It was on this day, November 5th, in 1956 that The Nat King Cole Show debuted on NBC. It was the first program of it’s kind hosted by an African-American. The show originally aired without a sponsor, but NBC agreed to pay for initial production costs; assuming that once the show aired a national sponsor would emerge. None did. National companies did not want to upset their customers who did not want to see a black man on TV shown in anything other than a subservient position. Although NBC agreed to continue footing the bill for the show until a sponsor could be found, Cole pulled the plug on it himself in its second season. Said Cole of the decision, “Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark.”
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