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Bill Cosby makes a bid to purchase the National Broadcasting Company (NBC).
1992 (Oct 28)
Bill Cosby, an outspoken critic of the image of Blacks on television, made a bid to purchase the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). Cosby, who at the time had an estimated net worth of $300 million, was believed to be one of six candidates to buy the financially struggling NBC. Losing in the ratings war against rivals CBS and ABC, NBC was believed to be on the trading block for $3.5 billion. Cosby said he would make the deal in an arrangement involving two close friends in the industry, and that he would not plan to run the network. In earlier years Cosby helped bring the network from the number-three to the number-one spot with his groundbreaking series The Cosby Show, which debuted in 1984. The situation comedy about middle-class Black American life shot to the top of the ratings and held that position for a record number of years. It featured Cosby as an obstetrician and Phylicia Rashad portraying his wife, an attorney. He later became host of the syndicated game show You Bet Your Life, a remake of the game show that was hosted by the late Groucho Marx in the 1960s, and executive producer for NBC's struggling Here and Now sitcom featuring Malcolm Jamal Warner, a star from The Cosby Show.
References:
- • Hornsby, Alton. Chronology of African-American History: Significant Events and People from 1619 to the Present. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.