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NY Times

Former CBS President Dies

Dec 9, 2015  •  Post A Comment

The former president of CBS, who was part of a landmark sports deal when he oversaw the sale of the New York Yankees to George Steinbrenner, has died.

The New York Times reports that Arthur R. Taylor died Dec. 3 in Salisbury Township, Pa., of pulmonary failure. He was 80.

Taylor, described as “a former corporate wunderkind,” became president of CBS at 37. He was “instrumental at CBS in instituting television’s family viewing hour, a short-lived effort, pushed by the Federal Communications Commission and adopted voluntarily by the networks, to reduce prime-time programming deemed unsuitable for children,” The Times notes.

Taylor was fired by CBS Chairman and founder William S. Paley in 1976, four years after he was brought to CBS.

The report adds: “In 1973 he oversaw the sale of CBS’s share of the Yankees to a group of investors led by George Steinbrenner for $8.7 million. CBS had purchased 80 percent of the team for $11.2 million in 1964. Two years later, the team finished last in the American League for the first time since 1912 and never ranked higher than fourth by the time CBS sold its share.”

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