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

American television Television is one of the major mass media outlets in the United States. , household ownership of television sets in the country is 96.7%, with approximately 114,200,000 American households owning at least one television set as of August 2013. ...

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: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

of CBS from 1977 until 1980. Previously a

bomber pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they ar ...

, Backe helped CBS 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