Allen Robbins and Jacob Weiser assumed operation of the theater. The next February, the theater was leased to CBS as a broadcast studio. At the time, producer Brock Pemberton had offices on the upper stories; he was allowed to stay. CBS reduced the capacity to 475 seats and occupied the theater for a year and a half. The network, seeking a larger accommodation, ultimately leased the Manhattan (now Ed Sullivan) Theater in August 1936, vacating the Little Theatre by the end of the next month. The playwright Anne Nichols leased the theater for legitimate productions in September 1936. Nichols moved her play Pre-Honeymoon there, and the venue became Anne Nichols' Little Theatre. During 1936 and 1937, the theater hosted productions such as Promise with Cedric Hardwicke, Sun Kissed with Jean Adair and Charles Coburn, and Abie's Irish Rose. The Little Theatre's original name was restored when Cornelia Otis Skinner's solo show Edna His Wife opened in December 1937. By March 1939, the Times was again contemplating destroying the Little Theatre. The theatrical firm of Bonfils and Somnes were leasing the theater at the time. The Shubert family (which operated several nearby theaters) and the operators of the neighboring Astor Hotel objected that the proposed demolition would lower their property values. The Times relented that July, delaying the proposed demolition by offering three-year leases in the theater building. In 1940, the Little hosted the revue Reunion in New York, featuring the American Viennese Group. Intermittent theatrical use 1940s and 1950s The theater became a conference center named the New York Times Hall in December 1941. The first event at the conference hall was a speech by mayor Fiorello La Guardia about air-raid preparations at schools. Under the Times ownership, the theater sometimes hosted concerts and discussions. The events included "victory garden lectures", a book conference for children, an instrumental concert, and recitals from figures such as basso Emanuel List and dancer Lotte Goslar. The hall's steep rake was removed, and the pipes throughout the theater building were replaced. In August 1944, the New York Times Company filed plans for a 11-story building on the site of the Little Theatre, but these plans were not executed. The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) leased the theater as a television studio by July 1951. ABC renovated the theater for The Frances Langford/Don Ameche Show, a variety show featuring Frances Langford and Don Ameche. The stage