Voting Station

Allen B. DuMont

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TV Executive

The Resume

    (January 29, 1901-November 14, 1965)
    Father of Television
    Manager at Westinghouse Lamp Company (192?-1928)
    Vice President of De Forest Radio Company (1928-1931)
    Founder/CE) of Allen B. DuMont Laboratories (1931-1965)
    First President of Television Broadcasters Association (1943)
    Founded DuMont TV Network
    Demonstrated the 1st TV broadcast for home reception (August 20, 1930)
    Invented the 'tuning eye' (1932)
    Invented radar (1932)

Why he might be annoying:

    He named his son Allen Balcom DuMont, Jr.
    His TV sets were always the most expensive.
    Although a great and innovative engineer, he was a questionable businessman.
    Business Week suggested that DuMont only built a TV network to sell his TV sets (1955).
    His TV network constantly lost money.
    DuMont was the first TV network to crumble.
    He continued losing money on the DuMont network which was an underdog to NBC and CBS, who had their radio division to produce both talent and affiliates.
    When his stockholders got frustrated with him, he sold part of his company to Emerson Electric (1958) and the rest to Fairchild (1960).

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was the first television millionaire.
    He suffered with polio.
    As a youngster, he built a radio out of an oatmeal carton.
    He won the Westinghouse Award (1927), Marconi Memorial Award (1945), Horatio Alger Award (1949) and De Forest Medal.
    He won the American Power Boat Association, National Champion, and the Power Cruiser Division (1953, 54, 55, 58).
    He was the first American to receive France's, Cross of Knight (1952).
    One of his engineering marvels was to increase production at Westinghouse Lamp Company from about 50 to 60 tubes per hour to 5,000 per hour (1920s).
    He was the first to synchronize audio and video broadcasting (1930).
    He perfected the CRT (cathode ray tube). Most CRTs had a lifetime of just 30 hours, his worked for thousands of hours (1931).
    His company developed the kinescope and the first electronic viewfinder.
    He was the first to manufacture an all electronic television receiver (1938).
    Only his TV sets were able to receive broadcasts from NBC-RCA demonstration at the 1939 World's Fair.
    During the late 40's and early 50's most TV were only a few inches, he introduced the then gigantic 14 inch screen TV.
    He founded the first commercial television network, The DuMont Television Network (1946).
    His TV's were considered to be the best built and of the highest quality.
    In 1952, he began funding for Educational TV through the 'DuMont Foundation'

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 91.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 19 Votes: 84.21% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 14 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 21 Votes: 47.62% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 8 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 18 Votes: 72.22% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 14 Votes: 78.57% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 15 Votes: 73.33% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 31 Votes: 54.84% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 56 Votes: 53.57% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 89 Votes: 49.44% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 182 Votes: 52.75% Annoying
    In 2004, Out of 67 Votes: 38.81% Annoying