Beyond Control: ABC and the Fate of the Networks

by Huntington Williams

Written by an insider at ABC, this chronicle of the network's rise to number one and subsequent fall from grace explains how innovative programming and fresh ideas gave way to extravagance, power struggles, and poor planning

290 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1989

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very enjoyable and easily readable book about the rise and fall of America’s third network, ABC. It was written before Disney’s purchase of ABC, but the story it tells shows how that became possible.

One theme of this book is “the bigger they are, the harder they fall.” A lot of people in the entertainment industry live extravagant lifestyles, but when the audience (or shareholders) walk away, they crash hard.

Leonard Goldenson didn’t not live extravagantly — never drove a new car. He liked to gamble, but always won. Perhaps that is why he’s not a household name. But look at the empire he built, brick by brick.

This book is a good look at television and the entertainment industry of the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s.