FREDERICK S. PIERCE. Born in New York City, New York, U.S.A., 8 April 1933. Attended Bernard Baruch School of Business Administration, City College of New York, B.A., 1953. Served with U.S. Combat Engineers, Korean War. Married: Marion; children: Richard, Keith, and Linda. Began career as analyst in TV research, ABC, 1956; director of sales planning, ABC, 1962; vice president planning, 1970; vice president in charge, ABC TV planning and development, and assistant to president, 1974; president, ABC-TV, 1974; president and chief operations officer, ABC, Inc., 1983; resigned from ABC, Inc., 1986; formed the Frederick Pierce Company, Inc., 1988, and Pierce/Silverman Company with Fred Silverman, 1989. Address: Frederick S. Pierce Company, Inc., 5670 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1350, Los Angeles, California 90036, U.S.

MADE-FOR-TELEVISION MOVIES

1992 Deadlock
1993 The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas         Cheerleader Murdering Mom
1994 Witness to the Execution
1994 The Substitute Wife

FILM

1995 Money Train

Frederick S. Pierce began working at ABC Television 13 years after the company's birth. Starting as an Analyst in Television Research in 1956, Pierce held over 14 positions until resigning as Vice Chairman of Capital Cities-ABC, Inc. in January 1986. Pierce's period of greatest accomplishment came from 1974 through 1979 when he served as president of ABC Television. But he began formulating policies and strategies during the 1950s and 1960s as ABC defined its path in network broadcasting.

Before ABC's programming department built momentum, CBS and NBC were already entrenched, funneling talent from their established artist bureaus in radio to television affiliates. Both networks had money and leverage, an attraction to advertisers, and independent producers ready to invest. ABC, relying on inexpensive and varied programs, targeted different audiences and Leonard H. Goldenson, ABC's founder, and ex-owner of United Paramount Theaters, sought product and collaborative efforts in Hollywood. In this programming environment Pierce moved up through research, sales, development, and planning until becoming senior vice president of ABC Television in 1974, a position from which he was poised to challenge CBS and NBC.

On a daily basis Goldenson phoned the research and sales development department, requesting sales and rating numbers from Pierce, a practice which started a professional and personal bond between them. In the 1950s and 1960s, ABC pursued the youth market with programs such as American Bandstand and Maverick, and relied on a mixture of programs, hoping to find a niche in the diversity of Bewitched, Mod Squad, and Marcus Welby, M.D. The network experimented with violent program content, such as Bus Stop, and stressed non-traditional sports including rodeo and wresting. Pierce's singular characteristic of persevering within these boundaries made ABC an industry power. Reaching number one in prime time in 1976-77, and maintaining the position for two more seasons, Pierce captured the young, urban viewer with comedy and action, produced longer and more elaborate miniseries and special programs, offered glossy production values in sports programming, and even re-directed afternoon soaps toward youth. The violence and tame sexual content of The Rookies, Baretta, S.W.A.T., and Charley's Angels that angered critics was a natural progression of ABC under Pierce's leadership, the outcome of taking risks and looking--for more than a decade--for any different approach.

Pierce brought passion and dauntless optimism to the conception, development, and scheduling of ABC programming. The network's strategy stemmed from innovation, experimentation, risk and diversity, words he frequently employed. He introduced the "living schedule," the practice of testing five to eight new series in late winter and the spring, each for a month or more, in preparation for fall scheduling. Pierce also referred to this practice, to be adopted by the other networks, as "investment spending," and thought of it as a way of respecting and responding to audience feedback. When the "family-viewing hour" was instituted, Pierce scheduled comedies and other fare from 8:00 to 9:00 P.M. and followed with action adventure programs, Monday through Friday. The strategy, called "clothslining" or "ridgepoling," succeeding in holding viewers.

Before and after ABC's hold on first place, Pierce brought a new perspective. If an ABC program ranked third in its time slot it was only a failure by industry standards. In his view--the view of ABC--even a third-place program was a success if its rating with a specific target audience was large, for these numbers could translate into value to the advertiser. The other networks soon followed Pierce's view of program assessment and focused attention and efforts on material developed with specific demographic groups in mind.

In the drive for success, Pierce programmed "events" that could draw critical attention and viewership. The miniseries was transformed into such a television event, at times lasting, as in the cases of as Roots, The Thorn Birds, and Winds of War, more than seven nights. Sports coverage became a central source of revenue under Roone Arledge. But the quest for a hit sports event meant Pierce's approval of large outlays of money for programming such as the Olympics and championship boxing matches. When one event was a success, it justified Pierce's spending but still kept the company in a precarious position for the long term.

The news division received the least amount of attention from Pierce until he convinced Goldenson to appoint Roone Arledge president. Pierce believed sports and news held a conceptual common ground. Arledge agreed, and successfully applied engaging production techniques fronted by commentators seeking celebrity status in American homes. Although Pierce believed Arledge could assist the news division, he also made the dramatic move of hiring Barbara Walters as an additional safeguard.

Since Pierce was driven by a life-long commitment to ABC he expected the same loyalty in return. He stated publicly that he sought the presidency of ABC, but Goldenson appointed him executive vice president in charge of ABC Television, with the added responsibilities of developing the company's cable, pay-per-view, and video projects. The failure, to varying degrees, of these projects raised questions about Pierce's ability to position ABC in the larger media puzzle. From 1978 through 1980, Pierce baffled the industry with his statements against cable, calling for the protection of free television and criticizing cable's unrestricted content. But other statements soon followed on cable as a tool for diverse programming. Pierce's credibility began to be questioned.

In the 1970s, Pierce was surrounded, at different times, by such prominent figures as Fred Silverman, Roone Arledge, Barry Diller, and Michael Eisner. He pursued Silverman for the position of president, ABC Television, and they worked efficiently together. But upon Silverman's departure, Pierce became highly critical of Silverman's limitations, minimizing his contributions to ABC's turnaround. Pierce was self-consciously basking in the glory of establishing ABC as a powerful network. But the situation began to change. Pierce all but abandoned action-adventure series by 1980, when they were partly responsible for securing young, urban male viewers. He did not recognize the changes developing in television's collaborative arrangements with Hollywood. He continued to depend upon the "living schedule," with its rush to find a hit within four weeks, and in so doing alienated producers whose programs were removed from the schedule without time for the series to develop an audience. Continuously loyal to ABC, he surrounded himself with allies, including Tony Thomopoulous, president of ABC television, Pierce's most cherished area.

Pierce reached the top of ABC as numerous ventures stalled in development, when moneys were already committed to major events, and shareholders demanded fiscal prudence. After ABC was purchased by Capital Cities, Pierce needed Tom Murphy, the new chairman and chief executive officer to position ABC for the future. But Pierce had no inclination of what the future held. Cap-Cities' assessment of ABC and what needed to be done significantly excluded him. By the time of his resignation in 1986 he expressed amazement and disbelief at the turn of events, suggesting an inability to perceive the complex and unstable structure he helped build.

-Richard Bartone