The media company that is buying ABC is remarkable for its low profile. Unlike the three networks, whose highrise towers constitute a kind of Broadcast Row along midtown Manhattan's Sixth Avenue, Capital Cities Communications occupies a small building a few blocks away. Its corporate headquarters is home base < for only 33 employees, from the mail clerk to Chairman Thomas Murphy. In an industry where pizazz often seems as important as performance, Capital Cities does not even have a public relations department, let alone an organizational chart. Says Murphy: "I've never believed in a lot of reports and memos."
But he...