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Grant Tinker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Grant A. Tinker (born January 11, 1925) is the former chairman and CEO of NBC from 1981 to 1986, co-founder of MTM Enterprises, and television producer. Tinker is the former husband of television actress, Mary Tyler Moore and also known as "the man who saved NBC".
Tinker married Moore in 1962, and in 1969 they formed the television production company MTM Enterprises. While creating MTM Enterprises, Tinker hired Room 222 writers James L. Brooks and Allan Burns to create and produce the company's first television series, The Mary Tyler Moore Show. MTM Enterprises would later produced popular American sitcoms and drama television series such as Rhoda, The Bob Newhart Show, WKRP in Cincinnati, and Hill Street Blues.
After his divorce from Moore in 1981 Tinker left MTM Enterprises to become the chairman and CEO of then perennial last-place American television network (in terms of Neilsen ratings and profits) NBC. During Tinker's tenure in NBC's top position, the network regained ratings and produced popular shows like The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Cheers, Night Court, and Hill Street Blues. Tinker left the network in 1986, shortly after its parent company RCA was bought by General Electric.
After leaving NBC, Tinker tried to repeat his success with MTM Enterprises by forming GTG (Grant Tinker-Gannett) Entertainment but the business venture failed and the company closed in 1990.
Grant Tinker is a graduate of Dartmouth College.
- TINKER, GRANT entry. Museum of Broadcast Communications. Retrieved on June 9, 2005.