Comedy as History
So, along with the lighter aspects of comedy, celebrities, etc., the story of WKRP in Cincinnati has actual significance as history. It’s a story that should certainly be on the record. But it hasn’t been told, as far as I can tell, except by me.
Why not? Well, in the '80s, as TV and radio station and as newspaper owners, the Tafts had some muscle in the broadcasting world. And in particular, Taft Broadcasting was then producing Entertainment Tonight. As mentioned, that Taft name was later changed to “Great American.”
But a full explanation of a satire of their own company was apparently not the sort of material that the producers of Entertainment Tonight wanted to put before the public. I think that was the initial reason for suppression of the story we've told here.
By 2005, however, Entertainment Tonight was being produced by Paramount. Paramount was also producing The Insider. That initially gave me hope that it might be possible for the truth to finally be told by one of those two productions. I even phoned them to try to promote the story. I still think the whole story will eventually be told–told, that is, by sources other than your humble correspondent.
Perhaps that nice Mr. Rupert Murdoch, the fellow that one reads so much about these days, would be interested. In 2008 Mr. Murdoch’s company owned the rebroadcast rights to WKRP. His company wasn't involved in the media rivalries of the ‘70s that spawned the creation of the series.
Those old media rivalries may still retain some potency, even today. But they weren't part of Mr. Murdoch's own personal business history. US mass media is interwoven to a considerable extent, and the fact of coming from outside has probably been Murdoch's greatest competitive strength.
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George Orwell, 1984