Lin Bolen
| Lin Bolen | |
|---|---|
| Born |
March 21, 1941 Benton, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation | Vice President of Daytime Programming, NBC (1972-1978) television producer |
| Years active | 1972-present |
| Spouse(s) | Paul Wendkos (1983-2009) |
Lin Bolen (born March 21, 1941 in Benton, Illinois) is an American television executive and producer. Bolen is most noted for her role as the NBC daytime television programming Vice President, a position she held from 1972 until 1978. In this role, Bolen was responsible for commissioning the long-running game show Wheel of Fortune and is credited with bringing successful long form to network soap operas. Bolen is mentioned in Who's Who in America as a trailblazer for Women in Television.
Bolen was appointed Vice President of Daytime Programming at NBC in 1972. In September 1975, she was the first female Vice President of Programming at a TV network and took NBC to #1 in the national Nielsen ratings She developed an expanded format for Days of Our Lives and Another World, changing both to an hour-long running time. The expanded shows attracted new viewers and became hits with young women
Although NBC was airing the successful game shows Hollywood Squares, Concentration, and Jeopardy! at the time, Bolen's mandate was to increase ratings of young women ages 18–34. Daytime and late-night were seen as NBC's profit center at that time, and advertisers wanted programs that attracted young women. In late 1972, Bolen ended Concentration's fifteen-year run and replaced it with the Heatter-Quigley Productions game show Baffle. Baffle failed to compete with CBS's new game show, The $10,000 Pyramid, and was canceled on March 29, 1974.
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