Legendary executive Mike Dann will be our special guest on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, Tuesday, July 28, 10pm ET, 7pm PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org.
Mike Dann may not have created prime time network television, but he knew how to make it work, first as an assistant at NBC in the early 1950s, then as head of programming for CBS from 1958 through 1970. Implementing strategies that he learned at NBC under the tutelage of the great Sylvester “Pat” Weaver, Mike Dann’s keen eye for programming and counterprogramming helped keep CBS at the top of the ratings for 14 consecutive years (a record that has never been broken). And while his job, first and foremost, was to pay attention to the numbers, he never lost sight of the desire to present quality programming that benefitted “the Tiffany Network.” That wasn’t always easy to do, especially when dealing with the likes of the “Smiling Cobra,” Jim Aubrey—Mike’s boss for five years, and a man whose penchant for backstabbing would have made J.R. Ewing proud.
Mike Dann’s memoirs, As I Saw It: The Inside Story of the Golden Age of Television, is a colorful look at the first 25 years of network television, from the birth of the first full network schedule through the creation of such staples as The Today Show and The Tonight Show, to the rise and fall of such prime time giants as Tom and Dick Smothers. It’s also chock full of great anecdotes about working with such legends as Mary Martin, Lucille Ball, Danny Kaye and Judy Garland, as well as broadcast pioneers David Sarnoff, William Paley and Pat Weaver. Mike Dann will be joining us beginning at 10:05pm ET, 7:05pm PT… we hope you’ll join us as well.
Ed Robertson
Co-Host, TV CONFIDENTIAL
Every other Tuesday at 10pm ET, 7pm PT
Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
www.tvconfidential.net
blog.tvconfidential.net
Also available as a podcast via iTunes and FeedBurner