Robert Pauley

Robert Reinhold Pauley (October 17, 1923 – May 2, 2009) was an American radio broadcasting executive who served as president of the ABC Radio network during a period when it faced challenges from television as the most popular form of mass media.

Biography

Pauley was born in New Canaan, Connecticut on October 17, 1923. During World War II, he served for three years in the United States Merchant Marine, attaining the rank of Lieutenant. Following the conclusion of his military service he attended Harvard Business School.^[1]

Radio

He worked for a local radio station selling advertising and later worked in that capacity at both the CBS Radio and NBC Radio networks.^[1]

He was hired by ABC Radio in 1957, and was named as vice president overseeing programming by 1960. He was named as the network's president in 1961, at a time when the industry was facing dire competition from television.^[2] Pauley's addition of sports programming and other live events drew additional listeners, with the 1964 Muhammad Ali versus Sonny Liston bout drawing an estimated 75 million radio listeners.^[1]

Pauley hired Howard Cosell in 1960, a then-little-known sports announcer who had offered a proposal for a weekly radio program. Pauley tried to rebuff Cosell by telling him that the network had no money to create a show but that he'd air the program if Cosell could get a sponsor, which Pauley assumed he would be unable to do. Cosell found a shirt company owned by a relative as a sponsor and Pauley followed thorough on his commitment, adding a show aired variously as Speaking of Sports, which was broadcast on the network for 30 years.^[1]

Pauley believed that radio's intimacy would always attract listeners and advertisers, and was able to increase advertising sales and add 100 stations to ABC's network.^[1] He was forced out of his position in 1967 amid a decision by the parent company to split the radio network into four separate divisions, despite the fact that the radio network's income in the previous quarter had been its best ever.^[3]

Television

Pauley had hoped to establish a fourth television network to offer news programs to local stations nationwide. He created Television News Inc. in 1973, with the goal of countering the perceived liberal bias in the media, with the support of investor Joseph Coors. Roger Ailes, who later created Fox News Channel was an employee. The network was terminated in 1975 when funding from Coors was withdrawn.^[1]

Pauley died at age 85 on May 2, 2009 in New Haven, Connecticut due to heart and lung failure. He is survived by his wife, the former Barbara Anne Cotton, as well as three sons and a daughter.^[1]

References