David Salzman

Salzman's career in the entertainment industry started during his years at Wayne State when he was a producer on the popular Detroit television talk program, The Lou Gordon Show, on Channel 50.[3][2][4] Salzman wrote, produced, booked guests, and even did makeup; the show attracted many big celebrities.[5] An interview with Michigan Governor George Romney inadvertently ended his Presidential campaign in 1968.[3][6]

After, Salzman joined Group W, Westinghouse's family of television stations, and moved up the ranks beginning with the CBS affiliate KDKA in Pittsburgh as news director from 1970 to 1972.[2][7][8][9]

Later in 1972, Salzman moved to Philadelphia, where he became the station manager at KYW.[10][9] During his time as station manager, he was an executive producer on The Mike Douglas Show.[2][6]

In 1974, he moved back to Pittsburgh to become the general manager of KDKA until 1975.[11][2][8]

Salzman was elevated to Group W Productions headquarters in New York City and was named chairman of the board.[10][12] He launched the syndicated strip programs Everyday and The Peter Marshall Show while running Group W.[2][9][13]

He moved to Los Angeles in 1978 and left Group W to create NIWS (News Informational Weekly Service), a nationally syndicated news service. NIWS ran in over 200 domestic markets, providing pre-packaged human interest news stories that subscriber stations could incorporate into their local broadcasts. Salzman quickly became a pioneer in the news industry.[14][10]

Salzman joined the nascent company Telepictures as a partner with Michael Garin and Michael Solomon.[10][12] At Telepictures, they acquired syndicated television rights to older programs such as My Favorite Martian, Here's Lucy, and the Rankin-Bass library of stop-motion animated television specials, and would sell them both domestically and internationally. Telepictures quickly moved into original production with syndicated mainstays Love Connection, and the original The People's Court with Judge Joseph Wapner. Television movies and miniseries production followed, with notable productions such as Murder in Texas and World War III.[2][15][6]

In 1985, Salzman and Telepictures acquired Lorimar. With Lorimar-Telepictures, Salzman assumed the office of the president and ran the first-run and syndication television production units.[10][12][2] Under his aegis, Lorimar-Telepictures went on an unprecedented run as the number-one television production studio for more than six years, producing programs that included Dallas, Full House, The People's Court, Knots Landing, Falcon Crest, ALF, and Perfect Strangers.[16] These series were produced at the Lorimar-Telepictures Studios (formerly MGM Studios), which is now Sony Pictures Entertainment.[17]

In 1989, Lorimar-Telepictures was acquired by Warner Bros.[18] Salzman became President of Warner Bros. Television, where he also oversaw sales and marketing operations for television cable and satellite companies outside of the U.S. Warner Bros. expanded international telecommunications interests.[2][1][19][20][21]

Still under the Warner banner, Salzman co-founded Quincy Jones-David Salzman Entertainment with Quincy Jones, which produced well-known shows such as Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and In the House.[10][12][2][17][8] In 1995, Salzman and Jones produced the 1996 Academy Awards.[10][2] In 1996, Salzman was an Executive Producer on the Academy Award-nominated short-film Brooms.[22] In the following year, Salzman produced the movie Steel starring NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal. Salzman has produced more than 15,000 hours of television, including fifteen seasons of MADtv.[1] In addition, Salzman has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, one Daytime Emmy, and two Writers Guild of America Awards.[10][23][24][25] Salzman also produced the 1993 Clinton Presidential Inauguration event at the Lincoln Memorial with Jones, along with the Concert of the Americas.[14][26][1] With Jones, Salzman also co-owned Vibe and Spin Magazine.[12]

In a return to his roots, Salzman has co-owned several television stations. Early on in his career, Salzman sold a license for a WB station in Syracuse.[27] Soon after, Salzman founded and owned KCWE in Kansas City and co-founded and co-owned WBWB in Louisville.[28] He also oversaw the station group for the minority-run QWEST Broadcasting Stations with partners Sonia Salzman, Geraldo Rivera, Willie Davis, Don Cornelius, and Tribune Media.[29][30] In addition to this, he also owned WATL in Atlanta, KMID in Midland, WSPR in Springfield, and WNOL in New Orleans, which he eventually sold the license to News Corp.[30][31][32]

In 2006, Salzman co-founded the AMGEN Tour of California. The Tour of California is the only event on the top-level World Tour in the United States and is America's largest professional cycling event.[1][33]