John David Backe (July 5, 1932 – October 22, 2015) was an

American television Television is one of the Mass media in the United States, major mass media outlets in the United States. In 2011, 96.7% of households owned television sets; about 114,200,000 American households owned at least one television set each in August ...

executive who served as the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

from 1977 until 1980. Previously a bomber pilot, Backe helped

return to number 1 in the late 1970s before being ousted by CBS' founder,

William S. Paley William Samuel Paley (September 28, 1901 – October 26, 1990) was an American businessman, primarily involved in the media, and best known as the chief executive who built the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) from a small radio network into o ...

. He died on October 22,2015, from heart failure. He was 83.

References

1932 births 2015 deaths CBS chief executive officers Presidents of CBS, Inc. American television executives Miami University alumni Xavier University alumni {{US-CEO-stub