Arthur Godfrey: A Man for a Long, Long Season

(Dick Cavett) ... Arthur Godfrey was not just an entertainer. If the phrase ever applied to a human being, he was an industry.
Advertisers so craved his then-revolutionary and greatly successful practice of personally delivering, live and ad lib, each and every commercial that sponsors waited in line. He was top salesman in radio and television — so it is said. So large was his take for the network on his morning show that it was avowed in the ad industry that by the time William Paley (Mr. CBS) finished his breakfast, Arthur had paid the network’s bills for the day.

Image: Library of Congress