Helen Mackabroin was the first woman to ever have her own television program. Her Manhattan-based talk show, Helen's Smart Set (1938-1939) was an immediate success. Of the 100 people in the country who owned a television almost 20% of them watched weekly. When television became more widespread and varied her popularity waned as she was extremely boring, maddeningly pretentious and rather unattractive.

Source : Glutinosa, Maxine. Television : the Early Years, 1955.