Editing Mutual Broadcasting System (section)

==== General Tire asserts control, then sells ====
[[File:QueenForADay.gif|thumb|left|325px|alt=Headshot of a mustachioed man above advertising copy that leads off with "Hey! Guess What!"|On the radio in the morning, on TV in the afternoon—audiences couldn't get enough of ''[[Queen for a Day]]''. At the end of each episode, host [[Jack Bailey (actor)|Jack Bailey]] would proclaim, "We wish we could make every lady in America a queen for every single day!"<ref>Cassidy (2005), p. 20.</ref>]]
Toward the end of 1950, the executors of the estate of Thomas S. Lee (the son of Don Lee, who had died in 1934) liquidated the estate's broadcasting interests. The Don Lee Broadcasting System and its shares in Mutual were sold to General Tire for $12.3&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US|12320000|1950}}|}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}), which already had a sizable stake in Mutual via the Yankee Network.<ref name="LosAng19501218p64">{{Cite news |date=December 18, 1950 |title=Executive, 35, in Don Lee's Top Role |page=10-Section III |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |agency=Associated Press |location=Los Angeles, California |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118815198/executive-35-in-don-lees-top-role/ |access-date=February 17, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=February 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217043559/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118815198/executive-35-in-don-lees-top-role/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="LosAng19501228p4">{{Cite news |date=December 28, 1950 |title=Sale of Don Lee System Approved: Cash Payment of $12,320,000 Involved in FCC Decision |page=4-Section I |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |agency=United Press |location=Los Angeles, California |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118816290/sale-of-don-lee-system-approved/ |access-date=February 17, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=February 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217043600/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118816290/sale-of-don-lee-system-approved/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{efn|A scholarly journal article claims that the Don Lee purchase brought with it a "19 percent interest in the Mutual Broadcasting System," which would be down from the 25 percent of the 1940 restructuring. However, the reliability of this source is questionable, as it incorrectly claims in the same paragraph that the "East Coast-based Yankee Network ... was also acquired at this time" by General Tire.<ref>{{harvp|Crane|1980}}.</ref> As detailed above, General Tire in fact acquired Yankee in 1943.}} The sale prompted a challenge by [[Edwin W. Pauley]], who led a failed bid for the group, claiming it violated Mutual bylaws stating no group could hold more than 25&nbsp;percent of network stock.<ref name="LosAng19501219p23">{{Cite news |date=December 19, 1950 |title=Pauley Protest Made on Sale of Don Lee Stock |page=23-Part I |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles, California |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118815045/pauley-protest-made-on-sale-of-don-lee/ |access-date=February 17, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=February 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217043607/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118815045/pauley-protest-made-on-sale-of-don-lee/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="LosAng19501220p22">{{Cite news |date=December 20, 1950 |title=Arguments on Don Lee Radio Sale Requested |page=22-Section I |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles, California |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118816151/arguments-on-don-lee-radio-sale/ |access-date=February 17, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=February 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217043600/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118816151/arguments-on-don-lee-radio-sale/ |url-status=live }}</ref> General Tire retained KHJ, KFRC and KGB, divesting the other stations.<ref name="LosAng19501228p4" /> At the same time, Mutual acquired the television broadcast rights to the World Series and All-Star Game for the next six years. Mutual was likely re-indulging in TV network dreams or was simply taking advantage of a long-standing business relationship; in either case, Mutual sold the broadcast rights to NBC in time for the following season's games at an enormous profit.<ref name="M&D">{{harvp|Marshall|1998|p=384}}; {{harvp|Day|2004|pp=230–231}}.</ref>{{efn|{{harvp|Marshall|1998}} and {{harvp|Day|2004}} describe the details of the original deal very differently, agreeing only that it was for six years at $1 million a year. Marshall says that a contract was signed on December 26, 1950, between baseball's major leagues, in the person of Commissioner [[Happy Chandler]], on one side and Mutual and the [[Global Gillette|Gillette Safety Razor Company]] on the other for the television rights. Day says baseball's contract was solely with Gillette, that it was for both radio and television rights, and that Gillette "[l]ess than a year after acquiring the broadcast rights ... transferred" them to Mutual. They also characterize the original contract rather differently. Marshall calls it "one of the outstanding achievements of the Chandler commissionership." Day credits Chandler with "deftly avoid[ing] a financial crisis," but agrees with the prevailing opinion of the players that Chandler "vastly underestimated the value" of the rights. The fact, which Day provides, that Mutual sold the package to NBC for $4 million a year lends support to his position.{{r|M&D}}}}

Early in 1952, General Tire purchased General Teleradio from R.H. Macy and Company. With the deal, General Tire acquired the WOR radio and TV stations and the rights to the General Teleradio brand, under which the company merged its broadcasting interests as a new division (Bamberger had previously sold its TV station in the nation's capital, WOIC, to CBS and the ''[[Washington Post]]'').<ref>"Radio-TV Merger Approved By F.C.C.; Deal Covers Macy's Transfer of WOR Interests to General Tire's Don Lee System", ''New York Times,'' January 18, 1952; "Earnings Fall 5% for Macy System; Television's High Cost for Subsidiary, General Teleradio, Cuts Consolidated Net," ''New York Times'', October 11, 1950; Howard (1979), pp. 150–52.</ref> Most importantly, WOR's founding shares in Mutual, when added to the Yankee and Don Lee holdings, gave General Tire majority control of the network.<ref>"General Tire Gets Control of M. B. S.; Shareholders at Meeting Vote 2-for-1 Stock Split—Company Buys More TV Stations," ''New York Times'', April 2, 1952.</ref> General Tire head [[Thomas F. O'Neil]], who had already taken over as president of the Don Lee stations,<ref name="LosAng19501218p64" /> became president of Mutual in an executive shakeup.<ref name="Broad19520428p23">{{Cite magazine |date=April 28, 1952 |title=O'Neil MBS President: White Resigns, Fineshriber Director |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1952/BC-1952-04-28.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting-Telecasting |volume=42 |issue=17 |pages=23, 34 |access-date=February 14, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=January 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131030856/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1952/BC-1952-04-28.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

While Mutual did have a short-lived TV network,{{efn|5-station network that operated for 11 months, as mentioned above in [[Mutual Broadcasting System#Mutual's involvement in television|Mutual's involvement in television]]}} it held rights to one of the most profitable shows in the medium: an early adaptation of ''Queen for a Day'' on General Teleradio/Don Lee's [[KCAL-TV|KHJ-TV]] boasted an audience triple that of the city's six other television stations combined.<ref name="Cassidy 2005, p. 41">{{Harvp|Cassidy|2005|p=41}}.</ref> It was also the largest U.S. radio network in affiliate numbers, by far—it had around 560, almost three times as many as its most powerful competitors, CBS (194) and NBC (191).<ref>{{harvp|Cox|2015|p=178}}; see also pp. 127–128, for the 1950 and 1960 figures for the four major networks.</ref>{{efn|In August 1951, the low-powered, baseball-oriented [[Liberty Broadcasting System]] (LBS) had 431 affiliates.<ref>{{harvp|Garay|1992|p=32}}.</ref>}} Still, the radio industry started to feel effects of major advertisers abandoning radio for television, with commercial rates being cut among all four networks, Mutual included.<ref name="Broad19570715p31">{{Cite magazine |date=July 15, 1957 |title=MBS may pull the plug this week |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1957/1957-07-15-BC.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting-Telecasting |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=31–32 |access-date=February 14, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=January 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131032933/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1957/1957-07-15-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> O'Neil proposed a [[barter]]-style restructuring at a July 1953 affiliates' conference in [[Cape Cod|Cape Cod, Massachusetts]], called "The Cape Cod Plan": the network would provide five hours of sponsored programming daily and 14 hours of additional programming weekly that affiliates could sell commercial time for.<ref name="Broad19530706p27">{{Cite magazine |date=July 6, 1953 |title=Mutual maps drastic moves to bolster sales, ratings |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1953/BC-1953-07-06.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting-Telecasting |volume=45 |issue=1 |page=27 |access-date=February 14, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=January 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131024641/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1953/BC-1953-07-06.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The "Cape Cod Plan" eventually met with resistance from the affiliates, some of which saw it as an attempt by Mutual to make money at their expense; by the time of the next affiliates' conference in January 1954, O'Neil called the barter plan "dead".<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=January 25, 1954 |title=Mutual, affiliates meeting routine; program payment plan not revived |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1954/1954-01-25-BC.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting-Telecasting |volume=46 |issue=4 |page=74 |access-date=February 14, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=January 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131023816/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1954/1954-01-25-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1955, General Tire expanded its media holdings by acquiring [[RKO Pictures]] from [[Howard Hughes]], renaming General Teleradio as RKO Teleradio Pictures.<ref name="Broad19570715p31" /> The next year, a Canadian subsidiary of RKO purchased a governing interest in Mutual shareholder, Western Ontario Broadcasting, owner of [[CKLW]] in [[Windsor, Ontario]], which served the [[Detroit]] market. When the deal closed, two of Western Ontario Broadcasting's directors were U.S. citizens.<ref name="Broad19560409p111">{{Cite magazine |date=April 9, 1956 |title=CKLW-AM-TV shares purchased by RKO |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1956/1956-04-09-BC.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting-Telecasting |volume=50 |issue=15 |page=111 |access-date=February 14, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=June 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629112909/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1956/1956-04-09-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> RKO Teleradio Pictures also purchased [[Washington, D.C.]] station [[WWRC|WGMS-AM]]-[[WTOP-FM|FM]] in April 1956, with WGMS joining Mutual.<ref name="Broad19560409p35">{{Cite magazine |date=April 9, 1956 |title=Brisk buying surge swaps four stations, $7.7 million |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1956/1956-04-09-BC.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting-Telecasting |volume=50 |issue=15 |pages=35–36 |access-date=February 14, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=June 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629112909/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1956/1956-04-09-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Closing the movie studio a year and a half later, the broadcasting division was renamed RKO Teleradio in 1957, and again to [[RKO General]] in 1958.<ref>{{cite web |title=Thumbnail History of RKO Radio Pictures |url=http://home.earthlink.net/~hdtv/History/RKOGeneral/RKOPictures.html |website=home.earthlink.net |access-date=August 27, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050912042450/http://home.earthlink.net/~hdtv/History/RKOGeneral/RKOPictures.html |archive-date=September 12, 2005}}</ref> The "Mutual Dealer Plan", another attempt to revamp the network's operations containing elements of the barter-style "Cape Cod Plan", was unveiled to affiliates at an April 1956 conference to favorable reception.<ref name="Broad19560423p104">{{Cite magazine |date=April 23, 1956 |title=MBS unveils sales plan in Chicago |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1956/1956-04-23-BC.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting-Telecasting |volume=50 |issue=17 |pages=104, 107 |access-date=February 14, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=January 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131023803/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1956/1956-04-23-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The plan, however, could not prevent two remaining minority shareholders in Mutual from leaving: United Broadcasting's WHK switched to NBC in July,<ref name="Broad19560730p58">{{Cite magazine |date=July 30, 1956 |title=WHK succeeds KYW as NBC affiliate |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1956/1956-07-30-BC.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting-Telecasting |volume=51 |issue=5 |page=58 |access-date=February 14, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=January 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131025951/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1956/1956-07-30-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> while founding station WGN became an [[Independent station (North America)|independent]] on August 31, 1956, with ABC/''[[Prairie Farmer]]''-owned [[WLS (AM)|WLS]] becoming Mutual's Chicago affiliate.<ref name="Broad19560507p88">{{Cite magazine |date=May 7, 1956 |title=Mutual Seeks Station After WGN Bows Out |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1956/1956-05-07-BC.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting-Telecasting |volume=50 |issue=19 |page=88 |access-date=February 14, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=January 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131023906/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1956/1956-05-07-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Broad19560730p60">{{Cite magazine |date=July 30, 1956 |title=Mutual Shows for Chicago To Be Carried by ABC's WLS |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1956/1956-07-30-BC.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting-Telecasting |volume=51 |issue=5 |page=60 |access-date=February 14, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=January 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131025951/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1956/1956-07-30-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

By this point, Mutual was foundering. Even with the "Mutual Dealer Plan" and staff cutbacks, the network suffered a loss of $400,000 (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US|400000|1957}}|}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}) in 1956.<ref name="Broad19570715p31" /> In early July 1957, advertisers were notified the network could end operations at the end of the month, one of three options General Tire was considering for Mutual.<ref name="Broad19570715p31" /> Another option—spinning off Mutual while retaining the stations that had given it control—was ultimately taken, as a group led by Dr. [[Armand Hammer]] bought the network later in the month.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Shepard |first=Richard F. |date=July 17, 1957 |title=Sale of Mutual Expected Today; Radio Network Is Going to Group From West Coast |page=41 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/07/17/archives/sale-of-mutual-expected-today-radio-network-is-going-to-group-from.html |access-date=February 13, 2023 |archive-date=February 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230214001803/https://www.nytimes.com/1957/07/17/archives/sale-of-mutual-expected-today-radio-network-is-going-to-group-from.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Limited sponsorship packages were also introduced, in which an advertiser could back a show for an abbreviated period rather than an entire season, but there was no reversing the trend of television usurping radio.<ref name="Broad19590309p35">{{Cite magazine |date=March 9, 1959 |title=Time of trial for radio networks: Mutual takes worst buffeting but others have their troubles, too |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1959/1959-03-09-BC.pdf |magazine=Broadcasting |volume=56 |issue=10 |pages=35, 38, 40, 42 |access-date=February 13, 2023 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=January 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131030013/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1959/1959-03-09-BC.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The radio networks were left with the bills for an increasing number of [[sustaining program]]s, which had no sponsors.<ref>See {{harvp|Bareiss|Leigh|1998|pp=379–382}}; in particular, p. 381, for the development of limited sponsorship.</ref> The loss of mainstay advertisers was accompanied by what historian Ronald Garay describes as the "mass desertion of network radio talent, management and technicians for television&nbsp;.... [and] these people were taking with them the programming that had popularized the radio networks."<ref>{{harvp|Garay|1992|p=64}}.</ref>