CBS: William Paley's Buyback, the Eye Logo and the Tiffany Network

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

CBS began in Chicago in January 1927, when talent agent Arthur Judson founded United Independent Broadcasters. Short of cash by April, it took an investment from the Columbia Phonograph Company and became the Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System. In 1928 investors installed William S. Paley as president, and he shortened the name to the Columbia Broadcasting System. Paramount Pictures bought 49% in 1929, but Depression losses forced it to sell the shares back in 1932, leaving CBS largely independent for 63 years and free to move into television. The Tiffany Network nickname is literal: early color demonstrations in 1950 were held in the former Tiffany & Company building in New York.

CBS built the longest daytime schedule of the major networks and kept game shows alive, with The Price Is Right passing from Bob Barker to Drew Carey in 2007. Its 1957 live Cinderella with Julie Andrews drew over 100 million viewers. The Eye logo, designed by William Golden with George Olden and inspired by Pennsylvania Dutch hex signs and Shaker art, debuted October 20, 1951, and Frank Stanton refused to replace it. Ownership passed through Westinghouse in 1994, Viacom, Paramount Global and Skydance. CBS All Access, launched in October 2014, was the first streaming service from a U.S. broadcast network and became Paramount+ in 2021. The timeline also includes the 2004 Super Bowl halftime fines, the Killian documents controversy and Dan Rather's exit, and Les Moonves's 2018 resignation amid harassment allegations.

• Bob Barker quit hosting Miss USA in 1987 because the pageant would not stop giving fur coats as prizes.
• Captain Kangaroo ran every weekday morning from 1955 to 1982.
• CBS later outsourced Saturday mornings to Nelvana, Nickelodeon, DIC and Litton Entertainment.
• Converting the network to high definition took 14 years, from a 1998 NFL game to Big Brother in 2014.
• CBS dropped the slogan America's Most Watched Network and added a five-note sonic logo.