ref name="CTTDN"/> This was done to sort out the thousands of applications that had come streaming in, but also to rethink the allocation and technical standards laid down prior to World War II. It became clear soon after the war that 12 channels (48 MHz–54 MHz had been removed from television broadcasting use) were not nearly enough for national television service. What was to be a six-month freeze lasted until 1952, when the FCC opened the [[Ultra high frequency|UHF]] spectrum.  The FCC, however, did not require television manufacturers to include UHF capability.<ref name="RTDNACSA"/>  In order to see UHF stations, most people had to buy an expensive converter. Even then, the picture quality was marginal at best. Tied to this was a decision to restrict VHF allocations in medium- and smaller-sized markets. Television sets were not required to have all-channel tuning until [[1964]].

Forced to rely on UHF to expand, DuMont saw one station after another go dark due to dismal ratings.<ref name="CTTDN"/> DuMont bought a small, distressed UHF station in [[Kansas City metropolitan area|Kansas City]] in 1954, but ran it for just two months before shutting it down at a considerable loss, after attempting to compete with three established VHF stations.<ref name="DTNHWS"/>

The FCC's Dr. Hyman Goldin said in 1960, "If there had been four VHF outlets in the top markets, there's no question DuMont would have lived and would have eventually turned the corner in terms of profitability. I have no doubt in my mind of that at all."

==The end==
DuMont only survived the early 1950s because of WDTV in [[Pittsburgh]], the only commercial VHF station in what was then the sixth-largest market. WDTV's only competition came from UHF stations and grade B signals from stations in [[Youngstown, Ohio|Youngstown]] , [[Johnstown, Pennsylvania|Johnstown]] and [[Wheeling, West Virginia|Wheeling]].<ref name="DTNHWS"/> No other commercial VHF station signed on in Pittsburgh until [[1957 in television|1957]], giving WDTV a de facto monopoly on television in Pittsburgh.<ref name="PARAT">[http://www.pbrtv.com/april13002.html Pittsburgh Area Radio and TV]</ref>  Since WDTV carried secondary affiliations with the other three networks, DuMont used this as a bargaining chip to get its programs cleared in other large markets.<ref name="DTNHWS"/>

Despite its severe financial straits, by [[1953 in television|1953]] DuMont appeared to be on its way to establishing itself as the third national network.<ref name="NYCRG">[http://radiogazette.blogspot.com/2006_01_01_radiogazette_archive.html New York City Radio Gazette: RIP DuMont]</ref> DuMont programs aired live on 16 stations, but it could only count on six primary stations (its three [[Owned-and-operated station|O&Os]] plus [[WGN-TV]] in Chicago,  [[KTTV]] in Los Angeles and WTVN-TV [now [[WSYX]]] in [[Columbus, Ohio]]). In contrast, ABC had a full complement of five O&Os augmented by nine primary affiliates.<ref name="CTAC">[http://www.chicagotelevision.com/REDXXX3.htm Chicago Television Alumni Club]</ref>  ABC also had a radio network (it was descended from NBC's [[Blue Network#The NBC Red .26 Blue Networks Are Born|Blue Network]]) on which to draw revenue.<ref name="CTTDN"/> However, DuMont had by this time turned its biggest liability—its lack of live clearances—into an asset. Claiming CBS and NBC were too expensive, DuMont sought to offer a medium for advertisers to pick and choose where their programs aired, thus saving them millions of dollars.<ref name="DTNHWS"/> ABC, on the other hand, operated in a similar manner as CBS and NBC, slapping advertisers with a "must buy" station lineup.<ref name="DTNHWS"/> However, with only 14 primary stations, compared to CBS and NBC, which had over 40 primary stations each, it soon found itself badly overextended and on the verge of bankruptcy. 

The picture was dramatically altered in 1953, when ABC was bought by United Paramount Theaters (recently spun off from Paramount Pictures). The merger provided ABC with a huge cash infusion.<ref name="50AA">[http://www.museum.tv/exhibitionssection.php?page=88 Flashback:The 50th Anniversary of ABC] Museum of Broadcast Communications</ref> Also, through UPT president [[Leonard Goldenson]], it gained ties with the Hollywood studios that more than matched the ties DuMont's producers had with Broadway. 

Realizing that the ABC-UPT deal put the company on life support, the staff at DuMont was very receptive to a merger offer from ABC.<ref name="DTNHWS"/> Goldenson quickly brokered a deal with Ted Bergmann, DuMont's managing director, under which the merged network would have been called "ABC-DuMont" until at least [[1958 in television|1958]], and would honor all of DuMont's network commitments. In return, DuMont would get $5 million in cash, guaranteed advertising time for DuMont sets, and a secure future for its staff.<ref name="DTNHWS"/>  However, Paramount [[veto]]ed the plan almost out of hand due to [[antitrust]] concerns.<ref name="RWPDTV"/> A few months earlier, the FCC had ruled that Paramount controlled DuMont, and there were still some questions about whether UPT had really separated from Paramount. In any case, a merged ABC-DuMont would have had to sell a New York station—either DuMont's WABD or ABC's WJZ-TV (now [[WABC-TV]])—as well as two other stations.

[[Image:Network Revenue, 1955.png|thumb|250px|right|Table showing U.S. TV network advertising revenues for the first half of 1955.]]
With no other way to readily obtain cash, DuMont sold WDTV to [[Westinghouse Electric Corporation]] for $9.75 million.  While this gave DuMont a short-term cash infusion, it eliminated the leverage DuMont had to get clearances in other markets. Without the exclusive Pittsburgh market, the company's advertising revenue shrank to less than half that of 1953. By [[1955#February|February 1955]], DuMont executives realized the company could not continue as a television network. It was decided to shut down network operations and operate WABD and WTTG as independents. On April 1, [[1955 in television|1955]], most of DuMont's entertainment programs were dropped. Bishop Sheen aired his last program on DuMont on April 26 and later moved to ABC. By May, only eight programs were left on the network, with only inexpensive shows and sporting events keeping what was left of the network going through the summer. The network also abandoned the use of the intercity network coaxial cable, on which it had spent $3 million in 1954 to transmit shows that mostly lacked station clearance.<ref name="DTNHWS"/>

In August, Paramount, with the help of other stockholders, seized full control of DuMont Laboratories. The last non-sports program on DuMont aired on [[September 23]], [[1955]]. After that, DuMont's network feed was used only for occasional sporting events. DuMont's last broadcast, a boxing match, occurred on [[August 6]], [[1956]].  

DuMont spun off WABD and WTTG as the "DuMont Broadcasting Corporation". The name was later changed to "Metropolitan Broadcasting" to distance the company from what was seen as a complete all-around failure. [[John Kluge]] bought Paramount's shares for $4 million in [[1958 in television|1958]], changing the company's name to [[Metromedia]] in [[1960 in television|1960]]. WABD became WNEW-TV and later [[WNYW]]; WTTG still broadcasts under its original [[call sign|call letters]].

For 50 years, DuMont was the only major television network to go off the air, until [[UPN]] and the [[The WB Television Network|WB]] networks shut down in 2006 to merge and form the [[The CW Television Network|CW]] network.

== Fate of the DuMont stations ==
All three DuMont-owned stations are still operating, though they are now affiliated with other networks. Coincidentally, all three are O&Os, just as when they were part of DuMont. Of the three, only Washington's [[WTTG]] still has its original call letters. New York's WABD—later WNEW-TV, and now [[WNYW]]—and Washington's WTTG survived as independents in the Metromedia Group before being bought by [[Rupert Murdoch]]'s [[News Corporation]] for its [[Fox Broadcasting Company]], in 1986. [[Clarke Ingram]], who maintains a DuMont memorial site, has suggested that Fox is a revival or at least a linear descendant of DuMont. <ref name="DTNHWS"/>  Indeed, WNYW is still headquartered in the former DuMont Tele-Centre, now known as the Fox Broadcasting Center.

Westinghouse changed WDTV's calls to [[KDKA-TV]], and switched its primary affiliation to CBS immediately after the sale. Westinghouse's acquisition of CBS in [[1995]] made KDKA-TV a CBS owned-and-operated station.

== DuMont affiliates ==
{{main|List of former DuMont Television Network Affiliates}}
At its peak in 1954, DuMont was affiliated with around 200 TV stations.<ref>[http://tulsatvmemories.com/tvthesi3.html Tulsa TV Memories Site]</ref> In those days, TV stations were free to "cherry-pick" which programs they would air, and many stations affiliated with multiple networks. Many of DuMont's "affiliates" carried very little DuMont programming, choosing to air one or two more popular programs (such as ''Life is Worth Living'') and/or sports programming on the weekends. Few stations carried the full DuMont program line-up.

In its later years, DuMont was carried mostly on poorly-watched UHF channels or had only secondary affiliations on VHF stations. DuMont ended most operations on [[April 1]], [[1955]], but honored network commitments until August 1956.<ref name="FN"/>

==See also==
* [[DuMont Laboratories]]
* [[Electronicam]]
* [[Golden Age of Television]]
* [[Metromedia]]

==External links==
* [http://members.aol.com/cingram/television/dumont.htm The DuMont Television Network Historical Web Site]

== Notes ==

<div class="references-small">
<references/>
===References===
* Bergmann, Ted, and Ira Skutch. ''The DuMont Television Network: What Happened?'' Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2002. ISBN 0-8108-4270-X.
* Hess, Gary Newton. ''An Historical Study of the DuMont Television Network''. New York: Ayer Publishers, 1979. ISBN 0-405-11758-2.
* [http://members.aol.com/cingram/television/dumont.htm The DuMont Television Network Historical Web Site]
* Garvin, Glenn. [http://www.reason.com/0503/cr.gg.who.shtml "Who Killed Captain Video? How the FCC strangled a TV pioneer"]. ''Reason'', March 2005.
* [http://slick-net.com/space/text/index.phtml Space Hero Files: Captain Video]
* Weinstein, David. [http://theforgottennetwork.com ''The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television''.] Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2004. ISBN 1-59213-245-6.
</div>

{{American broadcast television}}

[[Category:DuMont Television Network| ]]
[[Category:Defunct broadcasting companies of the United States]]
[[Category:American television networks]]
[[Category:Companies established in 1946]]
[[Category:Defunct television networks]]
[[de:DuMont Television Network]]