Leonard H. Goldenson and Loreen Arbus

Great Expectations:
The Museum Of Television And Radio In L.A.

All of us who've had the good fortune to spend some time in Manhattan's Museum of Television & Radio have a great deal to anticipate when the Beverly Hills facility opens late in 1995.

It is fitting that the museum will be named for Leonard H. Goldenson, the founder of the American Broadcasting Companies. A living legend, he is one of the great pioneers of the broadcasting industry. Convincing the reluctant board of Paramount to invest 25 million dollars to acquire a small group of debt-ridden stations, he went on to build one of the industry's most innovative networks with "firsts" ranging from made-for-television movies, miniseries and novels-for-television to news and sports coverage of events all over the world, especially the Olympics.

He was the first to regularly schedule prime time team sports, animated series, serial dramas, and to recognize the need for a female news anchor in prime time. Under his aegis, new exciting genres for television were inaugurated, and most importantly, he persuaded two of Hollywood's greatest figures in motion pictures to produce filmed television programs--Jack Warner at Warner Bros. and Walt Disney --for ABC. That effort prompted all of the other major studios to embrace television, long considered either the "enemy" of Hollywood, or of no consequence (the attitude of 20th Century Fox's powerful leader, Darryl Zanuck, himself a legendary figure in Hollywood). In addition, in 1959, following the quiz show scandals, Leonard Goldenson was instrumental in reducing the tremendous influence of advertisers and their agencies in setting network schedules, by advising Washington's decision makers and Madison Avenue that the networks would in the future be responsible for all programming scheduled on their networks, whether in-house or acquired by the networks directly, or accepted by the networks on the recommendations of advertisers or their agencies. All would be subject to the same networks' standards and policies, with networks exercising final approval. Goldenson was also the first to bring American broadcasting sensibility, programming and techniques to the international marketplace, creating networks in Central and South America. He arranged the financing that would salvage Disneyland, and decades later, that would establish the first successful network ventures into the realm of cable.

After heading ABC for thirty-three years, he personally orchestrated the first corporate giant media merger in U.S. history when he insured the future of ABC by bringing in Capital Cities.

Enormously enthusiastic about the museum, Goldenson, a major financial contributor, says, "The west coast facility will serve as an exciting stimulus to the creative people in our industry, as well as a tool for education to the public."

The original Museum of Television & Radio was established in New York in 1975 to collect and preserve television and radio programs and to make them available to the public. In the fall of 1991, the museum moved into its new building, named after its and CBS' founder, William S. Paley, and designed by famed architect Philip Johnson. Anyone can walk into this building, near Fifth Avenue on West 52nd Street, and view any of sixty thousand programs (over two million hours!) chosen for their artistic, historical and cultural significance. More than three thousand new programs are acquired annually.

The museum's mandate has broadened to include education. Now the public can participate in any of the sixty yearly seminars, involving more than two hundred-and-fifty members of the creative community. They range from a five-part series in which media and political experts examine how television has affected diplomacy and foreign policy decisions . . . to screenings of series like "Star Trek: The Tradition Continues . . . " which besides showing seminal episodes, also includes an exhibit of award-winning costumes . . . to a listening series on "Rock 'n' Roll and Radio," with the riffs of Alan Freed, Wolfman Jack and Cousin Bruce.

Robert M. Batscha, the museum's President, says, "We always planned to open a facility in Los Angeles, once we established our museum in New York and paid for it. It's critical to have a permanent presence in L.A. because that's where television's creative community is, and we need the active participation of writers, directors, producers and actors for our many programs."

Batscha is determined that the New York and Los Angeles facilities will function as one institution, with seminars conducted in both locations being sent out by satellite all over the nation. Exhibitions will be opened simultaneously on both coasts, and there will be a continuing dialogue between the two cities on all subjects addressed by the museum.

As part of an outreach program, the museum holds a yearly festival on each coast. Several times a year, it sends its exhibitions all over the world. These traveling shows are part of local museum programs in San Francisco, Seattle, Charleston, Chicago, Houston, and Boston, as well as such international cities as London, Paris, Berlin and Rio.

The museum also publishes books and catalogs (now collectors items) dealing with individuals or with definitive collections. It produces annual television programs for each of the networks on a rotating basis. These have included "Funny Women in TV" for NBC, "Great Moments in TV" for ABC and "Great TV Interviews" for CBS. Upcoming is "Science Fiction and TV" for Fox.

The West Coast Museum of Television & Radio will be located at 469 North Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills. The existing 23,000-square foot building will be completely renovated by the internationally-acclaimed architect, Richard Meier. His stunning contemporary design will include large expanses of glass, natural stone and metal panels to capture the openness and energy of California. Inside, the double-height skylit rotunda lobby will provide access to the gallery area, 150-seat theatre, radio listening room, radio studio, multipurpose education room, museum shop and information desk.

From the lobby, visitors will circulate to the second floor via a promenade ramp overlooking the ground floor as it winds up to the library and video console room. In the latter, there will be 64 depots to call up programs for individual viewing. Utilizing the latest technology in the Sony Robotic System, the viewer can type in a code number and call up a program on user-friendly software in thirty seconds.

Certain areas of the building will be named for donors who've made specific contributions. The lobby is named in memory of Danny Thomas, the radio listening room is funded by The Ahmanson Foundation, the radio studio is underwritten by Ralph Guild, the board room is funded by Grant Tinker, and the donor's room will honor William and Carole Haber. Other major donors include Capital Cities/ABC, CBS, The Hearst Corporation, MCA, NBC, The William S. Paley Foundation, Sony, Time Warner, and Viacom.

Batscha says the west coast museum has already raised nearly half its goal of fifteen million dollars. "Eventually every city in our country and all over the world will be able to utilize our materials electronically in their own museums."

Since each program in the museum's collection is chosen for cultural, historical and social significance as well as its excellence, it is very exciting to contemplate not only the new California museum but also its future impact around the globe.