Arthur R. Taylor, a former corporate wunderkind who became president of CBS at 37, unloaded an underperforming network-owned property, the New York Yankees, and then, as a sometimes nettlesome overachiever, was fired by William S. Paley, the imperious CBS chairman and founder, died on Dec. 3 in Salisbury Township, Pa. He was 80.

The cause was pulmonary failure, his wife, Kathryn, said.

Mr. Taylor was also instrumental at CBS in instituting television’s family viewing hour, a short-lived effort, pushed by the Federal Communications Commission and adopted voluntarily by the networks, to reduce prime-time programming deemed unsuitable for children.

His ouster in 1976, four years after he had been recruited from outside the company, startled the broadcasting industry, coming as it did as the Columbia Broadcasting System was reporting record earnings for the 24th consecutive quarter.

While ratings were disappointing, sales and revenue hit new highs. But Mr. Paley was said to have been personally vexed by the independence and lack of deference of Mr. Taylor, his handpicked president and potential successor, and by an exodus of creative executives.