Fall 1954 marked a big change for television when ABC announced a network deal with a significant Hollywood producer.
Thus, Disney became the third significant Hollywood film producer to venture into television production, after Jerry Fairbanks and Hal Roach.
Heldenfels states that the 1954 DuMont schedule "was a checkerboard of programs and empty spaces for [local] stations to fill".
[2] DuMont did not bother to schedule anything against ABC's Disneyland, NBC's new series Caesar's Hour, or either of CBS's Arthur Godfrey programs, conceding those slots (and others) to the bigger networks.
However, DuMont continued to air Bishop Fulton Sheen's program Life Is Worth Living against NBC's popular The Buick-Berle Show.
DuMont's counter-programming strategy, scheduling a religious program against Milton Berle's bawdy show, had met with success in previous years.
Note: On NBC, the Saturday edition of Max Liebman Presents debuted as a monthly series, airing 9:00–10:30 pm.
On ABC, Ozark Jubilee premiered in January from 9:00–10:00 p.m. On CBS, Willy moved from Saturday to Thursday in April.
The Soldiers, a live military sitcom starring Hal March, Tom D'Andrea, and John Dehner, produced and directed by Bud Yorkin, aired eleven episodes on NBC Saturday schedule between June 25 and September 3, 1955.