Pat Weaver
Pat Weaver (Sylvester Laflin Weaver Jr.) was an American broadcasting executive who ran NBC from 1953 to 1955 and helped shape how TV would work in the early days of the medium. He was born on December 21, 1908, in Los Angeles and died on March 15, 2002, in Santa Barbara.
Early life and career: Weaver studied at Dartmouth College, graduating in 1930, and worked in advertising before moving into radio. He produced shows in the 1930s, including Fred Allen’s Town Hall Tonight, and climbed to a leadership role at NBC.
What he did at NBC: Weaver introduced ideas that changed network television. He pushed for networks to create their own programs and sell advertising time in blocks rather than tying sponsors to specific shows. He helped launch Today (1952) and later popular programs like Tonight Starring Steve Allen (1954), Home (1954) with Arlene Francis, and Wide Wide World (1955). He is sometimes credited with creating The Tonight Show, though there is some debate. He also revived NBC Radio with NBC Monitor in 1955. Weaver favored high-quality, live 90-minute specials and wanted broadcasting to educate as well as entertain.
End of NBC tenure and later years: Weaver was fired from NBC in 1956 and did not work for another TV network afterward. He remained critical of the industry later, and in 1985 he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. He was the author of Best Seat in the House.
Personal life: He married Elizabeth Inglis in 1942; they had two children, including actress Sigourney Weaver. His brother was comedian Doodles Weaver. Weaver served in the U.S. Navy during World War II (1942–1945).
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 16:12 (CET).