The DuMont Television Network

The DuMont Television Network

Historical Web Site

A series of Web pages devoted to the DuMont Television Network, America's fourth television network which operated from 1946 to 1956. After searching for such a page for some time, the author decided to fill the void himself by creating a site devoted to DuMont. This was the first, and is still the largest, DuMont resource on the Internet.

This site was originally launched on February 5, 1999 as a one-page article on DuMont with a few links, and has since expanded to the 26 pages you see below. The author has kept this site "low-graphics" to minimize loading time, conserve Web space (AOL permits only 2 MB), and keep the site blind-friendly. Like DuMont itself, these pages are in black-and-white.

If you enjoy this Web site, please take a moment to E-mail the author with your comments, questions, suggestions, and contributions. The author is grateful for the response to this site since its inception over three years ago. Many thanks in advance for your feedback.

Note: If you are viewing this site with Netscape Navigator 4.0 or higher, you will experience an HTML error which will cause some pages to be completely underlined. This is a problem with AOL Personal Publisher, with which these pages were created. If you encounter other problems or broken links, please E-mail the author with details.

DuMont Network News

Ted Bergmann's remarkable tome on the rise and fall of the DuMont network has now been published. The DuMont Television Network: What Happened? is a book that any DuMont enthusiast must have. Click here to learn more or to order the book from its publisher, Scarecrow Press. (This web site receives no compensation whatsoever from this link or sales of the book; the link is offered only for your convenience.)

The author of this Web site met Bergmann in 1989 but lost touch with him over the years, and was pleased to recently re-establish contact through this Web site and the publication of his new book. The author was particularly gratified to hear from Bergmann that, with respect to the DuMont story, this Web site "got it exactly right." With Bergmann's permission, the author has inserted quotes from his book on this Web site. Many thanks, Ted!

Bishop Fulton J. Sheen's Life Is Worth Living continues in reruns on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), a Catholic cable channel. Recently, EWTN has been airing black-and-white kinescopes that are obviously from the DuMont era. Don't miss the opportunity to see this dynamic personality on DuMont. Air times for the half-hour program (Eastern time zone in the United States) are Mondays at 2 PM, Thursdays at 2 AM, and Fridays at 9 PM, unless pre-empted by special programming.

The CBS made-for-TV movie Gleason, which aired on October 13, featured several references to the DuMont network, including scenes of Jackie Gleason's big break as the host of DuMont's Cavalcade of Stars. Kudos to the producers for getting the DuMont logo right and affixing it to the television cameras (and a minor point of demerit: one of the DuMont studio monitors had the word "Admiral" emblazoned on the front!). The TNT cable movie The Big Time, which aired on October 20, also echoed the DuMont story, telling the tale of a fictional television network in Manhattan in 1948 (with its studios and offices on Madison Avenue), references to a show called "Cavalcade," and a "scientist and inventor" named "Doc" who was head of the network! The author is always grateful to see DuMont remembered on television, which, of course, Dr. Allen B. DuMont helped to invent.

Table of Contents

Whatever happened to Channel One? Click here. (this page is off-site)

Channel Two: Introduction

Channel Three: Stations

Channel Four: Pittsburgh

Channel Five: Programming

Channel Six: UHF

Channel Seven: Finale

Channel Eight: Legacy

Channel Nine: Others

Channel Ten: Links

Channel Eleven: Bibliography

Channel Twelve: Feedback

Channel Thirteen: More Feedback

Appendices

Appendix One: Programs (A-L)

Appendix Two: Programs (M-Z)

Appendix Three: News and Sports

Appendix Four: Electronicam

Appendix Five: UCLA

Appendix Six: MBC

Appendix Seven: Rocky King

Appendix Eight: Locations

Appendix Nine: Affiliates (1949)

Appendix Ten: A Trail of Bleached Bones

Appendix Eleven: More Bleached Bones

Appendix Twelve: Notes on Bleached Bones

Appendix Thirteen: WDTV's Log Books

A Note on Spelling

We refer to the network and company as DuMont throughout this site, although it is clear from materials of the era that the preferred usage was Du Mont. The author was (and is) concerned that if the space were included, search engines would miss this site entirely. Few people include the space, and others write the name as Dumont, which was frowned on in the early years as well as by family and network alumni today. So, in deference to the search engines, and to Bruce DuMont's current usage of the family name, we will continue to refer to DuMont throughout these pages.

Site Updates

This Web site was last updated on October 20, 2002. Whenever changes are made, the author carefully goes through each page and corrects the hyperlinks. Please E-mail the author if any links have been missed or incorrectly directed to the wrong page, or if links are no longer working.

About The Author

Clarke Ingram has been in the broadcasting industry for more than 20 years as the Program Director and on-air personality for various radio stations, and most recently was Program Director and afternoon drive personality at a Pittsburgh radio station. In his spare time, Ingram collects videotapes of programs from the Golden Age of Television, and conducts research on the DuMont network. Please feel free to E-mail the author with your comments, questions, suggestions, and contributions.

Legal Disclaimer

This is a non-profit Web site, and the author receives no compensation whatsoever from its publication or usage. Quotations from copyrighted works are excerpted in accordance with the "fair use" provisions of United States copyright laws. It is not the author's intention to violate or infringe upon existing copyrights, and all such works are referenced where excerpted. While the author has attempted to ensure the accuracy of the information on this Web site, it cannot be guaranteed, and any liability resulting from the use of such information, either in whole or in part, is expressly disclaimed. Any usage of this site constitutes acceptance of the above terms. The author welcomes links to this Web site, and would appreciate a notification via E-mail of such links. Please direct all correspondence to the author at the E-mail address listed.

Photo Credits

On this site, the author has made do with contributions from readers and a number of DuMont images from the Internet. Since the author is unsure of the origin of some of these images, please note that no disrespect of copyright is intended. Special thanks to fellow DuMont aficionado Frank Aden, Jr. for scanning pictures of every DuMont subject in sight (or perhaps "site").

Table of Contents: WGN-TV
Channel Two: Horatio Alger Awards
Channel Three: Chris Broyles, MBC
Channel Four: George Jacob, KDKA-TV
Channel Five: Captain Video, Amsterdam
Channel Six: KCC
Channel Seven: Frank Aden, Jr.
Channel Eight: Frank Aden, Jr.
Channel Nine: Fox Television
Channel Ten: RPI
Channel Eleven: Chris Broyles, MBC
Channel Twelve: The Forum
Channel Thirteen: Author's collection
Appendix One: Frank Aden, Jr.
Appendix Two: Frank Aden, Jr.
Appendix Three: Frank Aden, Jr.
Appendix Four: Honeymooners.net
Appendix Five: Frank Aden, Jr.
Appendix Six: WGN-TV
Appendix Seven: Frank Aden, Jr.
Appendix Eight: Frank Aden, Jr.
Appendix Nine: Frank Aden, Jr.
Appendix Ten: WNEP-TV
Appendix Eleven: Author's collection
Appendix Twelve: Author's collection
Appendix Thirteen: Author's collection

Go to Channel Two: Introduction

E-mail the author of this page: Clarke Ingram*

* Due to the amount of "spam" being sent to the author via links on this Web site, this E-mail link has been modified. When using the link, please remove the word "AT" and insert the "@" sign to send E-mail to the author. Apologies for this inconvenience.