Born in 1934 during the Great Depression, the author remembers the first time he saw a television set. The thrill he had always enjoyed in movie theaters “was now available in people’s living rooms.” From that moment in the 1940s onward, Jankowski was hooked on TV. After graduating from Canisius College as an English major and serving a stint in the Navy, the author took a job with CBS Radio in New York City, where he moved up the corporate ranks until he was named president and chairman of the CBS Broadcast Group in 1977. Pulling back the curtain on his corporate experience, the author delves into the “glamor and glitz” of the television industry and his dealings with a myriad of special interest groups that ranged from advertising agencies on Madison Avenue to politicians in Washington, D.C. During his 12 years as CEO, he remained dedicated to protecting the “image and the quality” of CBS News, which included such bedrocks of American television journalism as CBS Sunday Morning and 48 Hours, while he renegotiated contracts with the National Football League and turned down a real estate proposal from Donald Trump to relocate their broadcast center. Readers are given an insider’s account that includes anecdotes of Jankowski’s interactions with CBS’s biggest stars, from Diane Sawyer, Martha Stewart, and Angela Lansbury to CJ the orangutan, a “surprise TV star” of the 1980s who made appearances on TJ Hooker and other CBS shows. What stands out most, though, is the author’s pure love of television and movies (he current serves as chairman emeritus of the board of directors of the American Film Institute), which still reflects his childhood awe. His Catholic faith, the humble origins of his parents, and even his grade schoolteachers are also discussed alongside the Hollywood celebrities in the book’s accessible, personal narrative. The text is supplemented by an ample assortment of photographs.
