BOSTON (AP) — Frank Stanton, a broadcasting pioneer and CBS president for 26 years who helped build its TV operation into the “Tiffany network,” has died at 98.
Mr. Stanton died in his sleep at his Boston home on Sunday, said longtime friend Elisabeth Allison.
“He took an afternoon nap and never woke up,” Miss Allison said.
Mr. Stanton helped CBS evolve from a modest chain of radio affiliates to a media powerhouse that includes a music label.
He also helped craft the network’s television news operation into a respected and influential information source.
He endured a long and sometimes tense association with CBS founder William S. Paley.
Mr. Stanton got his first taste of marketing while working after school at a men’s clothing store in Dayton, Ohio.
Later, his studies at the Ohio State University led him to devise a scientific method for measuring radio audiences — and he invented the forerunner of what A.C. Nielsen now uses to gather ratings.
In 1934, CBS invited Mr. Stanton to New York City to explain his technique. He stayed on, building a three-person research office into a 100-strong department.
Mr. Stanton rose swiftly through the ranks at CBS, becoming president in 1946 at 38, when Mr. Paley resigned to become chairman.
Mr. Stanton, whose wife died more than a decade ago, has no immediate survivors, Miss Allison said.
“His explicit instructions were there should be no memorial service of any sort and that no contribution in his name should be suggested,” she said.
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