Hubbry Logo
Fred SilvermanFred SilvermanMain
Open search
Fred Silverman
Community hub
Fred Silverman
logo
8 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Fred Silverman
Fred Silverman
Fred Silverman
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia

Fred Silverman (September 13, 1937 – January 30, 2020) was an American television executive and producer. He worked as an executive at all of the Big Three television networks, and was responsible for bringing to television such programs as Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (the original incarnation of the Scooby-Doo franchise, 1969–1970), All in the Family (1971–1979), The Waltons (1972–1981), and Charlie's Angels (1976–1981), as well as the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man (1976), Roots (1977), and Shōgun (1980). For his success in programming such shows, Time magazine declared him "The Man with the Golden Gut" in 1977.[1]

Key Information

Biography

[edit]

Early life and career

[edit]

Silverman was born in New York City, the son of Mildred, a homemaker, and William Silverman, a radio and television service repairman.[2] His father was Jewish and his mother was Catholic.[3] He grew up in Rego Park, Queens, and attended Forest Hills High School.[2] He graduated with a bachelor's degree from Syracuse University, where he was a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, and then earned a master's degree from Ohio State University. His 406-page masters thesis analyzed ten years worth of ABC programming and led to his hiring at WGN-TV in Chicago. At WGN, Silverman pioneered the concept of airing family-friendly feature films in prime time with Family Classics, which later inspired the major networks to do the same.[4][5] This was followed by positions at WPIX in New York, and then at CBS.[2][6] His first job at CBS was to oversee the network's daytime programming.[2] Silverman married his assistant, Cathy Kihn, and they had a daughter, Melissa, and son, William.[2][6]

CBS

[edit]

In 1970, Silverman was promoted from vice-president of program planning and development to vice president, Programs, heading the entire program department at CBS.[6] Silverman was promoted to bring a change in perspective for the network, as it had just forced out the previous executive in that position, Michael Dann; Dann's philosophy was to draw as many viewers as possible without regard to key demographics, which the network found to be unacceptable, as advertisers were becoming more specific about what kind of audience they were aiming for. To boost viewership in demographics that were believed to be more willing to respond to commercials, Silverman orchestrated the "rural purge" of 1971, which eventually eliminated many popular country-oriented shows, such as Green Acres, Mayberry R.F.D., Hee Haw, and The Beverly Hillbillies from the CBS schedule. In their place came a new wave of shows aimed at the upscale baby boomer generation, such as All in the Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, M*A*S*H, The Waltons, Cannon, Barnaby Jones, Kojak, and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.

Silverman spun off Maude and The Jeffersons from All in the Family, and Rhoda from The Mary Tyler Moore Show (as well as The Bob Newhart Show from MTM Enterprises' writers). In early 1974, Silverman ordered a Maude spin-off titled Good Times; that series' success led Silverman to schedule it against ABC's new hit, Happy Days, the following fall.

In other dayparts, Silverman also reintroduced game shows to the network's daytime lineups in 1972 after a four-year absence; among the shows Silverman introduced was an updated version of the 1950s game show The Price Is Right, which remains on the air over five decades later. After the success of The Price Is Right, Silverman established a working relationship with Mark Goodson and Bill Todman and most of their game shows appeared on CBS, including a revival of Match Game.

On Saturday mornings, Silverman commissioned Hanna-Barbera to produce the series Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and the character Fred Jones, who at first was called "Ronnie," is named after Silverman.[7][8] The success of Scooby-Doo led to several other Hanna-Barbera series airing on CBS in the early 1970s. Lou Scheimer, the co-founder of animation studio Filmation, said that Silverman "created the Saturday morning phenomenon."[9]

Move to ABC

[edit]

Silverman was named president of ABC Entertainment in 1975,[10] putting him in the ironic position of saving Happy Days, the very show that Good Times had brought to the brink of cancellation. Silverman succeeded in bringing Happy Days to the top of the ratings and generating a hit spin-off from that show, Laverne & Shirley (another spin-off, Mork & Mindy, was also a ratings winner initially ending its first season at number three but the ratings quickly free fell).

At ABC, Silverman also greenlit other popular series such as The Bionic Woman (a Six Million Dollar Man spin-off), Family, Charlie's Angels, Donny & Marie, Three's Company, Eight Is Enough, The Love Boat, Soap, Fantasy Island, Good Morning America, long-form pioneer Rich Man, Poor Man, and the award-winning miniseries, Roots. These moves brought ABC's long-dormant ratings from third place to first place. However, Silverman was criticized during this period for relying heavily on escapist fare (it was Silverman who conceived the infamous The Brady Bunch Hour with Sid and Marty Krofft in late 1976) and for bringing T&A or "jiggle TV" to the small screen with numerous ABC shows featuring buxom, attractive, and often scantily-clad young women (such as the popular Battle of the Network Stars).

ABC Daytime had mediocre ratings, so in order to increase them, Silverman hired Gloria Monty to produce the ailing General Hospital. He gave Monty thirteen weeks to increase the serial's ratings or it would be cancelled. He later expanded General Hospital, All My Children, and One Life to Live to a full hour, and created a 3+1⁄2-hour afternoon serial block. Among game shows, Silverman introduced Goodson and Todman's Family Feud to the network.

During Silverman's time at ABC, he overhauled the network's Saturday-morning cartoon output, dumping Filmation (which had produced the failed Uncle Croc's Block) and replacing it with content from Hanna-Barbera, including a continuation of Scooby-Doo. He also oversaw the creation of Ruby-Spears Productions, poaching two of Hanna-Barbera's lead writers, Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, to produce their own content in hopes of keeping Hanna-Barbera from becoming complacent.[11] ABC abandoned the wiping of video-taped programs under Silverman's tenure in 1978, as CBS had done while he was at that network.

Move to NBC

[edit]

Although Silverman's tenure at ABC was very successful, he left to become president and CEO of NBC in 1978. In stark contrast with his tenures at CBS and ABC, his three-year tenure at NBC proved to be a difficult period, marked by several high-profile failures such as the sitcom Hello, Larry, the variety shows The Big Show and Pink Lady, the drama Supertrain (which also was, at the time, the most expensive TV series produced; its high production costs and poor ratings nearly bankrupted NBC), and the Jean Doumanian era of Saturday Night Live. (Silverman hired Doumanian after Al Franken, the planned successor for outgoing Lorne Michaels, castigated Silverman's failures on-air in a way that Silverman took very personally.[12]) Even in daytime, the network struggled as the expansion of Another World from 60 to 90 minutes drove away not only viewers, but longtime head writer Harding Lemay, while Regis Philbin's talk show proved to be nowhere near as popular as his later syndicated talk show would prove to be. Compounding this was the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott costing the network millions in lost ad revenue, and multiple industry strikes pushing back the premieres of new shows.

Despite these failures, there were high points in Silverman's tenure at NBC, including the launch of the critically lauded Hill Street Blues (1981), the epic mini-series Shōgun, and The David Letterman Show (daytime, 1980), which would lead to Letterman's successful Late Night with David Letterman in 1982. Silverman had Letterman in a holding deal after the morning show which kept the unemployed Letterman from going to another network (NBC gave Letterman $20,000 per week [$1,000,000 for a year] to sit out a year). However, Silverman nearly lost his then-current late night host, market leader Johnny Carson, after Carson sued NBC in a contract dispute; the case was settled out of court and Carson remained with NBC in exchange for the rights to his show and a reduction in time on air,[13] along with a deal with Carson Entertainment Group that eventually resulted in the hit TV sitcom Amen as well as the TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes series and specials along with a handful of shows that proved short-lived.

Silverman also developed successful comedies such as Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts of Life, and Gimme a Break!. Silverman also pioneered entertainment reality programming with the 1979 launch of Real People. His contributions to the network's game show output included Goodson and Todman's Card Sharks and Password Plus, both of which enjoyed great success in the morning schedule, although he also canceled several other relatively popular series, including The Hollywood Squares and High Rollers, to make way for The David Letterman Show (those cancellations also threatened Wheel of Fortune, whose host, Chuck Woolery, departed the show in a payment dispute during Silverman's tenure, although the show survived). Silverman also oversaw the hiring of Pat Sajak as the new host of Wheel of Fortune in 1981, a position that Sajak would hold for 43 years, although Silverman himself objected to Sajak's hiring.[14] On Saturday mornings, in a time when most of the cartoon output of the three networks was similar, Silverman oversaw the development of an animated series based on The Smurfs; the animated series The Smurfs ran from 1981 to 1990, well after Silverman's departure, making it one of his longest-lasting contributions to the network.

In other areas of NBC, Silverman revitalized the news division, which resulted in Today and NBC Nightly News achieving parity with their competition for the first time in years. He created a new FM Radio Division, with competitive full-service stations in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington. During his NBC tenure, Silverman also brought in an entirely new divisional and corporate management, a team that stayed in place long after Silverman's departure. (Among this group was a new Entertainment President, Brandon Tartikoff, who would help get NBC back on top by 1985.) Silverman also reintroduced the peacock as NBC's corporate logo in the form of the proud 'N' (which combined the peacock with the 1975 trapezoid 'N' logo) in 1979; the logo was used until 1986.

Foundation of The Fred Silverman Company

[edit]

In 1981, Silverman left NBC and formed The Fred Silverman Company (formerly Intermedia Entertainment) to produce shows to sell to television. The company would generate several hits including the Perry Mason TV movie series (1985–1994), Matlock (1986–1995), Jake and the Fatman (1987–1992), In the Heat of the Night (1988–1995), Father Dowling Mysteries (1987–1991), and Diagnosis: Murder (1993–2001). Most of these continue to run in syndication. Most of these series were co-produced with Dean Hargrove and Viacom Productions.

History

[edit]

After he quit NBC, Silverman formed his own production company in order to sign a deal with MGM and United Artists, who had specialized in film and television production, with George Reeves as Silverman's partner.[15] Shortly afterwards, he named his production company InterMedia Entertainment Co.[16] In 1982, Silverman had sixteen development projects, but none of them got to series.[17] It was reported that the company was working on The World of Entertainment with Gene Kelly.[18]

In 1982, his InterMedia Entertainment Company had partnered with Marvel Productions to create a joint venture.[19] In 1983, he partnered with Alan Thicke, along with Metromedia Producers Corporation for a syndicated late night show Thicke of the Night, which was designed to compete against The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.[20] After several failed attempts to sell a primetime show, Silverman and MGM/UA successfully sold We Got It Made to NBC in 1983. It didn't catch on and was gone after one season, although it did see a one-year revival in syndication for the 1987 season.[21]

In 1984, Silverman secured a deal with Walt Disney Pictures to produce theatrical motion pictures, with the first release slated by late 1985, but it never happened.[22] Silverman also produced the first Perry Mason telemovie, which came out in 1985, and marked the first writing-producing collaboration partnership between Silverman, writer Dean Hargrove and production company Viacom Productions.[23]

Silverman also produced, with Earl Hamner, the drama Morningstar/Eveningstar, which was produced by Lorimar Productions and debuted on CBS in 1986.[24] Later that year, he reunited with We Got It Made producer Gordon Farr and movie studio De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG) to produce Isabel Sanford's Honeymoon Hotel for access syndication, which aired a trial week in January 1987, but was cancelled after DEG went bankrupt just before production was set to resume.[25] Silverman and Farr also produced the sitcom California Girls, with DEG and Viacom as distributor, but it failed to sell.[26] It was around that time that InterMedia was renamed The Fred Silverman Company. Also later that year, NBC had reached a deal with syndicator MGM Television to revive We Got it Made for the 1987–88 season in syndication.[27]

Silverman also produced One of the Boys for NBC, in association with Stefan Phillips, Blake Hunter, Martin Cohan and Columbia Pictures Television.[28]

During the game-show revival that followed the success of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Silverman resurrected the 1950s game show Twenty One for NBC in 2000. A few years later, he returned to ABC in an advisory capacity.

In 1995, he was awarded the Women in Film Lucy Award in recognition of excellence and innovation in creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television.[29] In 1999, Silverman was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.

Death

[edit]

Silverman died from cancer on January 30, 2020, at his home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. He was 82.[2][30]

References

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Fred Silverman

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Fred Silverman (September 13, 1937 – January 30, 2020) was an American television executive who held top programming positions at , ABC, and , shaping network primetime schedules through the development of iconic series that dominated ratings in the 1970s and early 1980s. Rising through the ranks at CBS from the late 1950s, Silverman became vice president of daytime programming before ascending to president of the CBS Television Network in 1970, where he championed innovative urban-themed comedies and dramas including All in the Family, MASH*, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which displaced traditional rural sitcoms and propelled CBS to industry dominance. In 1975, he joined ABC as president of programming, fostering blockbuster hits such as Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, and Charlie's Angels that capitalized on the jukebox musical and light action genres to capture younger audiences. Silverman's tenure as president of NBC from 1978 to 1981 faced steeper challenges amid the network's ratings nadir, yet he greenlit influential miniseries like Roots: The Next Generations and police drama Hill Street Blues, while promoting rising talent such as Brandon Tartikoff, though many formulaic efforts failed to reverse the decline. Departing NBC in 1981, he established Fred Silverman Company, producing enduring syndicated procedurals including Matlock, In the Heat of the Night, and Diagnosis Murder that sustained his influence into the 1990s and beyond. Silverman succumbed to cancer at his Pacific Palisades home, leaving a legacy as one of the last moguls to wield singular authority over broadcast television's golden age before cable fragmentation.

Early Life and Education

Childhood and Family

Fred Silverman was born on September 13, 1937, in New York City. He grew up as the only child of William Silverman, a radio and television repair technician who worked for Sears, Roebuck & Co., and Mildred Silverman, a homemaker. The family resided in Rego Park, a middle-class Queens neighborhood with a significant Jewish population, where Silverman experienced an urban upbringing amid the post-World War II expansion of broadcast media. His father's profession provided early, hands-on familiarity with television sets and radio equipment, though it offered limited direct involvement in content creation or the entertainment industry. Silverman, born in 1906 to Austrian immigrant parents, had only an eighth-grade but built a stable career in repair, emphasizing and practical skills within the household. The mixed religious background—Silverman's father was Jewish and his mother Roman Catholic—reflected the diverse immigrant influences in New York, though family life centered on modest ambitions and rather than media pursuits. From a young age, Silverman engaged with radio and early television as primary entertainment sources, developing an intuitive appreciation for audience-engaging programming in an era when these media were becoming household staples. This exposure, distinct from formal influences, cultivated his early fascination with the mechanics and appeal of popular broadcasts, setting the stage for later professional inclinations without overt parental steering toward the field.

Academic Background

Fred Silverman received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Syracuse University in 1958. He subsequently enrolled at Ohio State University, where he earned a Master of Arts in television and theater arts in 1960. His graduate thesis analyzed programming strategies at the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), including audience measurement techniques and scheduling decisions, which highlighted an emerging aptitude for empirical evaluation of viewer preferences and content performance. This research-oriented approach to media analytics laid foundational skills for later applications in network decision-making, steering his career trajectory toward television research and development over other academic pursuits.

Early Career in Television

Initial Roles at CBS

Fred Silverman joined CBS in April 1963 as director of daytime programs, appointed at age 25 and marking him as the network's youngest department head to date. Drawing from prior experience in program departments at in and a brief stint at in New York, his responsibilities centered on overseeing daytime and children's scheduling, with an eye toward influencing the 1964 prime-time lineup. In this capacity, Silverman conducted daily analyses of programming across , , and ABC, scrutinizing Nielsen ratings and program files to dissect the mechanics of underperforming shows. This empirical approach, informed by his earlier submission of a comprehensive review of CBS's 1962-63 schedule to network executives, enabled trend identification in audience preferences, particularly for formats. Such data-driven evaluation sharpened his expertise in metrics and scheduling, fostering early experiments in content that boosted CBS's performance in the slot. Silverman's initial tenure emphasized Saturday morning cartoons and game shows, yielding measurable gains in viewership as he prioritized formats aligned with demographic shifts revealed through ratings data. By leveraging verifiable audience metrics over anecdotal preferences, he established a reputation for spotting viable trends, transforming into a profitable segment during the .

Development of Daytime Programming

In 1962, at the age of 25, Fred Silverman joined CBS as director of daytime programs, a key revenue source for the network through advertising targeted at homemakers and women viewers. Under his leadership, CBS daytime emphasized extended blocks of soap operas, scheduling them continuously from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to maximize retention among the primary demographic of female audiences seeking ongoing dramatic narratives. This data-informed strategy prioritized empirical viewer preferences, derived from Nielsen ratings, over rigid adherence to shorter formats or variety programming that fragmented attention. Silverman's approach marked a causal shift toward serialized storytelling in soaps, focusing on character-driven plots that encouraged habitual viewing rather than episodic resets common in earlier daytime fare. By analyzing retention patterns, he advocated for content that built emotional investment, appealing directly to women's interests in interpersonal relationships and family dynamics without diluting narrative momentum for broader but less loyal audiences. This contrasted with competitors' heavier reliance on game shows or anthologies, which often failed to sustain peak-hour engagement. CBS daytime ratings under Silverman reflected this efficacy, maintaining network dominance in the slot through hits like As the World Turns and Guiding Light, which drew consistent shares exceeding 10 million viewers daily by the late 1960s. Following his 1970 promotion to vice president of programming—while retaining influence over daytime—Silverman greenlit The Young and the Restless, which premiered on March 26, 1973, as the first hour-long soap opera. Created by William J. Bell, the series innovated with realistic, youth-oriented serialization targeting younger women, achieving immediate Nielsen success by topping daytime soap ratings within its first year and sustaining leadership for decades, with household ratings often above 8.0. This expansion to 60 minutes, informed by retention data showing viewers' willingness for deeper immersion, boosted overall daytime profitability by increasing ad slots without proportional viewer drop-off, solidifying CBS's empirical edge in the genre before Silverman's pivot to prime time.

Executive Tenure at CBS

Rise to Vice President of Programming

In June 1970, following the resignation of Michael H. Dann—who had served as CBS programming chief since 1963 amid clashes with network president Robert Wood over strategic direction—Fred Silverman was promoted to Vice President of Programs. At age 32, Silverman succeeded his mentor Dann, becoming one of the youngest executives in that role; he had joined CBS five years earlier as director of daytime programming after earlier positions at WPIX-TV in New York and WGN-TV in Chicago. This appointment capped Silverman's rapid internal ascent, which included a prior promotion to Vice President of Planning and Development, where he honed operational oversight of program development and scheduling. Silverman's leadership emphasized a rigorous, metrics-oriented ethos, prioritizing verifiable Nielsen ratings data to evaluate program performance and counterbalance subjective network influences. He advocated converting audience feedback into actionable scheduling strategies, focusing on total viewership figures that reflected evolving patterns such as increasing urban household penetration and television adoption. To execute this, Silverman assembled a dedicated team for data analysis and lineup optimization, insulating decisions from political considerations within CBS and aligning them with empirical evidence of viewer behavior. This approach marked a pivot toward operational efficiency amid CBS's dominant but potentially stagnating position in total ratings.

Implementation of Prime Time Shifts

As vice president of programs at starting in 1970, Fred Silverman shifted scheduling toward urban-themed sitcoms to appeal to younger, metropolitan demographics, moving away from established variety formats like . This pivot emphasized character-driven comedies addressing contemporary social dynamics, which Silverman identified as better aligned with evolving viewer preferences evidenced by daytime success patterns. Silverman greenlit The Mary Tyler Moore Show, premiering on September 19, 1970, after reviewing an early cut and accelerating its slot from midseason to fall, positioning it as a lead-in for news programming to capture working professionals. The series quickly ranked among the top 10 Nielsen programs by the 1970-1971 season, contributing to CBS's prime time average household rating of 26.9 and a 31 share. In 1971, Silverman approved , which debuted on January 12 and dominated Nielsen charts as the number-one prime time series from 1971 through 1976, averaging over 20 million viewers per episode in its early seasons and bolstering CBS's overall network share above 30 in key adult demographics. This success stemmed from targeted replacement of lower-rated variety hours with half-hour comedies, enabling counterprogramming against competitors' established lineups. Silverman extended the strategy in 1972 by scheduling MASH* for September 17, slotting it between All in the Family and The Mary Tyler Moore Show to leverage adjacency effects, which propelled the medical comedy into the top 10 by midseason with ratings exceeding 25 share in urban markets. These implementations solidified CBS's prime time lead, with the network capturing 33% share in the 18-49 demographic during the 1972-1973 season per Nielsen data.

The Rural Purge Controversy

Decision-Making Process

Silverman's approach to programming decisions at in the early 1970s centered on a data-driven analysis of Nielsen ratings, which by that period had evolved to prioritize demographic breakdowns over aggregate viewership totals. Rural-themed shows often registered strong overall audiences but skewed toward older rural viewers, performing poorly in the 18-49 age demographic that advertisers valued for its higher disposable income and brand-switching potential. This mismatch arose because such programs, exemplified by , drew disproportionate viewership from less affluent, non-urban households, limiting ad revenue despite high raw numbers. The core rationale was economic sustainability: networks depended on advertising dollars tied to demographics with proven purchasing power, as rural and older audiences offered lower returns on sponsored products aimed at younger consumers. Silverman consulted internal metrics reflecting 1970s urbanization trends, where population shifts toward cities and suburbs amplified the appeal of urban-focused content for advertiser alignment. Cancellations proceeded in 1970 and 1971 as a direct response to these indicators, emphasizing causal revenue projections rather than total popularity or extraneous factors. This process avoided ideological overlays, grounding choices in empirical ratings causation—where demographic underperformance directly eroded network profitability—over broader cultural considerations.

Affected Programs and Replacements

The rural purge at CBS in 1971, directed by Fred Silverman, targeted programs with viewership demographics consisting primarily of older, rural audiences that yielded lower advertising premiums compared to urban, younger viewers. Affected series included The Beverly Hillbillies, which ended after its final episode on March 23, 1971, following nine seasons of strong overall Nielsen ratings but unfavorable demographic skews; Green Acres, concluding with episodes aired through April 27, 1971; Petticoat Junction, phased out by the end of the 1969-1970 season; and Mayberry R.F.D., canceled after its March 29, 1971, finale despite finishing in the top 15 for the 1970-1971 season. These cancellations cleared time slots for replacements emphasizing urban settings and social issues to better align with advertiser demands for demographics offering higher ad rates. All in the Family debuted on January 12, 1971, in a key Saturday evening position previously occupied by rural fare, rapidly ascending to the top of Nielsen rankings and spawning multiple spinoffs. Maude, featuring Edith Bunker's cousin from the parent series, premiered on September 12, 1972, in the Tuesday lineup, attracting similar upscale urban audiences and ranking among CBS's top performers through its run. Nielsen records from the period document short-term viewership dips in select purged slots during the 1970-1971 transition, attributed to the abrupt shift away from established hits, but long-term demographic gains in the 18-49 age group for the new urban block, boosting overall network ad viability.

Presidency at ABC

Strategic Overhaul

Fred Silverman assumed the presidency of ABC Entertainment on June 16, 1975, recruited from amid high expectations following his role in sustaining that 's ratings lead through targeted programming adjustments. ABC, chronically third in the Nielsens after seasons dominated by variety specials and films, faced a lineup misaligned with shifting viewer demographics favoring younger audiences. Silverman redirected resources toward character-centric sitcoms and action-dramas with ensemble dynamics, de-emphasizing variety formats to cultivate repeatable weekly viewership and advertiser draw. Central to his overhaul was innovative scheduling predicated on audience flow principles, positioning untested pilots immediately after established performers to inherit carryover viewers—a counter to rivals' entrenched lineups. This low-risk tactic, coupled with spin-off development from proven premises, prioritized broad middle-American relatability over experimental premises, informed by Silverman's synthesis of instinct and preliminary ratings data rather than exhaustive pre-air testing. Elements of what rival NBC executive Paul Klein derisively termed "jiggle television"—series accentuating physical appeal in female roles—emerged as a commercial adjunct, but Silverman's core focus remained on likable, family-resonant ensembles to sustain retention across demographics. The strategy yielded rapid gains, with ABC claiming weekly Nielsens victories from mid-January 1976 onward and clinching overall first place by the 1975-1976 season's conclusion, elevating its average rating share above CBS and NBC for the first time in years. This ascent, from perennial third to dominance, correlated with a two-point stock surge on announcement day and positioned ABC for sustained revenue growth into the 1976-1977 cycle, where it averaged 21.5 Nielsen points against CBS's 18.7.

Blockbuster Series and Miniseries

Under Fred Silverman's leadership at ABC, the network launched and elevated several high-rated series that emphasized light-hearted, escapist entertainment, contributing to its ascent to the top of the Nielsen ratings. Happy Days, which premiered on January 15, 1974, saw its popularity surge under Silverman's strategy of centering the narrative on the character , propelling it to the number-one spot in the 1976–1977 season. This success paved the way for spin-offs, including , which debuted on January 27, 1976, and quickly became the top-rated show by its third episode, averaging strong viewership through its early seasons. Silverman also greenlit action-oriented series like , which followed a pilot on March 21, 1976, and premiered as a regular series on September 22, 1976, drawing significant audiences with its blend of adventure and glamour that aligned with the network's push for demographic appeal. joined the lineup on March 15, 1977, as a midseason entry that rapidly climbed the charts, ranking among the highest-rated midseason shows of its time and sustaining top-10 status. A pinnacle of Silverman's ABC tenure was the miniseries Roots, broadcast from January 23 to 30, 1977, which garnered over 130 million unique viewers across its eight nights, marking an empirical high in television event viewership and boosting ABC's primetime dominance. These programs, focusing on relatable humor and fantasy amid the 1970s economic stagnation, helped ABC secure the majority of top-10 slots and overtake competitors, with the network achieving first place in overall ratings by the end of the 1976–1977 season.

Leadership at NBC

Programming Initiatives

Upon assuming the presidency of NBC Entertainment in June 1978, Fred Silverman confronted a network languishing in third place amid the nascent expansion of cable television providers, which fragmented viewer attention and challenged traditional broadcast dominance. His initial strategies emphasized event-style programming to recapture mass audiences, prominently featuring extended miniseries formats designed for promotional buildup and cross-episode narrative momentum. A key initiative was the aggressive promotion of Shōgun, a 12-hour adaptation of James Clavell's 1975 novel set in feudal Japan, which Silverman positioned as a seasonal anchor by scheduling its September 1980 premiere to launch the fall lineup, leveraging exotic spectacle and star power including Richard Chamberlain to draw viewers from competitors. Silverman also directed resources toward scripted series innovations, commissioning creators Steven Bochco and Michael Kozoll to develop a police procedural that departed from formulaic episodic structures in favor of serialized ensemble dynamics and social realism. This effort culminated in the January 1981 debut of Hill Street Blues, conceived from Silverman's direct pitch for a gritty urban precinct drama that integrated ongoing character arcs and handheld cinematography to evoke documentary authenticity, prioritizing narrative depth over conventional resolution to appeal to discerning audiences. To counter market saturation and advertiser emphasis on demographic metrics, Silverman pursued youth-oriented family comedies grounded in Nielsen ratings data targeting the 18-49 viewer segment, introducing sitcoms with relatable teen and child protagonists such as Diff'rent Strokes (1978) and spin-offs like The Facts of Life (1979), which incorporated light social commentary on adoption and adolescence to broaden appeal beyond core adults while aligning with syndication potential. These moves reflected a data-driven pivot to multi-generational hooks, informed by audience composition analyses that highlighted erosion among younger households to cable and independent stations.

Ratings Decline and Key Failures

Under Fred Silverman's leadership at from 1978 to 1981, the network languished in third place in prime-time ratings, trailing both ABC and throughout this period. This persistent underperformance contributed to a sharp drop in 's profits, as the company struggled to compete amid rising viewer fragmentation. Several high-profile programming flops exemplified the downturn, including the costly adventure series , which debuted on February 14, 1979, and was pulled after just nine episodes due to dismal viewership. Similarly, the sitcom , starring and launched in January 1979, failed to attract audiences and was quickly canceled. Efforts to revive variety formats, such as Pink Lady and Jeff and The Big Show, also bombed, reflecting an overreliance on spectacle-driven specials that alienated viewers seeking more consistent scripted fare. The core issues stemmed from Silverman's inability to stem ABC's ongoing momentum—built partly on his prior successes there—and to adapt to shifting audience preferences amid early cable expansion and independent station growth. NBC's prime-time share eroded significantly, exacerbating financial pressures as advertisers shifted spending. Silverman resigned on June 30, 1981, citing the need to provide incoming RCA CEO Thornton Bradshaw with flexibility to select new leadership amid the network's entrenched third-place status.

Independent Ventures

Establishment of The Fred Silverman Company

Following his resignation from NBC in the spring of 1981, Fred Silverman established an independent production company focused on syndication and emerging cable markets, initially operating as InterMedia Entertainment Company. This venture capitalized on Silverman's extensive industry network, securing an early production deal with MGM/UA Television to distribute content outside traditional network constraints. The structure emphasized lower-risk, cost-efficient programming formats suitable for off-network sales, diverging from the high-stakes prime-time battles of his network executive days. In 1987, the firm was renamed The Fred Silverman Company, reflecting Silverman's personal brand and ongoing role as president of this multifaceted entity handling production and consulting. The company adapted to the post-deregulation landscape of the , where FCC rule changes facilitated greater syndication opportunities and reduced network dominance, allowing independent producers like Silverman to target procedural-style content for broader distribution. It continued operations through subsequent decades, leveraging Silverman's expertise until his death in 2020.

Major Productions and Syndication Successes

The Fred Silverman Company produced several long-running character-driven mystery and series, emphasizing formulaic narratives centered on relatable protagonists solving cases, which empirically sustained viewer engagement through syndication and network runs in an era of fragmenting audiences. These efforts leveraged proven elements like figures and procedural resolutions, yielding multi-season viability without reliance on high-concept gimmicks. Among the flagship successes was Matlock (1986–1995), a legal drama starring Andy Griffith as Benjamin Matlock, a shrewd Southern attorney who outwitted opponents through folksy intuition and courtroom theatrics; the series aired initially on NBC and ABC, accumulating 195 episodes via strong repeat viewership metrics. In the Heat of the Night (1988–1995), based on the 1967 film, followed Carroll O'Connor as Mississippi police chief Bill Gillespie partnering with a Black detective amid racial and criminal tensions, spanning 146 episodes on NBC and CBS with consistent ratings from loyal demographics. Further hits included Jake and the Fatman (1987–1992), a CBS procedural featuring prosecutor J.L. "Fatman" McCabe (William Conrad) and investigator Jake Styles (Joe Penny) tackling Honolulu crimes, which ran for 106 episodes by capitalizing on buddy-cop dynamics adapted from earlier formats. Diagnosis: Murder (1993–2001), starring Dick Van Dyke as physician-sleuth Mark Sloan, extended to 178 episodes on CBS, spinning off from Jake and the Fatman and thriving on intergenerational appeal evidenced by sustained syndication reruns. These productions demonstrated resilience in the post-network transition, where empirical loyalty to episodic, low-risk mysteries outperformed trend-chasing alternatives, enabling profitability through domestic and international distribution.

Legacy and Industry Impact

Contributions to Television Scheduling and Hits

Fred Silverman distinguished himself as the only television executive to oversee programming at all three major broadcast networks—CBS, ABC, and —a feat that positioned him to refine scheduling practices yielding hits across rival platforms. His strategies emphasized counterprogramming and demographic precision, particularly targeting 18- to 49-year-old viewers prized by advertisers for their purchasing power, which sustained broadcast ad revenues amid rising competition. At CBS from 1970, Silverman initiated the "Rural Purge," systematically replacing low-rated, older-skewing rural sitcoms like The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres with urban comedies such as All in the Family, which debuted January 12, 1971, and quickly became the decade's top-rated series, averaging 20.6 million households over its run. This pivot attracted younger demographics, elevating CBS to ratings dominance and demonstrating how audience segmentation could drive scheduling decisions over total viewership alone. The approach influenced subsequent network tactics, prioritizing advertiser-favored demos to maximize revenue per rating point, where each prime-time point equated to roughly $36 million annually by the mid-1970s. Transitioning to ABC in 1975 as president of programming, Silverman replicated this demographic focus, launching youth-oriented blockbusters including Happy Days (premiering January 15, 1974, under his CBS oversight but thriving at ABC) and Laverne & Shirley (debuting January 27, 1976), which propelled ABC to first place in the 1976-1977 season with a 31.5 rating share. He further innovated by greenlighting the 1977 miniseries Roots, an eight-night event from January 23 to 30 that culminated in 51% of U.S. television households—over 100 million viewers—viewing the finale, validating extended serialized formats as "event TV" staples for capturing mass audiences and boosting ad premiums. Silverman's daytime innovations standardized hour-long soap operas, expanding formats like ABC's (premiering January 5, 1970, at but optimized under his ABC tenure) to deepen narrative immersion and viewer retention, contributing to daytime's role as a profit engine with points valued at about $35 million each. These practices, rooted in empirical ratings analysis, enabled networks to counter cable fragmentation by honing content to high-value segments, a model persisting in broadcast economics.

Criticisms of Cultural Shifts and Business Decisions

Critics have characterized Fred Silverman's orchestration of the 1970-1971 "rural purge" at CBS as an elitist dismissal of traditional American values in favor of urban, progressive narratives. As vice president of daytime and children's programming rising to head of the network's programming department, Silverman canceled long-running rural-themed comedies such as The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and Petticoat Junction, which drew substantial audiences from heartland regions despite their broad appeal. Silverman personally derided these programs as "sh**-kicking shows" and "junk," arguing they were outdated and irrelevant to evolving viewer demographics. In their place, he championed shows like Norman Lear's All in the Family, which debuted in January 1971 and emphasized social issues through urban, working-class lenses often aligned with left-leaning critiques of societal norms, contrasting the wholesome, family-oriented humor of the purged series. Conservative commentators have framed this as a deliberate cultural purge, erasing rural representations that resonated with non-coastal audiences and prioritizing coastal tastes that promoted progressive ideologies over traditional depictions of self-reliance and community. While Silverman justified the purge through empirical shifts in Nielsen ratings—emphasizing younger, urban viewers prized by advertisers over total household numbers—the move sparked debates on long-term cultural impacts. Pre-purge rural shows maintained top-30 rankings, with The Beverly Hillbillies averaging 30 million viewers in its final season, but demographic data showed declining appeal among 18-49-year-olds in metropolitan areas, prompting CBS to rebrand away from its "hick network" image. Post-purge, CBS briefly surged to dominance with All in the Family topping charts for five years straight, validating short-term business logic. However, detractors argue it accelerated a homogenization toward urban narratives, marginalizing heartland perspectives and fostering audience fragmentation as rural viewers turned to alternative media; verifiable backlash included protests from fans and sponsors, alongside a broader cultural critique that the purge reflected institutional biases in network decision-making, often downplayed in mainstream accounts due to academia and media's urban-centric leanings. During Silverman's tenure as NBC president from May 1975 to September 1978, similar criticisms emerged regarding formulaic programming that alienated broader audiences amid rising cable competition. He introduced frequent schedule disruptions and shows perceived as tacky or overly sensational, such as variety specials and miniseries that prioritized spectacle over substantive family appeal, contributing to NBC's entrenched third-place ratings—averaging 18% share versus ABC's 27% and CBS's 28% by 1978. Critics contended this overreliance on coastal urban formulas ignored flyover country preferences for relatable, non-edgy content, exacerbating network erosion as viewers sought niche cable options; for instance, NBC's 1977-1978 season saw multiple high-profile flops like Man from Atlantis, with audience complaints highlighting disconnects from heartland values. Though demographic targeting again underpinned decisions, the era's viewership drops—NBC's prime-time audience fell 10% year-over-year in key seasons—fueled arguments that Silverman's urban bias hastened the three-network model's decline, prioritizing advertiser-favored metros over sustainable mass appeal.

Personal Life and Death

Marriage and Family

Fred Silverman married his assistant, Catherine "Cathy" Kihn, in 1971. The couple remained together for nearly 49 years until Silverman's death in 2020, raising two children: a daughter, Melissa, and a son, William (Billy). Despite Silverman's high-profile career in television programming, his family life remained private, with no documented public engagements of his children in the industry. In his later years, the family resided in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles.

Final Years and Passing

After the successes of his independent production company in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including long-running series such as Matlock (1986–1995) and In the Heat of the Night (1988–1995), Silverman gradually retired from active involvement in television production. He spent his later years residing in Pacific Palisades, California. Silverman died on January 30, 2020, at his home in Pacific Palisades at the age of 82. The cause of death was cancer. Obituaries from major outlets such as The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter highlighted Silverman's pivotal role in shaping network television programming during the era of the three major broadcast networks.

References

  1. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/30/arts/television/fred-silverman-dead.html
  2. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/fred-silverman-dead-legendary-television-programmer-was-82-982205/
  3. https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/fred-silverman-tribute-appreciation-all-in-the-family-1203491064/
  4. https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/news/remembering-fred-silverman
  5. https://www.npr.org/2020/01/30/801323668/influential-tv-programmer-fred-silverman-dies-at-82
  6. https://deadline.com/2020/01/fred-silverman-dies-legendary-tv-executive-producer-was-82-1202847035/
  7. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fred-Silverman
  8. https://www.wsj.com/articles/fred-silverman-tv-titan-who-oversaw-prime-time-for-three-networks-dies-at-82-11580429702
  9. https://time.com/archive/6849150/the-man-with-the-golden-gut/
  10. https://www.qchron.com/qboro/i_have_often_walked/fred-silverman-tv-pioneer-lived-in-rego-park/article_52cd98f2-8ad7-5f77-a128-e7e5920f4417.html
  11. https://www.timesofisrael.com/fred-silverman-tv-executive-at-3-major-networks-dies-at-82/
  12. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/fred_silverman
  13. https://www.nytimes.com/1978/01/21/archives/tvs-man-for-all-networks-fred-silverman-man-in-the-news.html
  14. https://www.museum.tv/tv-encyclopedia-15/silverman-fred
  15. https://kids.kiddle.co/Fred_Silverman
  16. https://www.nytimes.com/1963/04/12/archives/25yearold-wins-key-post-at-cbs-fred-silverman-is-hired-as-director.html
  17. https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/fred-silverman
  18. https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/silverman-fred
  19. https://www.nytimes.com/1970/06/23/archives/cbs-selects-a-new-programing-vice-president-fred-silverman-32-named.html
  20. https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/fred-silverman-dead-82-abc-cbs-nbc-executive-1203487260/
  21. https://www.mikehughes.tv/2020/02/02/fred-silverman-from-archie-to-angels-and-beyond/
  22. https://variety.com/2016/tv/news/michael-dann-dead-94-cbs-programming-head-1201785503/
  23. https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/fred-silverman
  24. https://sk.sagepub.com/book/mono/why-viewers-watch-a-reappraisal-of-televisions-effects/chpt/how-it-happens-that-viewers-get-what-they-want
  25. https://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/07/archives/the-silverman-strategy-how-fred-silverman-is-helping-abc-get-over.html
  26. https://www.angelfire.com/ny2/televisioncity/7075.html
  27. https://travsd.wordpress.com/2024/09/13/the-fractured-fairy-tale-of-fred-silverman/
  28. https://www.mash4077tv.com/episodes/ratings/
  29. https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-for-good-or-bad-norman-lear-all-in-the-family-helped-erase-rural-america-from-tv/2024/02/22/
  30. https://www.vulture.com/2020/01/fred-silverman-death.html
  31. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tv/articles/inside-rural-purge-70s-cbs-100032043.html
  32. https://cordcuttersnews.com/54-years-ago-today-the-beverly-hillbillies-aired-its-final-episode/
  33. https://epguides.com/GreenAcres/
  34. https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/mayberry-rfd/
  35. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062587/
  36. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066626/
  37. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068103/
  38. https://www.nytimes.com/1975/05/19/archives/fred-silverman-will-leave-cbstv-to-head-abc-program-division.html
  39. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/silverman-rescues-abc-televisions-ratings
  40. https://www.nytimes.com/1978/01/20/archives/silverman-who-led-abc-to-top-will-leave-to-head-rival-nbc-silverman.html
  41. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/happy-days-saved-cancellation-173415903.html
  42. https://cordcuttersnews.com/42-years-ago-today-laverne-shirley-ended-a-look-back-at-the-iconic-sitcoms-legacy/
  43. https://www.facebook.com/groups/classic.television.shows.group/posts/1434193793895279/
  44. https://drunktv.net/2018/09/19/charlies-angels-season-1-1970s-tv-series-review/
  45. https://www.threescompany.com/about/
  46. https://www.imdb.com/list/ls075509059/
  47. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/arts-and-entertainment/roots-dramatizes-african-american-experience
  48. https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/01/arts/silverman-quits-at-nbc-tinker-to-succeed-him.html
  49. https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/27/arts/how-hill-street-broke-the-police-show-mold.html
  50. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/06/30/NBC-president-Fred-Silverman-a-programming-whiz-kid-whose/1070362721600/
  51. https://www.nytimes.com/1979/10/24/archives/silverman-explains-nbctvs-surge-different-philosophy.html
  52. https://time.com/archive/6698989/show-business-the-most-of-1981/
  53. https://www.csmonitor.com/1981/0706/070646.html
  54. https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/05/business/the-fall-and-rise-of-fred-silverman.html
  55. https://la.syr.edu/alumni/alumni-profiles/la-alumni/silverman-fred.html
  56. https://www.avid.wiki/The_Fred_Silverman_Company
  57. https://theretronetwork.com/the-rural-purge-at-cbs/
  58. http://www.tellytalk.net/threads/how-the-rural-purge-changed-tv.14299/
  59. https://www.reddit.com/r/VintageTV/comments/1nm0qqz/the_great_cbs_rural_purge_when_the_network_killed/
  60. https://www.nytimes.com/1980/07/13/archives/fred-silvermans-nbc-its-still-out-of-focus-why-nbc-is-locked-in-the.html
  61. https://people.com/tv/fred-silverman-longtime-tv-executive-dies-at-82/
  62. https://www.thewrap.com/fred-silverman-former-cbs-executive-and-president-of-nbc-and-abc-dies-at-82/
  63. https://www.circlingthenews.com/obituary-fred-silverman-a-palisadian-and-a-legendary-television-executive-at-three-networks/
  64. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0798908/
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.