Bruce DuMont — a longtime Chicago radio and television political analyst, as well as the founder of the Museum of Broadcast Communications — died Wednesday at the age of 81.
During a long career, DuMont worked at stations like WEEF, WGN, WLS-FM, WEAW, WBEZ, and WLTD, among others. In 1978, he moved to TV, working at WBBM-TV as a producer of the talk show hosted by Lee Phillip. He also produced the station’s public affairs program, anchored by Harry Potterfield.
In 1982, DuMont joined WTTW-TV in the Windy City, later becoming the original producer of Chicago Tonight. He later went on to anchor the program at the 1984 Republican and Democratic National Conventions.
He hosted a show called Inside Politics, beginning in 1992, for WLS-AM. It was later nationally syndicated and renamed Beyond the Beltway. It was canceled by WLS-AM in 2015, when it then moved to AM 560 The Answer, where it ended in January.
DuMont began working on the Museum of Broadcast Communications in 1982. His mission was to preserve the archives of radio and television stations that didn’t have the space or resources to do so. The physical location of the museum officially debuted in 1987. In 1992, it moved to the Chicago Culture Center, where it remained until 2003, when it operated online-only before finding new space in 2012. It is currently in search of its next location.
DuMont retired from the Museum in 2017. The Museum of Broadcast Communications is the home of the Radio Hall of Fame.
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