Don Lee Network

Don Lee made a fortune as the exclusive West Coast distributor of Cadillac automobiles. He expanded into broadcasting by purchasing radio stations KFRC in San Francisco in 1926 and KHJ in Los Angeles in 1927. The stations were connected by telephone circuits and in December 1928 the Don Lee Broadcasting System was formed. Within a month, KMJ in Fresno, California; KWG in Stockton, California; and KFBK in Sacramento, California, had joined the network. By 1938, 28 stations were affiliated with the Don Lee network. ==Relationships with other networks==

In 1929, Don Lee Network and CBS entered into an agreement that created the Don Lee-Columbia Network, making the Lee stations the West Coast affiliates for CBS. The joint operation was launched on January 1, 1930. A typical schedule had the network carrying CBS programs in the early evening. When those ended at 8 p.m. Pacific Time, either KFRC or KHJ provided network programs, with the two usually alternating evenings. Some of the programs originating at one of the Lee stations were also transmitted nationally by CBS. Affiliating with Don Lee Network enabled Mutual to go coast to coast across the United States. The change, announced on June 27, 1936, added Lee's California affiliated stations to those already connected with Mutual. The expanded Don Lee-Mutual network began operations on December 30, 1936. ==Original programming==

Bill Oates, in his biography, ''Meredith Willson - America's Music Man: The Whole Broadway-Symphonic-Radio-Motion Picture Story'', noted:During the early 1930s, before regular broadcasting flowed endlessly from coast to coast from the network hubs in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, and because of the time differences, West coast stations presented a great deal of network quality original programming for the Western divisions of NBC and CBS.In 1929, Willson began working for Lee, taking on the responsibility of overseeing music "for a variety of network shows." ==Television==

The network experimented with television in the early 1930s, launching experimental station W6XAO in Los Angeles, California, on December 31, 1931. It broadcast one hour per day throughout the 1930s. In 1937, the TV and radio operations teamed up to broadcast the opening of the 27th annual Los Angeles Motor Car Dealers' Automobile Show. Don Lee also annually televised the Tournament of Roses Parade. In 1939, W6XAO's transmitter (along with the studios) were moved to the top of Mount Lee, greatly increasing the range of the station. World War II brought a halt to further development of television, although W6XAO continued limited broadcasts throughout the war. W6XAO was commercially licensed in May 1948, when it became KTSL. == New building ==

In 1948, the Lee operations expanded into a radio and television complex valued at $2.5 million at Fountain and Vine in Hollywood. three-story facility included 14 broadcast studios, four of which were sound stages that could each accommodate more than 100 musicians, with seating for 350 people in the audience. Simultaneous television broadcasts could be made from the four studios. A plate glass wall in the lobby allowed visitors to watch the network controller as he worked. It later served as the studio for Los Angeles' first education television station, KCET while the "Vine Street Theatre" co-located at the same address and purchased by ABC Television around 1967 and was used as the home of The Joey Bishop Show and, in the 1970s, as studios for The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game. ==Owner declared incompetent==

In September 1948, Superior Judge Harold B. Jeffery declared Thomas S. Lee mentally incompetent, appointing network vice presidents Lewis Allen Weiss—also the network's general manager—and Willet H. Brown as guardians of the estate. Lee was already confined to a sanitarium and had been found mentally ill at a hearing a month earlier. ==Sale==

Thomas Lee died on January 13, 1950, after jumping from a 12-story building. His will specified that the broadcasting operations be sold, a process that began in May 1950. The radio network and its shares of Mutual stock were sold in November 1950 to General Tire and Rubber Company for $12.3 million. The broadcast properties were then merged into the Mutual Broadcasting System. The purchase helped to make General Tire the majority owner of Mutual, and Don Lee's assets became part of what would eventually become RKO General. It also included Hollywood studios estimated to be worth $3 million. KTSL was sold to CBS and is today's KCBS-TV. == References ==