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| Robert Kintner (television executive) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Robert Kintner |
| Birth date | 1909 |
| Birth place | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Death date | 1980 |
| Occupation | Television executive, journalist, government official |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
Robert Kintner (television executive) was an American broadcaster, network executive, and public official who shaped mid-20th century American television and broadcast journalism. He served in senior roles at NBC and ABC, influenced programming strategy during the rise of television broadcasting, and later held positions in public relations and government administration. His career connected major media institutions, wartime information efforts, and the expansion of network television.
Kintner was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and educated at Columbia University, where he studied journalism and became involved with campus publications and the Columbia School of Journalism. During his formative years he encountered contemporaries from institutions such as Princeton University, Harvard University, and the University of Pennsylvania who later entered media and politics. His early exposure to metropolitan newspapers in New York City and the news ecosystem of the Northeastern United States shaped his entry into professional reporting.
Kintner began as a reporter for newspapers including the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin and later moved to New York journalism, joining staffs that competed with outlets like the New York Times, New York Herald Tribune, and Brooklyn Eagle. Transitioning to radio, he worked with networks influenced by NBC Radio Network and CBS Radio. During the 1930s and 1940s he collaborated with producers and anchors tied to programs on stations affiliated with WABC (AM), WRCA, and other metropolitan broadcasters, developing skills that bridged print reporting and broadcast presentation.
At NBC, Kintner rose through programming and executive ranks amid the network's expansion into television broadcasting after World War II, working alongside figures associated with David Sarnoff, RCA Corporation, and executives from CBS. He played a role in scheduling and affiliate relations during the competitive era involving DuMont Television Network and the emergence of network shows that competed with content on ABC and CBS. Under his influence, NBC navigated sponsorship models tied to advertisers such as Procter & Gamble and General Electric, negotiated talent contracts with personalities from radio and allied with production companies comparable to Desilu Productions.
Kintner became president of American Broadcasting Company at a time when ABC sought to improve ratings against CBS and NBC, collaborating with programmers, executives, and producers from entities like Warner Bros. Television, Screen Gems, and independent creators. He supported initiatives to expand prime-time schedules, refine news operations connected to counterparts at ABC News, and commission series by producers who had worked with CBS Television Studios and Universal Television. His tenure coincided with the network's efforts to secure affiliates, negotiate carriage, and develop branded entertainment and sponsored programming patterned after successful series on competing networks.
During wartime and peacetime public service, Kintner participated in information efforts that intersected with agencies similar to the Office of War Information and engaged with officials from administrations of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and later executives linked to John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson eras. After leaving network executive roles, he worked in public relations and corporate communications, advising clients alongside firms interacting with regulators such as the Federal Communications Commission and institutions like the United States Congress. His roles bridged media policy debates, standards-setting at regulatory bodies, and organizational communications for major corporations.
In later decades Kintner continued as an adviser, board member, and commentator, maintaining relationships with broadcasters, studios, and policymakers across New York City and Washington, D.C.. His influence is reflected in the careers of executives and producers from networks such as NBC, ABC, and CBS, and in practices adopted by affiliates nationwide. Histories of American television cite his participation in the medium's institutional development and in negotiations that shaped affiliate networks, syndication policies, and program sponsorship frameworks during the formative postwar period.
Kintner's personal life included family ties in the Northeast United States and social connections in communities around New York and Washington, D.C., where media and political circles overlapped. He died in 1980, leaving a record preserved in contemporaneous coverage by outlets like the New York Times and in accounts by colleagues who later worked at organizations such as NBC News, ABC News, and major public relations firms.
Category:American television executives Category:Columbia University alumni Category:1909 births Category:1980 deaths