Remembering Grant Tinker….
Grant Tinker, former CEO of NBC, dies at age 90
Grant Tinker, former chairman and CEO of NBC and architect of many successes for the network, has died at age 90. He was also a former husband of actress Mary Tyler Moore.
“The Big Picture” Presents….Television In The Army Remember “The Big Picture” series? Here is their half hour show on how the Army uses TV, from the early ’50s. Given that there are RCA TK11 cameras here (as well as the older TK30s), this has to be sometime after 1952. At the Production Center, they are […]
The Story Of Telstar…The First Communications Satellite Since we are knee deep in space launches and television’s coverage of them, I thought you would enjoy seeing this 1962 film on how the Bell System, in cooperation with NASA, developed the Telstar satellite, and participated in the launch and the subsequent successful transmission of signals to […]
Analogue Graphics Display…The 1964 Version With several stories on computer graphics and the like lately, I thought taking a look at how thing were done before all that came along would be fun and I’ll share a few with you this morning. This is a WHDH Boston Celtics player info box complete with changeable photo […]
See Anyone You Know? 1984 Pool Cameramen Shoot Each Other With the Republican National Convention coming next week, here’s a look back at the very end of the 1984 version, when Thomson cameras were in vogue at CBS. At 3:35, I see our friend Charlie Huntley. This video came from producer Phil Savenick, who has […]
RIP. Think he left NBC before I started working there
Nice man. Got to meet him a couple of times.
Mr. Tinker came to his NBC presidency at the same time I became an NBC affil manager. My impression was exactly that of the many praising him now – a gifted individual with the courage of his own counsel & convictions. He & Brandon Tartikoff, both very bright lights, turned things around at NBC making it a great place to be.
He had a saying, “First be best, then be first.” Words of wisdom. RIP
Worked at NBC Burbank during his tenure. Class all the way!!!
He vetoed a SNL sketch making fun of Fred Silverman. He also favored David Letterman over Jay Leno for the Tonight Show.
Sad… Grant Tinker Knew Prime Time Television…
I also worked at NBC Burbank during Mr. Tinker’s stewardship of the network. When he called a meeting to let us know that a company known for making light bulbs had bought the place and furthermore he wouldn’t be making the trip with us, I knew it was time to leave. I had some offers and took a very good one. Class act. RIP.
In the late ’80s, Tinker with Gannett formed GTG Entertainment, which brought us “TV 101” for CBS, the syndicated “USA Today: The Television Show”, and this show, which NBC cancelled in 1990…only for David Hasselhoff and the producers to reboot it on their own in syndication a year or so later: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv6lFW3eDgE
Mary Tyler Moore turns 80 this month.