DuMont, Allen Balcom (1901–1966)

US electrical engineer, inventor, manufacturer, and broadcaster. His DuMont Laboratories, made radio parts and he was involved in early experimental telecasts. Later, the firm made television sets. He set up a small television network and fostered early television programming.

He was born in New York City and, after working as an electrical engineer for Westinghouse Lamp Company and the DeForest Radio Company (1928–31), he set up a laboratory in his home and developed a cathode-ray tube that was used to tune radio receivers. DuMont Laboratories made cathode-ray oscilloscopes. His television network was incorporated as the Metropolitan Broadcasting Company in 1959, later known as Metromedia. His television assembly plants were the first to make all-electronic television sets.