Bertha Brainard Who was Bertha Brainard? Bertha Brainard, also known by her friends as “Betty”, was a pioneering NBC executive responsible for setting trends in network broadcasting. She became head of programming for NBC in 1928, the network's first woman executive, which was an amazing task because it allowed future women to hold this title. She began pushing for singer-bandleader Rudy Vallée to host a variety series. One of the series was called The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour. The show quickly became a top-rated program, second only to Amos 'n' Andy after its start Beginning October 24, 1929. Brainard also introduced satire to radio by commissioning Raymond Knight to create a comedy show. Brainard remained an NBC executive until 1946 when she married advertising executive Curt Peterson, with whom she had worked over the years because she simply loved what she did and continued to want to expand her talents within the industry. Her retirement and marriage were brief, as she died of a heart attack in Huntington, New York later that year. Bertha Brainard was born on June 16, 1890, and passed only in 1946 but her story will continue to inspired many women to become executives on radio.