Rupert Murdoch has been inducted into the US Television Academy Hall of Fame in a ceremony in California.
Murdoch noted that the ceremony fell on his 83rd birthday, which he called an annoyance: "As you well know, I'm not fond of looking back," he said.
The chairman of News Corporation and 21st Century Fox did offer reflections on his career, which he said has focused on providing consumers with more choices and taking the risks needed to do so - such as starting the Fox network in 1986 to compete with the big three broadcasters.
Murdoch, whose media empire was recently shaken by a phone hacking scandal, also created the Fox News network which has taken over from rivals CNN and MSNBC as the highest-rating news network.
It often stirs controversy for its staunch opinion-driven journalism.
Also being inducted into the Hall of Fame was Jay Leno, the recently retired host of one of America's longest-running TV institutions, The Tonight Show.
Leno was inducted by fellow comic and TV host Bill Maher, who offered a spirited attack on what he called Leno's undeserved "bad publicity".
Maher said Leno's behaviour never warranted the brickbats tossed at him over Conan O'Brien's short-lived tenure as Tonight Show host in late 2009 and early 2010.
"Jay Leno reminds me a little bit of Israel," Maher said. "He's not perfect, but he's held to a standard nobody is expected to live up to but him."
He said the media helped fan the myth that Leno "stole Conan's dream" when NBC brought Leno back to host The Tonight Show after the show's ratings dropped with O'Brien at the helm.
In his acceptance speech, Leno, 63, said it was the right time to turn The Tonight Show over to the younger Jimmy Fallon, who is 39.
Leno said he watches Fallon's show, and the two talk a couple of times a week.
"He's terrific. He brings a new energy," Leno said before the ceremony. "I think he was smart to take it to New York, get a different vibe or different feel."
The other inductees included Seinfeld star Julia Louis-Dreyfus and prolific writer-producer David E Kelley, the creator of Boston Legal, The Practice and Ally McBeal.
Louis-Dreyfus, the Emmy-winning star of Seinfeld, The New Adventures of Old Christine and Veep, was saluted by friend Amy Poehler as "the best one on Seinfeld and always the funniest in a room."
Louis-Dreyfus shared advice she learned from her physics high school teacher: "Have fun at all costs," she said.
