Bud Grant (broadcaster)
American television executive (1932–2011)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
B. Donald "Bud" Grant (February 7, 1932 – July 1, 2011) was an American television executive. He originally started his career at NBC in 1956, and stayed there until 1972, when he joined CBS,[1] and known for resurrecting game shows on the daytime lineup after a four-year absence since 1968, such as The Price Is Right.[2][3] He served as the President of CBS Entertainment from 1980 until 1987.[4] He was credited with spearheading[specify] 1980s CBS shows such as Newhart and Murder, She Wrote.[4]
Grant was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and earned a Bachelor of Science in business from Johns Hopkins University.[5] He served from 1953 to 1955 in the U.S. Coast Guard.[5]
Grant left CBS in 1987 and founded his own production company, Bud Grant Productions, with an exclusive deal with CBS.[6][4] He would later form Grant/Tribune Productions in 1988, which produced for Tribune Broadcasting and Walt Disney Studios, which signed in 1992.[4][7] There, he produced the television series, Sydney and Cutters for CBS. In 1993, Grant split off from Tribune and reverted to the Bud Grant Productions name,[8] and later that year, the company signed a deal with Warner Bros. Television under Les Moonves' watch.[9] He later formed Third Coast Entertainment, and it was involved in a failed television biopic that sued Priscilla Presley.[10]
Grant died in Newport Beach, California, on July 1, 2011.[5]