Ted Bergmann 1921-2014

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Broadcast vet and pioneer Theodore G. (Ted) Bergmann who produced the first NFL and Grammy telecasts died last Sunday, March 2, following surgery at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica. He was 93. During the course of his 70-year broadcast career, Bergmann produced such classic shows as ABC’s Three’s Company and its spinoffs The Ropers and Three’s a Crowd; CBS’ The Arthur Godfrey Show, and the series Love Thy Neighbor about a black couple in a white neighborhood (It was so controversial at the time, that Sears and Proctor & Gamble pulled their advertising). A Brooklyn native, Bergmann started his TV career as an NBC page. When the attack of Pearl Harbor occurred, he enlisted in the Army, soon earning the rank of Captain and covering stories in the European Theater of WWII for the NBC radio program Army Hour. On May 6th, 1945, Bergmann, then 24, took a recording crew to a Reims schoolhouse to preserve the German surrender to the Allies for radio. Returning to the U.S., Bergmann rejoined NBC and withing five years became the President of the DuMont TV Network where he was the first to broadcast NFL games and live boxing and even launched such notable TV personalities as Jackie Gleason and Bishop Fulton Sheen. During the 1950s, Bergmann segued to TV advertising, working with such firms as McCann-Erickson and Parkson Advertisting Agency. After starting his own program packaging company, Charter Producers Corporation, Bergmann was approached by the the National Academy of Recording Artists in 1962 and asked to find a way to get the Grammy Awards on TV. Bergmann created and produced The Best on Record, a post-awards re-creation of the winning performances and a way of gaining awareness for the industry event. The 1963 program included such icons as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Steve and Eydie, as well as Peter, Paul and Mary. Bergmann continued to produce the Grammys on NBC annually for seven years. Bergmann retired from entertainment in 1998, but continued to serve on the boards of several industry organizations, including the Chair’s Counsel of the Caucus for Television Producers, Writers & Directors. He also represented television before Congressional committees and the FCC.