Thomas Murphy (broadcasting)
Thomas S. Murphy (born May 31, 1925) is an American broadcast executive, and was chair and chief executive officer of Capital Cities / ABC, Inc. until 1996. Together with fellow Capital Cities executive Daniel Burke, Murphy engineered the 1986 acquisition of the American Broadcasting Company in 1986 for $3.5 billion. Murphy and Burke, who served as President and Chief Executive of ABC until 1994, are credited with increasing the profitability and efficiency of ABC.
Biography
Murphy was born in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Cornell University with B.S. in 1945, and Harvard University with an M.B.A. in 1949. He served in the U.S. Navy, and worked at Kenyon & Eckhardt and Lever Brothers.
Broadcaster and author Lowell Thomas, and his business manager/partner, Frank Smith led a New York City-based investor group to buy control of Hudson Valley Broadcasting, in 1954 and hired Murphy to run the WROW Stations as its first general manager. Although Murphy did not have any broadcast experience, his leadership and conservative financial restraint helped bring WROW-TV to profitability three years later. In December 1957 Hudson Valley merged with Durham Television Enterprises, owners of WTVD in Durham, North Carolina, to form Capital Cities Television Corporation, which later became Capital Cities Broadcasting Corp. in 1960 and Capital Cities Communications in 1973.
Thomas Murphy
Thomas Murphy may refer to:
Politicians
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Media and arts
Thomas Murphy (VC)
Thomas Murphy VC (1839 – 23 March 1900) was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
The Cross was awarded not for bravery in action against the enemy, but for bravery at sea in saving life in a storm off Andaman Islands. Born in Dublin, he was about 28 years old and a private in the 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment of Foot (later The South Wales Borderers), British Army during the Andaman Islands Expedition when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 7 May 1867 at the island of Little Andaman, eastern India, in the Bay of Bengal, Private Murphy was one of a party of five (David Bell, James Cooper, Campbell Mellis Douglas and William Griffiths) of the 2/24th Regiment, who risked their lives in manning a boat and proceeding through dangerous surf to rescue some of their comrades who had been sent to the island to find out the fate of the commander and seven of the crew, who had landed from the ship Assam Valley and were feared murdered by the cannibalistic islanders.
Thomas Murphy (Australian politician)
Thomas Patrick Murphy (13 December 1906 – 11 September 1978) was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly between 1953 and 1968. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and held the minor government position of Assistant Minister in 1964-65.
Murphy was the son of a railway worker and was educated in Patrician Brothers schools in rural NSW. He worked as a clerk in the New South Wales Government Railways between 1923 and 1953. During World War Two he served in the Middle East with the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps of the Second Australian Imperial Force and reached the rank of sergeant. Following demobilization, Murphy settled in Concord in the western suburbs of Sydney and became involved in community organizations including the Returned and Services League of Australia and the Hibernian Australian Catholic Benefits Society, a provider of health and other insurance.
After an unsuccessful attempt to win the seat in 1950, Murphy was elected to parliament as the Labor member for Concord at the 1953 state election. He defeated the incumbent Liberal member John Adamson. The 1953 election saw Labor make significant gains in marginal seats, particularly in the western suburbs. The seat of Concord was highly marginal but Murphy was able to retain it for Labor at the next 4 elections, usually by less than 1000 votes and in 1956 and 1965 by less than 100 votes (approximately 0.2% of the total votes cast). Murphy was appointed to the minor government post of Assistant Minister between 30 April 1964 and 13 May 1965 but he held no other party, parliamentary or ministerial office. The seat of Concord was abolished at the 1968 election and Murphy unsuccessfully stood for the new seat of Yaralla. He retired from public life after his defeat but became a successful businessman with investments in motels and the wholesale shoe business.
