 = DuMont Television Network = 
 
 The DuMont Television Network ( also known as the DuMont Network , simply DuMont / Du Mont , or ( incorrectly ) Dumont / duːmɒnt / ) was one of the world 's pioneer commercial television networks , rivalling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in the USA . It began operation in the United States in 1946 . It was owned by DuMont Laboratories , a television equipment and set manufacturer . The network was hindered by the prohibitive cost of broadcasting , by regulations imposed by the Federal Communications Commission ( FCC ) which restricted the company 's growth , and even by the company 's partner , Paramount Pictures . Despite several innovations in broadcasting and the creation of one of television 's biggest stars of the 1950s ( Jackie Gleason ) , the network never found itself on solid financial ground . Forced to expand on UHF channels during an era when UHF was not yet a standard feature on television sets , DuMont fought an uphill battle for program clearances outside of their three owned @-@ and @-@ operated stations in New York , Washington and Pittsburgh , finally ending network operations in 1956 . 
 DuMont 's latter @-@ day obscurity , caused mainly by the destruction of its extensive program archive by the 1970s , has prompted TV historian David Weinstein to refer to it as the " Forgotten Network " or " Network Is Long Gone " . A few popular DuMont programs , such as Cavalcade of Stars and Emmy Award winner Life Is Worth Living , appear in television retrospectives or are mentioned briefly in books about U.S. television history . 
 
 = = History = = 
 
 
 = = = Origins = = = 
 
 DuMont Laboratories was founded in 1931 by Dr. Allen B. DuMont with only $ 1 @,@ 000 , and a laboratory in his basement . He and his staff were responsible for many early technical innovations , including the first consumer all @-@ electronic television set in 1938 . The company 's television sets soon became the gold standard of the industry . In 1942 , DuMont worked with the Army in developing radar technology during World War II . This ended up bringing in $ 5 million in capital for the company . 
 Early sales of television sets were hampered by the lack of regularly scheduled programming being broadcast . A few months after selling his first set in 1938 , DuMont opened his own New York area experimental television station ( W2XVT ) in Passaic , New Jersey . In 1940 , the station moved to Manhattan as W2XWV on channel 4 . Unlike CBS and NBC , which reduced their hours of television broadcasting during World War II , DuMont continued full @-@ scale experimental and commercial broadcasts throughout the war . In 1944 , W2XWV became WABD ( callsign derived from DuMont 's initials ) moving to channel 5 in 1945 , the third commercial television station in New York . On May 19 , 1945 , DuMont opened experimental W3XWT in Washington , DC . A minority shareholder in DuMont Laboratories was Paramount Pictures , which had advanced $ 400 @,@ 000 in 1939 for a 40 % share in the company . Paramount had television interests of its own , having launched experimental stations in Los Angeles in 1939 and Chicago in 1940 , and DuMont 's association with Paramount ultimately proved to be a mistake . 
 Soon after his experimental Washington station signed on , DuMont began experimental coaxial cable hookups between his laboratories in Passaic , New Jersey , and his two stations . It is said that one of those broadcasts on the hookup announced that the U.S. had dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki , Japan , on August 9 , 1945 . This was later considered to be the official beginning of the DuMont Network by both Thomas T. Goldsmith , the network 's chief engineer and DuMont 's best friend , and DuMont himself . Regular network service began on August 15 , 1946 , on WABD and W3XWT . In 1947 , W3XWT became WTTG , named after Goldsmith . The pair were joined in 1949 by WDTV ( channel 3 ) in Pittsburgh . 
 Although NBC in New York was known to have station @-@ to @-@ station television links as early as 1940 with WPTZ ( now KYW ) in Philadelphia and WRGB Schenectady , NY , DuMont received its station licenses before NBC resumed its previously sporadic network broadcasts after the war . ABC had just come into existence as a radio network in 1943 and did not enter network television until 1948 , when it signed on a flagship station in New York City , WJZ @-@ TV ( now WABC @-@ TV ) . CBS also waited until 1948 to begin network operations because it was waiting for the Federal Communications Commission to approve its color television system ( which it eventually did not ) . Other companies – including Mutual , the Yankee Network , and Paramount itself – were interested in starting television networks , but were prevented from successfully doing so by restrictive FCC regulations ; however , at least the Paramount Television Network actually did have some limited success in network operations in the late 1940s and early 1950s . 
 
 = = = Programming = = = 
 
 Despite no history of radio programming or stable of radio stars to draw on and perennial cash shortages , DuMont was an innovative and creative network . Without the radio revenues that supported mighty NBC and CBS , DuMont programmers relied on their wits and on connections with Broadway . Eventually , the network provided original programs that are remembered more than 60 years later . 
 The network largely ignored the standard business model of 1950s TV , in which one advertiser sponsored an entire show , enabling it to have complete control over its content . Instead , DuMont sold commercials to many different advertisers , freeing producers of its shows from the veto power held by sole sponsors . This eventually became the standard model for US television . Some commercial time was sold regionally on a co @-@ op basis , while other spots were sold network @-@ wide . 
 DuMont also holds another important place in American TV history . WDTV 's sign @-@ on made it possible for stations in the Midwest to receive live network programming from stations on the East Coast , and vice versa . Before then , the networks relied on separate regional networks in the two time zones for live programming , and the West Coast received network programming from kinescopes ( films shot directly from live television screens ) originating from the East Coast . On January 11 , 1949 , the coaxial cable linking East and Midwest ( known in television circles as " the Golden Spike , " in reference to the Golden spike that united the First Transcontinental Railroad ) was activated . The ceremony , hosted by DuMont and WDTV , was carried on all four networks . WGN @-@ TV ( channel 9 ) in Chicago and WABD in New York were able to share programs through a live coaxial cable feed when WDTV signed on in Pittsburgh , because the station completed the East Coast @-@ to @-@ Midwest chain , allowing stations in both regions to air the same program simultaneously , which is still the standard for US TV . It was another two years before the West Coast got live programming from the East ( and the East able to get live programming from the West ) , but this was the beginning of the modern era of network television . 
 The first broadcasts came from DuMont 's 515 Madison Avenue headquarters , and it soon found additional space , including a fully functioning theater , in the New York branch of Wanamaker 's department store at Ninth Street and Broadway . Later , a lease on the Adelphi Theatre on 54th Street and the Ambassador Theatre on West 49th Street gave the network a site for variety shows , and in 1954 , the lavish DuMont Tele @-@ Centre opened in the former Jacob Ruppert 's Central Opera House at 205 East 67th Street . 
 DuMont was the first network to broadcast a film production for TV : Talk Fast , Mister , produced by RKO in 1944 . DuMont also aired the first TV situation comedy , Mary Kay and Johnny , as well as the first network @-@ televised soap opera , Faraway Hill . Cavalcade of Stars , a variety show hosted by Jackie Gleason , was the birthplace of The Honeymooners ( Gleason took his variety show to CBS in 1952 , but filmed the " Classic 39 " Honeymooners episodes at DuMont 's Adelphi Theater studio in 1955 @-@ 56 ) . Bishop Fulton J. Sheen 's devotional program Life Is Worth Living went up against Milton Berle in many cities , and was the first show to compete successfully in the ratings against " Mr. Television " . In 1952 , Sheen won an Emmy Award for " Most Outstanding Personality " . The network 's other notable programs include : 
 Ted Mack 's The Original Amateur Hour , which began on radio in the 1930s under original host Edward Bowes 
 The Morey Amsterdam Show , a comedy / variety show hosted by Morey Amsterdam , which started on CBS before moving to DuMont in 1949 
 Captain Video and His Video Rangers , a hugely popular kids ' science fiction series 
 The Arthur Murray Party , a dance program 
 Down You Go , a popular panel show 
 Rocky King , Inside Detective , a private eye series starring Roscoe Karns 
 The Plainclothesman , a camera 's @-@ eye @-@ view detective series 
 Live coverage of boxing and professional wrestling , the latter featuring matches staged by the Capitol Wrestling Corporation , the predecessor to WWE 
 The Johns Hopkins Science Review , a Peabody Award @-@ winning education program 
 Cash and Carry , the first network @-@ televised game show 
 The Ernie Kovacs Show , the first truly innovative show in what was then visual radio , not television . 
 The network was a pioneer in TV programming aimed at minority audiences and featuring minority performers , at a time when the other American networks aired few television series for non @-@ whites . Among DuMont 's minority programs were The Gallery of Madame Liu @-@ Tsong , starring Asian American film actress Anna May Wong , the first US TV show to star an Asian American , and The Hazel Scott Show , starring pianist and singer Hazel Scott , the first US network TV series to be hosted by a black woman . 
 Although DuMont 's programming pre @-@ dated videotape , many DuMont offerings were recorded on kinescopes . These kinescopes were said to be stored in a warehouse until the 1970s . Actress Edie Adams , the wife of comedian Ernie Kovacs ( both regular performers on early television ) testified in 1996 before a panel of the Library of Congress on the preservation of television and video . Adams claimed that so little value was given to these films that the stored kinescopes were loaded into three trucks and dumped into Upper New York Bay . Nevertheless , a number of DuMont programs survive at The Paley Center for Media in New York City , the UCLA Film and Television Archive in Los Angeles , in the Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia , and the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago . 
 Although nearly the entire DuMont film archive was destroyed , several surviving DuMont shows have been released on DVD . A large number of episodes of Life Is Worth Living have been saved , and they are now aired weekly on Catholic @-@ oriented cable network , the Eternal Word Television Network , which also makes a collection of them available on DVD ( in the biographical information about Fulton J. Sheen added to the end of many episodes , a still image of Bishop Sheen looking into a DuMont Television camera can be seen ) . Several companies that distribute DVDs over the Internet have released a small number of episodes of Cavalcade of Stars and The Morey Amsterdam Show . Two more DuMont programs , Captain Video and His Video Rangers and Rocky King , Inside Detective , have had a small amount of surviving episodes released commercially by at least one major distributor of public domain programming . 
 
 = = = = Awards = = = = 
 
 DuMont programs were by necessity low @-@ budget affairs , and the network received relatively few awards from the TV industry . Most awards during the 1950s went to NBC and CBS , who were able to out @-@ spend other companies and draw on their extensive history of radio broadcasting in the relatively new television medium . DuMont , however , did win a number of awards during its years of operation . 
 During the 1952 – 53 TV season , Bishop Fulton J. Sheen , host of Life Is Worth Living , won an Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Personality . Sheen beat out CBS 's Arthur Godfrey , Edward R. Murrow and Lucille Ball , who were also nominated for the same award . Sheen was also nominated for – but did not win – consecutive Public Service Emmys in 1952 , 1953 , and 1954 . 
 DuMont received an Emmy nomination for Down You Go , a popular game show during the 1952 – 53 television season ( in the category Best Audience Participation , Quiz , or Panel Program ) . The network was nominated twice for its coverage of professional football during the 1953 – 54 and 1954 – 55 television seasons . 
 The Johns Hopkins Science Review , a DuMont public affairs program , was awarded a Peabody Award in 1952 in the Education category . Sheen 's Emmy and the Science Review Peabody were the only national awards the DuMont Network received . Though DuMont series and performers continued to win local TV awards , by the mid @-@ 1950s the DuMont network no longer had a national presence . 
 
 = = = = Ratings = = = = 
 
 The earliest measurements of TV audiences were performed by the C. E. Hooper company of New York . DuMont performed well in the Hooper ratings ; in fact , DuMont 's talent program , The Original Amateur Hour , was the most popular series of the 1947 – 48 season . Variety ranked DuMont 's popular variety series Cavalcade of Stars as the tenth most popular series two seasons later . 
 In February 1950 , Hooper 's competitor A. C. Nielsen bought out the Hooperatings system . DuMont did not fare well with the change : none of its shows appeared on Nielsen 's annual top 20 lists of the most popular series . One of the DuMont Network 's biggest hits of the 1950s , Life is Worth Living , received Nielsen ratings of up to 11 @.@ 1 , attracting more than 10 million viewers . Sheen 's one @-@ man program – in which he discussed philosophy , psychology and other fields of thought from a Christian perspective – was the most widely viewed religious series in the history of television . 169 local television stations aired Life , and for three years the program competed successfully against NBC 's popular The Milton Berle Show . The ABC and CBS programs which aired in the same timeslot were cancelled . 
 Life is Worth Living was not the only DuMont program to achieve double @-@ digit ratings . In 1952 , Time magazine reported that popular DuMont game show Down You Go had attracted an audience estimated at 16 million viewers . Similarly , DuMont 's summer 1954 replacement series , The Goldbergs , achieved audiences estimated at 10 million . Still , these series were only moderately popular compared to NBC 's and CBS 's highest @-@ rated programs . 
 Nielsen was not the only company to report TV ratings , however . Companies such as Trendex , Videodex and Arbitron had also measured TV viewership . The adjacent chart comes from Videodex 's August 1950 ratings breakdown , as reported in Billboard magazine . 
 
 = = = Disputes with AT & T and Paramount = = = 
 
 DuMont struggled to get its programs aired in many parts of the country , in part due to technical limitations of network lines maintained by the telephone company AT & T Corporation . During the 1940s and 1950s , television signals were sent between stations via coaxial cable and microwave links which were owned by AT & T. The service provider did not have enough cable lines and microwave circuits to provide signal relay service from all four networks to all of their affiliates at the same time , so AT & T allocated times when each network could offer live programs to their affiliates . In 1950 , AT & T allotted NBC and CBS each over 100 hours of live prime time network service , but gave ABC only 53 hours , and DuMont just 37 . AT & T also required each television network to lease both radio and television lines . DuMont was the only television network without a radio network , but was forced to pay for a service it did not use . DuMont protested AT & T 's actions with the Federal Communications Commission , and eventually received a compromise . 
 DuMont 's biggest corporate hurdle , however , may have been with the company 's own partner , Paramount . Relations between the two companies were strained as early as 1939 , when Paramount opened experimental television stations in Los Angeles and Chicago without DuMont . Dr. DuMont claimed that the original 1937 acquisition proposal required Paramount to expand its television interests " through DuMont " . Paramount representative Paul Raibourn , who also was a member of DuMont 's board of directors , denied that any such restriction had ever been discussed ( Dr. DuMont was vindicated on this point by a 1953 examination of the original draft document ) . 
 DuMont aspired to grow beyond its three stations , applying for new television station licenses in Cincinnati and Cleveland in 1947 . This would give the network five owned @-@ and @-@ operated stations ( O & Os ) , the maximum allowed by the FCC at the time . However , DuMont was hampered by Paramount 's two stations , KTLA ( channel 5 ) in Los Angeles and WBKB ( channel 4 , now WBBM @-@ TV on channel 2 ) in Chicago – the descendants of the two experimental stations that rankled DuMont in 1940 . Although these stations never carried DuMont programming ( with the exception of KTLA for one year from 1947 to 1948 ) , and in fact competed against DuMont 's affiliates in those cities , the FCC ruled that Paramount essentially controlled DuMont , which effectively placed the network at the five @-@ station cap . Paramount 's exertion of influence over the network 's management and the power of its voting stock brought the FCC to its conclusion . Thus , DuMont was unable to open additional stations as long as Paramount owned stations or owned a portion of DuMont . Paramount refused to sell . 
 In 1949 , Paramount Pictures launched the Paramount Television Network , a service which provided local television stations with filmed television programs ; Paramount 's network " undercut the company that it had invested in . " Paramount did not share its stars , big budgets or filmed programs with DuMont ; the company had stopped financially supporting DuMont in 1941 . Although Paramount executives indicated they would produce programs for DuMont , the studio never supplied the network with programs or technical assistance . The acrimonious relationship between Paramount and DuMont came to a head during the 1953 FCC hearings regarding the ABC – United Paramount Theaters merger when Paul Raibourn , an executive at Paramount , publicly derided the quality of DuMont television sets in court testimony . 
 
 = = = Trouble from the start = = = 
 
 DuMont began with one basic disadvantage : unlike NBC , CBS and ABC , it did not have a radio network from which to draw big @-@ name talent , affiliate loyalty or radio profits to underwrite television operations until the television medium itself became profitable . Most early television licenses were granted to established radio broadcasters , and many longtime relationships with radio networks carried over to the new medium . As CBS and NBC ( and to a lesser extent , ABC ) gained their footing , they began to offer programming that drew on their radio backgrounds , bringing over the most popular radio stars . Early television station owners , when deciding which network would receive their main affiliation , were more likely to choose CBS 's roster of Lucille Ball , Jack Benny and Ed Sullivan , or NBC 's lineup of Milton Berle and Sid Caesar over DuMont , which offered a then @-@ unknown Jackie Gleason and Bishop Fulton J. Sheen . In smaller markets , with a limited number of stations , DuMont and ABC were often relegated to secondary status , so their programs got clearance only if the primary network was off the air or delayed via kinescope recording ( " teletranscriptions " in DuMont parlance ) . 
 Adding to DuMont 's troubles was the FCC 's 1948 " freeze " on television license applications . This was done to sort out the thousands of applications that had come streaming in , but also to rethink the allocation and technical standards laid down prior to World War II . It became clear soon after the war that 12 channels ( " channel 1 " had been removed from television broadcasting use because storms and other types of interference could severely affect the quality of signals on this channel ) were not nearly enough for national television service . What was to be a six @-@ month freeze lasted until 1952 , when the FCC opened the UHF spectrum . The FCC , however , did not require television manufacturers to include UHF capability . In order to see UHF stations , most people had to buy an expensive converter . Even then , the picture quality was marginal at best . Tied to this was a decision to restrict VHF allocations in medium- and smaller @-@ sized markets . Television sets were not required to have all @-@ channel tuning until 1964 . 
 Forced to rely on UHF to expand , DuMont saw one station after another go dark due to dismal ratings . It bought small , distressed UHF station KCTY ( channel 50 ) in Kansas City , Missouri in 1954 , but ran it for just three months before shutting it down at a considerable loss after attempting to compete with three established VHF stations . 
 The FCC 's Dr. Hyman Goldin said in 1960 , " If there had been four VHF outlets in the top markets , there 's no question DuMont would have lived and would have eventually turned the corner in terms of profitability . " 
 
 = = = The end = = = 
 
 During the early years of television , there was some measure of cooperation among the four major U.S. television networks . However , as television grew into a profitable business , an intense rivalry developed between the networks , just as it had in radio . NBC and CBS competed fiercely for viewers and advertising dollars , a contest neither underfunded DuMont nor ABC could hope to win . According to author Dennis Mazzocco , " NBC tried to make an arrangement with ABC and CBS to destroy the DuMont network . " The plan was for NBC and CBS to exclusively offer ABC their most popular series after they had aired on the bigger networks . ABC would become a network of re @-@ runs , but DuMont would be shut out . ABC president Leonard Goldenson rejected NBC executive David Sarnoff 's proposal , but " did not report it to the Justice Department " . 
 DuMont survived the early 1950s only because of WDTV in Pittsburgh , the lone commercial VHF station in what was then the sixth @-@ largest market . WDTV 's only competition came from UHF stations and distant stations from Johnstown , Pennsylvania ; Youngstown , Ohio ; and Wheeling , West Virginia . No other commercial VHF station signed on in Pittsburgh until 1957 , giving WDTV a de facto monopoly on television in the area . Since WDTV carried secondary affiliations with the other three networks , DuMont used this as a bargaining chip to get its programs cleared in other large markets . 
 Despite its severe financial straits , by 1953 , DuMont appeared to be on its way to establishing itself as the third national network . DuMont programs aired live on 16 stations , but it could count on only seven primary stations – its three owned @-@ and @-@ operated stations ( " O & Os " ) , plus WGN @-@ TV in Chicago , KTTV ( channel 11 ) in Los Angeles , KFEL @-@ TV ( channel 2 , now KWGN @-@ TV ) in Denver and WTVN @-@ TV ( channel 6 , now WSYX ) in Columbus , Ohio . In contrast , ABC had a full complement of five O & Os , augmented by nine primary affiliates . ABC also had a radio network ( it was descended from NBC 's Blue Network ) from which to draw talent , affiliate loyalty and a profit stream to subsidize television operations . However , ABC had only 14 primary stations , while CBS and NBC had over 40 each . By 1951 , ABC was badly overextended and on the verge of bankruptcy . That year , the company announced a merger with United Paramount Theaters ( the former theater division of Paramount Pictures , which was spun off as a result of the United States v. Paramount Pictures , Inc. antitrust decision ) , but it was not until 1953 that the FCC approved the merger . 
 By this time , DuMont had begun to differentiate itself from NBC and CBS . It allowed its advertisers to choose the locations where their advertising ran , potentially saving them millions of dollars . By contrast , ABC operated like CBS and NBC even though it was only a fourth as large , forcing advertisers to purchase a large " must @-@ buy " list of stations . 
 ABC 's fortunes were dramatically altered in February 1953 , when the FCC cleared the way for UPT to buy the network . The merger provided ABC with a badly needed cash infusion , giving it the resources to mount " top shelf " programming and to provide a national television service on a scale approaching that of CBS and NBC . Through UPT president Leonard Goldenson , ABC also gained ties with the Hollywood studios that more than matched those DuMont 's producers had with Broadway . 
 Realizing that the ABC @-@ UPT deal put DuMont near extinction , network officials were receptive to a merger offer from ABC . Goldenson quickly brokered a deal with Ted Bergmann , DuMont 's managing director , under which the merged network would have been called " ABC @-@ DuMont " until at least 1958 and would have honored all of DuMont 's network commitments . In return , DuMont would get $ 5 million in cash , guaranteed advertising time for DuMont sets and a secure future for its staff . A merged ABC @-@ DuMont would have been a colossus rivaling CBS and NBC , as it would have owned stations in five of the six largest U.S. television markets ( excluding only Philadelphia ) as well as ABC 's radio network . It also would have inherited DuMont 's de facto monopoly in Pittsburgh , and would have been one of two networks to have full ownership of a station in the nation 's capital ( the other being NBC ) . However , it would have had to sell a New York station – either DuMont 's WABD or ABC flagship WJZ @-@ TV ( channel 7 , now WABC @-@ TV ) , probably the former . It also would have had to sell two other stations – most likely ABC 's two smallest O & Os , WXYZ @-@ TV in Detroit and KGO @-@ TV in San Francisco ( both broadcasting on channel 7 ) – to get under the FCC 's limit of five stations per owner . 
 However , Paramount vetoed the plan almost out of hand due to antitrust concerns . A few months earlier , the FCC had ruled that Paramount controlled DuMont , and there were still some questions about whether UPT had really separated from Paramount . 
 With no other way to readily obtain cash , DuMont sold WDTV to Westinghouse Electric Corporation for $ 9 @.@ 75 million in late 1954 . While this gave DuMont a short @-@ term cash infusion , it eliminated the leverage the network had to get program clearances in other markets . Without its de facto monopoly in Pittsburgh , the company 's advertising revenue shrank to less than half that of 1953 . By February 1955 , DuMont executives realized the company could not continue as a television network . The decision was made to shut down network operations and operate WABD and WTTG as independent stations . On April 1 , 1955 , most of DuMont 's entertainment programs were dropped . Bishop Sheen aired his last program on DuMont on April 26 and later moved to ABC . By May , just eight programs were left on the network , with only inexpensive shows and sporting events keeping what was left of the network going through the summer . The network also largely abandoned the use of the intercity network coaxial cable , on which it had spent $ 3 million in 1954 to transmit shows that mostly lacked station clearance . The company only retained network links for live sports programming and utilizing the company 's Electronicam process to produce studio @-@ based programming . Ironically , Electronicam is best remembered for being used by Jackie Gleason 's producers for the 39 @-@ half @-@ hour episodes of The Honeymooners that aired on CBS during the 1955 @-@ 56 television season . 
 In August , Paramount , with the help of other stockholders , seized full control of DuMont Laboratories . The last non @-@ sports program on DuMont , the game show What 's the Story , aired on September 23 , 1955 . After that , DuMont 's network feed was used only for occasional sporting events . DuMont 's last broadcast , a boxing match , aired on August 6 , 1956 . The date has also been reported as April 1950 , September 1955 , or August 4 , 1958 . According to one source , the final program aired on only five stations nationwide . It appears that the boxing show was syndicated to a few other east coast stations until 1958 , but likely not as a production of DuMont or its successor company . 
 DuMont spun off WABD and WTTG as the " DuMont Broadcasting Corporation " . The name was later changed to " Metropolitan Broadcasting Company " to distance the company from what was seen as a complete failure . In 1958 , John Kluge bought Paramount 's shares for $ 4 million , and renamed the company Metromedia in 1960 . WABD became WNEW @-@ TV and later WNYW ; WTTG still broadcasts under its original call letters as a Fox affiliate . 
 For 50 years , DuMont was the only major broadcast television network to cease operations , until CBS Corporation and Time Warner shut down two other struggling networks , UPN and The WB , in September 2006 to create The CW Television Network – whose schedule was originally composed largely of programs from both of its predecessor networks . 
 
 = = Fate of the DuMont stations = = 
 
 All three DuMont @-@ owned stations are still operating and coincidentally , all three are owned @-@ and @-@ operated stations of their respective networks , just as when they were part of DuMont . Of the three , only Washington 's WTTG still has its original call letters . 
 WTTG and New York 's WABD ( later WNEW @-@ TV , and now WNYW ) survived as Metromedia @-@ owned independents until 1986 , when Metromedia was purchased by the News Corporation to form the nucleus of the new Fox Broadcasting Company . Clarke Ingram , who maintained a DuMont memorial site , has suggested that Fox can be considered a revival , or at least a linear descendant , of DuMont . 
 Westinghouse changed WDTV 's call letters to KDKA @-@ TV after the pioneering radio station of the same name , and switched its primary affiliation to CBS immediately after the sale . Westinghouse 's acquisition of CBS in 1995 made KDKA @-@ TV a CBS owned @-@ and @-@ operated station . 
 
 = = DuMont programming library = = 
 
 DuMont produced more than 20 @,@ 000 television episodes during the decade from 1946 to 1956 . Because the shows were created prior to the launch of Ampex 's electronic videotape recorder in late 1956 , all of them were initially broadcast live in black and white , then recorded on film kinescope for reruns and for West Coast rebroadcasts . By the early 1970s , their vast library of 35mm and 16mm kinescopes eventually wound up in the hands of " a successor network , " who reportedly disposed of all of them in New York City 's East River to make room for more recent @-@ vintage videotapes in a warehouse . Other kinescopes were put through a silver reclaiming process , because of the microscopic amounts of silver that made up the emulsion of black @-@ and @-@ white film during this time . It is estimated that only about 350 complete DuMont television shows survive today , the most famous being virtually all of Jackie Gleason 's Honeymooners comedy sketches . Most of the existing episodes are believed to have come from the personal archives of DuMont 's hosts , such as Gleason and Dennis James . 
 
 = = Affiliates = = 
 
 At its peak in 1954 , DuMont was affiliated with around 200 television stations . In those days , television stations were free to " cherry @-@ pick " which programs they would air , and many stations affiliated with multiple networks , depending mainly on the number of commercial television stations available in a market at a given time ( markets where only one commercial station was available carried programming from all four major networks ) . Many of DuMont 's " affiliates " carried very little DuMont programming , choosing to air one or two more popular programs ( such as Life Is Worth Living ) and / or sports programming on the weekends . Few stations carried the full DuMont program lineup . 
 In its later years , DuMont was carried mostly on poorly watched UHF channels or had only secondary affiliations on VHF stations . DuMont ended most operations on April 1 , 1955 , but honored network commitments until August 1956 . 
 
 = = = Kinescopes = = = 
 
 Kinescopes of DuMont Network programs , from the Internet Archive : The Adventures of Ellery Queen , Captain Video and His Video Rangers , Cavalcade of Stars , Life Is Worth Living , Miss U.S. Television 1950 Contest , The Morey Amsterdam Show , The Old American Barn Dance , Okay Mother , On Your Way , Public Prosecutor , Rocky King — Detective , School House , They Stand Accused and A DuMont Network identification 
 