 The show originally aired without a sponsor, but NBC agreed to pay  for initial production costs; it was assumed that once the show  actually aired and advertisers were able to see its sophistication,  a national sponsor would emerge. None did; many national companies  did not want to upset their customers in the South, 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, star Nat King Cole (qv)  pulled the plug on it himself in its second season. In the 1956  season, the show had a 15