Cowan's breakthrough as a producer came in 1940 with
Quiz Kids. He set up its first production company Louis G. Cowan Company, who was based in Chicago, in its first stint at game shows after being a commercial agency. During World War II he headed the New York office of the
United States Office of War Information. After that he returned to commercial radio, producing first
Murder at Midnight and then
Fighting Senator. When he moved in to
CBS during the success of
The $64,000 Question, his eponymous production company, Louis G. Cowan, Inc., was renamed to Entertainment Productions, Inc. under the presidency of Harry Fleischman, and developed successful quiz shows like
The $64,000 Question and
The Big Surprise. Entertainment Productions went defunct in 1959 shortly after he left CBS. He produced more than 50 programs during his three years with CBS, including
Captain Kangaroo, and won two Peabody Awards. After he left CBS, he founded Chilmark Press, was director of the
Brandeis University Communications Center, special lecturer at the
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and founded the William E. Wiener Oral History Library for the
American Jewish Committee. ==Personal life==