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.svg) Final logo, used from 1968 to 1987 | |
 RCA's former headquarters at30 Rockefeller Plaza, 1933–1987 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Media Electronics |
| Predecessor | Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America |
| Founded | November 20, 1919; 105 years ago (1919-11-20) as the Radio Corporation of America |
| Founder | Owen D. Young |
| Defunct | 1987; 38 years ago (1987) |
| Fate | Acquired byGE in 1986, various divisions sold or liquidated, and trademark rights sold toThomson SA in 1988. |
| Successors | General Electric RCA (owned by Talisman Brands) RCA Records (owned bySony Music Entertainment) NBC (owned byComcast) |
| Headquarters | New York City, New York, US[1] |
Key people | Owen D. Young (first board chairman) David Sarnoff (first general manager and third president) |
| Products | Radios Vacuum tubes Phonograph records Electric phonograph RCA Photophone Televisions CED Videodisc TV station equipment: Studio cameras Videotape machines Film chains TV transmitters TV broadcast antennas Satellites Video game consoles |
| Parent | GE (1919–1932, 1986–1987) Technicolor SA[a] (trademark rights only, 1987–2022) Talisman Brands d.b.a Established Inc. (trademark, since 2022) |
| Divisions | RCA Records National Broadcasting Company, Inc. RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video RCA Services |
RCA Corporation, founded as theRadio Corporation of America, was a major American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1987. Initially, RCA was apatent trust owned by a partnership ofGeneral Electric (GE),Westinghouse,AT&T Corporation andUnited Fruit Company. It became an independent company in 1932 after the partners agreed to divest their ownerships in settling anantitrust lawsuit by the United States.
An innovative and progressive company, RCA was the dominant electronics and communications firm in the United States for over five decades. In the early 1920s, RCA was at the forefront of the mushrooming radio industry, both as a major manufacturer ofradio receivers and as the exclusive manufacturer of the firstsuperheterodyne receiver. In 1926, the company founded theNational Broadcasting Company (NBC), the first nationwide radio network. During the '20s and '30s RCA also pioneered the introduction and development of broadcast television—both black and white and especiallycolor television. Throughout most of its existence, RCA was closely identified with the leadership ofDavid Sarnoff. He became general manager at the company's founding, served as president from 1930 to 1965, and remained active as chairman of the board until the end of 1969.
Until the 1970s, RCA maintained a seemingly impregnable stature as corporate America's leading name in technology, innovation, and home entertainment. However, the company's performance began to weaken as it expanded beyond its original focus—developing and marketing consumer electronics and communications in the US—towards the larger goal of operating as a diversified multinational conglomerate. And the company now faced increasing domestic competition from international electronics firms such asSony,Philips,Matsushita andMitsubishi. RCA suffered enormous financial losses attempting to enter the mainframe computer industry, and in other failed projects including theCED videodisc system.
By the mid 1980s, RCA was rebounding but the company was never able to regain its former eminence. In 1986, RCA was reacquired by General Electric during theJack Welch era at GE. Welch sold or liquidated most of RCA's assets, retaining onlyNBC and some government services units. Today, RCA exists as abrand name only; the variousRCA trademarks are currently owned bySony Music Entertainment andVantiva, which in turn license the RCA brand name and trademarks for various products to several other companies, includingVoxx International, Curtis International, AVC Multimedia,TCL Corporation, and Express LUCK International.
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RCA originated as a reorganization of theMarconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America, commonly called "American Marconi". In 1897, the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company, Limited, was founded in London to promote the radio—then known as "wireless telegraphy"—inventions ofGuglielmo Marconi. As part of worldwide expansion, American Marconi was organized as a subsidiary in 1899, holding the rights to Marconi patents in the United States and Cuba.[3] In 1912, American Marconi took control of the assets of the bankruptUnited Wireless Telegraph Company, and from that point forward, was the dominant radio communications company in the United States.
When the United States enteredWorld War I in April 1917, the federal government took control of most civilian radio stations to use them for the war effort. Although the government planned to restore civilian ownership of the radio stations once the war ended, manyUnited States Navy officials hoped to retain a monopoly on radio communication even after the war. Contrary to instructions it had received, the Navy began purchasing large numbers of radio stations. When the war ended, Congress rejected the Navy's efforts to have peacetime control of the radio industry and instructed that the Navy return the stations to the original owners.[4]
Due to national security considerations, the Navy was particularly concerned about returning high-powered international stations to American Marconi, since the majority of its stock was in foreign hands, and the British already largely controlled the international undersea telegraph cables. This concern was increased by the announcement in late 1918 of the formation of the Pan-American Wireless Telegraph and Telephone Company,[5] a joint venture between American Marconi and theFederal Telegraph Company,[6] with plans to set up service between the United States and South America.[7]
The Navy had installed a high-poweredAlexanderson alternator, built by General Electric (GE), at the American Marconi transmitter site in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It proved to be superior for transatlantic transmissions to thespark-gap transmitters that had been traditionally used by the Marconi companies. Marconi officials were so impressed by the capabilities of the Alexanderson alternators that they began making preparations to adopt them as their standard transmitters for international communication. A tentative plan made with General Electric proposed that over a two-year period the Marconi companies would purchase most of GE's alternator production. However, the U.S. Navy objected to the plan, fearing British domination in international radio communications and the national security concerns this raised.[9]
The Navy, claiming support from U.S. PresidentWoodrow Wilson, looked for an alternative that would result in an "all-American" company taking over the American Marconi assets. In April 1919, two naval officers,Admiral H. G. Bullard andCommander S. C. Hooper, met with GE president,Owen D. Young and requested a suspension of the pending alternator sales to the Marconi companies. This would leave General Electric without a buyer for its transmitters, so the officers proposed that GE purchase American Marconi, and use the assets to form its own radio communications subsidiary. Young consented to this proposal, which, effective November 20, 1919, transformed American Marconi into the Radio Corporation of America. The decision to form the new company was promoted as a patriotic gesture. The corporate officers were required to be citizens of the United States, with a majority of the company stock to be held by U.S. citizens.[9]
Upon its founding, RCA was the largest radio communications firm in the United States.[10] Most of the former American Marconi staff continued to work for RCA. Owen Young became the chairman of the board of the new company. Former American Marconi vice president and general manager E. J. Nally become RCA's first president. Nally was succeeded by Major GeneralJames G. Harbord, who served from 1922 until January 3, 1930, when Harbord replaced Owen Young as chairman of the board. David Sarnoff, who was RCA's founding general manager, became its third president on the same day. RCA worked closely with the federal government and felt it deserved to maintain its predominant role in U.S. radio communications. At the company's recommendation, President Wilson appointed Rear Admiral Bullard "to attend the stockholders' and director's meetings... in order that he may present and discuss informally the Government's views and interests".[11]
The radio industry had been making technical advances, particularly in the area of vacuum tube technology and GE needed access to additional patents before its new subsidiary could be fully competitive. During this time American Marconi had been steadily falling behind others in the industry. The two companies then proceeded to negotiate a series of mutually beneficial cross-licensing agreements between themselves and various other companies in the industry. On July 1, 1920, theAmerican Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T), agreed to purchase 500,000 shares of RCA—although it divested these shares in early 1923. TheUnited Fruit Company held a small portfolio of radio patents,[12] and signed two agreements in 1921. GE's traditional electric company rival, theWestinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Corporation, had also purchased rights to some critical patents, including one for heterodyne receiving originally issued toReginald Fessenden, plusregenerative circuit andsuperheterodyne receiver patents issued toEdwin Armstrong. Westinghouse used this position to negotiate a cross-licensing agreement, effective July 1, 1921, that included a concession that 40% of RCA's equipment purchases would be from Westinghouse. Following these transactions, GE owned 30.1% of RCA's stock, Westinghouse 20.6%, AT&T 10.3%, and United Fruit 4.1%, with the remaining 34.9% owned by individual shareholders.[13]
In 1930, RCA agreed to occupy the yet-to-be-constructed landmark skyscraper of theRockefeller Center complex,30 Rockefeller Plaza, which in 1933 became known as the RCA Building (renamed the GE Building in 1988 and currently known as the Comcast Building afterComcast acquired NBC). This lease was critical for enabling the massive project to proceed as a commercially viable venture—David Rockefeller cited RCA's action as being responsible for "the salvation of the project".[14]
RCA's primary business objectives at its founding were to provide equipment and services for seagoing vessels, and "worldwide wireless" communication in competition with existing international undersea telegraph cables. To provide the international service, the company soon undertook a massive project to build a "Radio Central" communications hub atRocky Point,Long Island, New York, designed to achieve "the realization of the vision of communication engineers to transmit messages to all points of the world from a single centrally located source". Construction began in July 1920, and the site was dedicated on November 5, 1921, after two of the proposed twelve antenna spokes had been completed, and two of the 200-kilowatt alternators installed. The debut transmissions received replies from stations in 17 countries.[16]
Although the initial installation would remain in operation, the additional antenna spokes and alternator installations would not be completed, due to a major discovery about radio signal propagation. While investigating transmitter "harmonics" – unwanted additional radio signals produced at higher frequencies than a station's normal transmission frequency – Westinghouse'sFrank Conrad unexpectedly found that in some cases the harmonics could be heard farther than the primary signal, something previously thought impossible, as high-frequencyshortwave signals, which had poor groundwave coverage, were thought to have a very limited transmission range. In 1924, Conrad demonstrated to Sarnoff that a low-powered shortwave station in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania could be readily received in London by a simple receiver using a curtain rod as an antenna, matching, at a small fraction of the cost, the performance of the massive alternator transmitters. In 1926,Harold H. Beverage further reported that a shortwave signal, transmitted on a 15-meter wavelength (approximately 20 MHz), was received in South America more readily during the daytime than the 200-kilowatt alternator transmissions.[17]
The Alexanderson alternators, control of which had led to RCA's formation, were now considered obsolete, and international radio communication would be primarily conducted usingvacuum tube transmitters operating on shortwave bands. RCA would continue to operate international telecommunications services for the remainder of its existence, through its subsidiary RCA Communications, Inc., and later the RCA Global Communications Company. In 1975, the company formedRCA American Communications, which operated its Satcom series ofgeostationarycommunications satellites. International shortwave links were in turn largely supplanted by communications satellites, especially for distributing network radio and television programming.
At the time RCA was founded in 1919, all radio and telegraphic communication between China and the US, including official messages, were sent through either German radio or British cable links. The U.S. Navy lobbied RCA to seek aconcession for a radio link to China, however the company was reluctant because its other concessions were already operating at a loss. This link began operation in 1928. TheMackay Radio and Telegraph Company of California signed a similar agreement with China in 1932. RCA claimed this wasbreach of contract on the grounds that its 1928 agreement had given it exclusive rights. The dispute went to arbitration, and in 1935 a decision, issued inRadio Corporation of America v China, concluded the Mackay concession was valid, because the earlier RCA concession had not granted exclusive rights.[18][19]
The introduction of organized radio broadcasting in the early 1920s resulted in a dramatic reorientation and expansion of RCA's business activities. The development of vacuum tube radio transmitters made audio transmissions practical, in contrast with the earlier transmitters which were limited to sending the dits-and-dahs ofMorse code. Since at least 1916, when he was still at American Marconi, David Sarnoff had proposed establishing broadcasting stations, but his memos to management promoting the idea for sales of a "Radio Music Box" had not been followed up at the time.[20]
A small number of broadcasting stations began operating, and soon interest in the innovation was spreading nationwide. In the summer of 1921, aMadison Square Garden employee, Julius Hopp, devised a plan to raise charitable funds by broadcasting, from ringside, the July 2, 1921Dempsey-Carpentier heavyweight championship fight to be held in Jersey City, New Jersey. Hopp recruited theaters and halls as listening locations that would charge admission fees to be used as charitable donations. He also contacted RCA's J. Andrew White, the acting president of the National Amateur Wireless Association (NAWA), an organization originally formed by American Marconi which had been inherited by RCA. White agreed to recruit the NAWA membership for volunteers to provide assistance at the listening sites, and also enlisted David Sarnoff for financial and technical support. RCA was authorized to set up a temporary longwave radio station, located in Hoboken a short distance from the match site, and operating under the call lettersWJY. For the broadcast White and Sarnoff telephoned commentary from ringside, which was typed up and then read over the air by J. Owen Smith. The demonstration was a technical success, with a claimed audience of 300,000 listeners throughout the northeast.[21]
RCA quickly moved to expand its broadcasting activities. In the fall of 1921, it set up its first full-time broadcasting station,WDY, at the Roselle Park, New Jersey company plant. By 1923, RCA was operating three stations—WJZ (nowWABC) andWJY in New York City, and WRC (nowWTEM) in Washington, D.C. A restriction imposed by AT&T's interpretation of the patent cross-licensing agreements required that the RCA stations remain commercial free, and they were financed by profits from radio equipment sales.
Beginning in 1922, AT&T became heavily involved in radio broadcasting, and soon was the new industry's most important participant. From the beginning, AT&T's policy was to finance stations by commercial sponsorship of the programs. The company also created the first radio network, centered on its New York City station WEAF (nowWFAN), using its long-distance telephone lines to interconnect stations. This allowed them to economize by having multiple stations carry the same program.
RCA and its partners soon faced an economic crisis, as the costs of providing programming threatened to exceed the funds available from equipment profits. In 1926, AT&T transferred its broadcasting related activities into a new subsidiary, theBroadcasting Company of America (BCA), with its primary assets consisting of broadcasting stations WEAF in New York City andWCAP in Washington, D.C., plus its network operations. Two months later, AT&T unexpectedly decided to exit the radio broadcasting field, and RCA purchased the BCA subsidiary for $1,000,000. These assets formed the basis for the creation of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), with ownership divided between RCA (50%), General Electric (30%), and Westinghouse (20%) until 1930, when RCA assumed 100% ownership. This purchase also included the right to begin commercial operations. NBC formed two radio networks that eventually expanded nationwide: theNBC-Red Network, with flagship station WEAF, andNBC-Blue, centered on WJZ. Although NBC was originally promoted as expecting to just break even economically, it soon became extremely profitable, which would be an important factor in helping RCA survive the economic pressures of theGreat Depression that began in late 1929.[22]
Concerned that NBC's control of two national radio networks gave it too much power over the industry, in 1941 theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) issued an industry review,Report on Chain Broadcasting, which included a rule designed to force NBC to divest one of them.[23] This order was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, and on October 12, 1943, the NBC-Blue network was sold to candy magnateEdward J. Noble for $8,000,000, and renamed "The Blue Network, Inc." In 1946 the name was changed to theAmerican Broadcasting Company (ABC). The "Red" network retained the NBC name and remained under RCA ownership until 1986.
For two decades the NBC radio network's roster of stars provided ratings consistently surpassing those of its main competitor, theColumbia Broadcasting System (CBS). But in 1948, as the transition from radio to television was beginning, NBC's leadership came under attack due to what became known as the "Paley raids", named after the president of CBS,William S. Paley. After World War II the tax rate for annual incomes above $70,000 was 77%, while capital gains were taxed at 25%. Paley worked out an accounting technique whereby individual performers could set up corporations that allowed their earnings to be taxed at the significantly lower rate. Instead of NBC responding with a similar package, Sarnoff decided that this accounting method was legally and ethically wrong. NBC's performers did not agree, and most of the top stars, includingAmos and Andy,Jack Benny,Red Skelton,Edgar Bergen,Burns and Allen,Ed Wynn,Fred Waring,Al Jolson,Groucho Marx andFrank Sinatra moved from NBC to CBS. As a result, CBS boasted of having sixteen of the twenty top-rated programs in 1949. The consequences would carry over to television, where CBS maintained its newfound dominance for decades. Paley had personally worked to woo the performers, while Sarnoff professed his indifference to the defections, stating at an annual meeting that "Leadership built over the years on a foundation of solid service cannot be snatched overnight by buying a few high-priced comedians. Leadership is not a laughing matter."[24]
Following its founding, RCA acted as the sales agent for a small line of Westinghouse and GE branded receivers and parts used by home constructors, originally for a limited market ofamateur radio enthusiasts. By 1922, the rise of broadcasting had dramatically increased the demand for radio equipment by the general public, and this development was reflected in the title of RCA's June 1, 1922 catalog, "Radio Enters the Home". RCA began selling receivers under the "Radiola" name, marketing equipment produced by GE and Westinghouse under the production agreement that allocated a 60%–40% ratio in output between the two companies. Although the patent cross-licensing agreements had been intended to give the participants domination of equipment sales, the tremendous growth of the market led to fierce competition, and in 1925 RCA fell behindAtwater Kent as the leader in receiver sales. RCA was particularly hamstrung by the need to coordinate its sales within the limits of the GE/Westinghouse production quotas, and often had difficulty keeping up with industry trends. However, the company made a key advance in early 1924 when it began selling the firstsuperheterodyne receivers, whose high level of performance increased the brand's reputation and popularity. RCA was the exclusive manufacturer of superheterodyne radio sets until 1930. All RCA receivers were battery powered until late 1927 when plug-in AC sets were introduced, providing another boost in sales.[25]
RCA inherited American Marconi's status as a major producer of vacuum tubes, which were brandedRadiotron in the United States. Especially after the rise of broadcasting, they were a major profit source for the company. RCA's strong patent position meant that the company effectively set the selling prices for vacuum tubes in the U.S., which were significantly higher than in Europe, whereLee de Forest had allowed a key patent to lapse.
The company began work on a secret project for the U.S. Navy called Madame X in September 1942. The Bloomington, Indiana, plant was one of the first of five RCA plants to produce Madame X vacuum tubes, which included aproximity fuse used to electronically detonate its payload when it was in range of its target, as opposed to relying on a direct hit. James V. Forrestal, former secretary of the Navy said, "The proximity fuse had helped blaze the trail to Japan. Without the protection this ingenious device has given the surface ships of the fleet, our westward push could not have been so swift and the cost in men and ships would have been immeasurably greater."[26]
RCA was responsible for creating a series of innovative products, ranging fromoctal base metal tubes co-developed withGeneral Electric before World War II, to greatly miniaturizedNuvistor tubes, used in the tuners of the New Vista series of television receivers. The Nuvistors were a last major vacuum tube innovation, along with General Electric'sCompactron, and were meant to compete with the newly introduced transistor. By 1975, RCA had completely switched from tubes to solid-state devices in their television sets, except for theCathode-ray tube (CRT) picture tube itself.
The rapid rise of radio broadcasting during the early 1920s, which provided unlimited free entertainment in the home, had a detrimental effect on the American phonograph record industry. TheVictor Talking Machine Company inCamden, New Jersey, was then the world's largest manufacturer ofrecords andphonographs, including its popular showcase "Victrola" line. In January 1929, RCA purchased the Victor Talking Machine Company; this acquisition became known as theRCA Victor Division of the Radio Corporation of America, and included ownership of Victor's Japanese subsidiary, theVictor Company of Japan (JVC), formed in 1927 and controlling interest inThe Gramophone Company Ltd. (laterEMI Records) in England.
RCA's acquisition of the Victor company included the rights to the iconicNipper/"His Master's Voice" trademark across North America.[27] RCA Victor popularized combined radio receiver-phonographs, and also createdRCA Photophone, a moviesound-on-film system that competed withWilliam Fox's sound-on-filmMovietone andWarner Bros.'sound-on-discVitaphone. Although early announcements of the merger between RCA and Victor stressed that the two firms were linking on equal terms to form a joint new company, RCA initially had little interest in the phonograph record business. RCA's management was interested essentially in Victor's superior sales capabilities through the record company's large network of authorized distributors and dealers, as well as the extensive, efficient manufacturing facilities inCamden, New Jersey. Immediately following the purchase of Victor, RCA began planning the manufacture of radio sets and components on Victor's Camden assembly lines, while gradually decreasing the production of Victrolas and records.[28]
Following theStock market crash of 1929 and subsequentGreat Depression, the entire phonograph record industry in America nearly foundered. During the nadir of the record business in the early 1930s, the manufacture of phonographs and records had all but ceased; extant older phonographs were now obsolete and most had been relegated to the attic or basement. RCA Victor began selling the first all-electric Victrola in 1930 and in 1931, the company attempted to revitalize record sales with the introduction of 331⁄3revolutions-per-minute (rpm) long play records, which were a commercial failure during the Great Depression, partly because the Victrolas with two speed turntables required to play them were exorbitantly expensive, and also because the audio performance of the new records was generally poor; the new format used the same groove size as existing 78 rpm records,[29] and it would require the smaller-radius stylus of the later microgroove systems to achieve acceptable slower-speed performance. Additionally, the new long-play records were pressed in a pliable, vinyl-based material called "Victrolac" which wore out rapidly under the heavy tonearms then in use.[30]
In 1934, following the debacle of its long-play record, RCA Victor introduced the Duo Jr., an inexpensive, small, basic electric turntable designed to be plugged into radio sets. The Duo Jr. was sold at cost, but was practically given away with the purchase of a certain number of Victor records. The Duo Jr.'s rock-bottom price and America's slowly improving economy helped to overcome the national apathy to phonographs, and record sales gradually began to recover.[31] Around 1935, RCA began marketing the modernistic RCA Victor M Special, a polished aluminum portable record player designed byJohn Vassos that has become an icon of 1930s American industrial design.[32] In 1949, RCA Victor released the first 45 rpm "single" records, as a response toColumbia Records successful introduction of its microgroove 331⁄3 rpm "LP" format in 1948. As RCA Victor adopted Columbia's 331⁄3 rpm LP records in 1950,[33][34] Columbia then adopted RCA Victor's 45 rpm records.[35]
RCA also made investments in the movie industry, but they performed poorly. In April 1928, RCA Photophone, Inc., was organized by a group of companies including RCA to develop sound-movie technology. In the fall of 1927, RCA had purchased stock in Film Booking Office (FBO), and on October 25, 1928, with the help ofJoseph P. Kennedy, theRadio-Keith-Orpheum Corporation (RKO) studio was formed by merging FBO with Keith-Albee-Orpheum Corporation (KAO), a company whose holdings included motion picture theaters. The theaters in which RKO had an interest provided a potential market for the RCA Photophone sound systems. RCA ownership of RKO stock expanded from about one quarter in 1930 to about 61% in 1932.[36] RKO encountered severe financial problems, going into receivership from early 1933 until 1940. RCA sold its holdings in the studio to raise funds for its basic operations.[citation needed]
After years of industry complaints that the cross-licensing agreements between RCA, GE, and Westinghouse had in effect created illegal monopolies, the U.S. Department of Justice brought antitrust charges against the three companies in May 1930.[37] After much negotiation, in 1932 the Justice Department accepted a consent agreement that removed the restrictions established by the cross-licensing agreements, and also provided that RCA would become a fully independent company. As a result, GE and Westinghouse gave up their ownership interests in RCA, while RCA was allowed to keep its factories.[38] To give RCA a chance to establish itself, GE and Westinghouse were required to refrain from competing in the radio business for the next two and one-half years.[39]
RCA began television development in early 1929, after an overly optimisticVladimir K. Zworykin convinced Sarnoff that a commercial version of his prototype system could be produced in a relatively short time for $100,000. Following what would actually be many years of additional research and millions of dollars, RCA demonstrated an all-electronic black-and-white television system at the1939 New York World's Fair. RCA began regular experimental television broadcasting from the NBC studios to the New York metropolitan area on April 30, 1939, via station W2XBS, channel 1 (which evolved intoWNBC channel 4) from the newEmpire State Building transmitter on top of the structure. Around this time, RCA began selling its first television set models, including the TRK-5 and TRK-9, in various New York stores.[41] However, the FCC had not approved the start of commercial television operations, because technical standards had not yet been finalized. Concerned that RCA's broadcasts were an attempt to flood the market with sets that would force it to adopt RCA's current technology, the FCC stepped in to limit its broadcasts.
Following the adoption ofNational Television System Committee (NTSC) recommended standards, the FCC authorized the start of commercial television broadcasts on July 1, 1941. The entry of the United States into World War II a few months later greatly slowed its deployment, but RCA resumed selling television receivers almost immediately after the war ended in 1945.
In 1950, the FCC adopted a standard forcolor television that had been promoted by CBS, but the effort soon failed, primarily because the color broadcasts could not be received by existing black-and-white sets. As the result of a major research push, RCA engineers developed a method of "compatible" color transmissions that, through the use of interlacing, simultaneously broadcast color and black-and-white images, which could be picked up by both color and existing black-and-white sets. In 1953, RCA's all-electronic color television technology was adopted as the standard for the United States. At that time, Sarnoff predicted annual color television sales would reach 1.78 million in 1956, but the receivers were expensive and difficult to adjust, and there was initially a lack of color programming, so sales lagged badly and the actual 1956 total would only be 120,000.[42] RCA's ownership of NBC proved to be a major benefit, as that network was instructed to promote its color program offerings; even so, it was not until 1968 that color television sales in the United States surpassed those of black-and-white sets.
While lauding the technical prowess of his RCA engineers who had developed color television, David Sarnoff, in marked contrast to William Paley, president of CBS, did not disguise his dislike for popular television programs. His authorized biography even boasted that "no one has yet caught him in communion with one of the upper dozen or so top-rated programs" and "The popular programs, to put the matter bluntly, have very little appeal for him."[43]
RCAprofessional video cameras and studio gear, particularly of theTK-40/41 series, became standard equipment at many American television network affiliates, as RCACT-100[44] ("RCA Merrill" to dealers) television sets introduced color television to the public.
In 1941, shortly before the United States entered World War II, the cornerstone was laid for a research and development facility inPrinceton, New Jersey called RCA Laboratories. Led for many years byElmer Engstrom, it was used to develop many innovations, includingcolor television, theelectron microscope,CMOS-based technology,heterojunction physics,optoelectronic emitting devices,liquid crystal displays (LCDs),videocassette recorders,direct broadcast television, direct broadcast satellite systems andhigh-definition television.
RCA plants switched to war production shortly after the U.S. entered the war in December 1941. During World War II, RCA was involved inradar and radio development in support of the war effort, and ranked 43rd among United States corporations in the value of wartime military production contracts.[46] One such contract was to outfit the battleshipUSS Texas with a 400-megahertz pulse radar set, using technology developed by RCA acoustics scientist,Irving Wolff.[47] During and after the war, RCA set up several new divisions for defense, space exploration and other activities. The RCA Service Corporation provided large numbers of staff for theDistant Early Warning (DEW) Line. RCA units won fiveArmy–Navy "E" Awards for Excellence in production.[48] Due to the hostilities between Japan and the United States duringWorld War II, theVictor Company of Japan became an independent company after seceding from RCA Victor in the United States; JVC retained the 'Victor' and "His Master's Voice" trademarks for use in Japan only.
In 1955, RCA sold its Estate brand of large appliance operations toWhirlpool Corporation. As part of this transaction, Whirlpool was given the right to market "RCA Whirlpool" appliances through the mid-1960s.
RCA manufactured equipment, such as oscilloscopes, for repairing radios,
RCA Graphic Systems Division (GSD) was an early supplier of electronics designed for the printing and publishing industries. It contracted with German companyRudolf Hell to market adaptations of the Digiset photocomposition system as the Videocomp, and a Laser Color Scanner. The Videocomp was supported by a Spectra computer that ran the Page-1 and, later the Page-II and FileComp composition systems. RCA later sold the Videocomp rights toInformation International Inc.
RCA Victor became a major proponent of the8-track tape cartridge, which it launched in 1965. Initially, the 8-track made a huge and profitable impact on consumers of recorded music. Sales of the 8-track tape format began to decline during the late 1970s when consumers increasingly favored the 4-trackcompact cassette tape format developed byPhilips.
RCA was one of a number of companies in the 1960s that entered the mainframe computer field to challenge the market leaderInternational Business Machines (IBM). Although at this time computers were almost universally used for routine data processing and scientific research, in 1964 Sarnoff, who prided himself as a visionary, predicted that "The computer will become the hub of a vast network of remote data stations and information banks feeding into the machine at a transmission rate of a billion or more bits of information a second ... Eventually, a global communications network handling voice, data and facsimile will instantly link man to machine—or machine to machine—by land, air, underwater, and space circuits. [The computer] will affect man's ways of thinking, his means of education, his relationship to his physical and social environment, and it will alter his ways of living. ... [Before the end of this century, these forces] will coalesce into what unquestionably will become the greatest adventure of the human mind."[49]
RCA marketed aSpectra 70 computer line that was hardware, but not software, compatible with IBM'sSystem/360 series. It also produced the RCA Series, which competed against theIBM System/370.[50] This technology was leased to theEnglish Electric company, which used it for their System 4 series, which were essentially RCA Spectra 70 clones. RCA's TSOS operating system was the first mainframe, demand paging, virtual memory operating system on the market. By 1971, despite a significant investment, RCA had only a 4% market share, and it was estimated that it would cost around $500 million over the next five years to remain competitive with the IBM/370 series. On September 17, 1971, the RCA board of directors announced its decision to close its computer systems division (RCA-CSD), which would be written off as a $490 million company loss.Sperry Rand's UNIVAC division took over the RCA computer division in January 1972. Univac did not want the Spectra computers because they were similar to its own 9000 series; instead, they wanted RCA's computer customer base.
On January 1, 1965, Robert Sarnoff succeeded his father as RCA's president, although the elder Sarnoff remained in control as chairman of the board. The younger Sarnoff sought to modernize RCA's image with the introduction in late 1968 of what was then a futuristic-looking new logo (the letters 'RCA' in block, modernized form), replacing the original lightning bolt logo, and the virtual retirement of both the Victor and Nipper/"His Master's Voice" trademarks. The RCA Victor Division was renamedRCA Records; the 'Victor' and 'Victrola' trademarks were no longer used on RCA consumer electronics. 'Victor' was now restricted to the labels and album covers of RCA's regular popular record releases, while the Nipper/"His Master's Voice" trademark was seen only on the album covers ofRed Seal records.
In 1969, the company name was officially changed from Radio Corporation of America to the "RCA Corporation", to reflect its broader range of corporate activities and expansion into other countries. At the end of that same year, David Sarnoff, after being incapacitated by a long-term illness, was removed as the company's chairman of the board. He died in December 1971.
RCA's exit from the mainframe computer market in 1971 marked a milestone in its transition from electronics and technology toward Robert Sarnoff's goal to diversify RCA as a multinational businessconglomerate. During the late 1960s and 1970s, the company made a wide-ranging series of acquisitions, includingHertz (rental cars),Banquet (frozen foods andTV dinners),Coronet (carpeting),Random House (publishing) andGibson (greeting cards). However, the company was slipping into financial disarray, with wags calling it "Rugs Chickens & Automobiles" (RCA), to poke fun at its new direction.[51]
During this period, RCA continued to maintain its high standards of engineering excellence in broadcast and satellite communications equipment, but profits generated by the NBC television and radio networks began to decline.
Robert Sarnoff's tenure as RCA president was unsuccessful, marked by falling profits. While out of the country in October 1975, Sarnoff was ousted in a "boardroom coup" led by Anthony Conrad, who became RCA's new president. Conrad resigned less than a year later after he admitted failing to file income tax returns for six years. His successor, Edgar H. Griffiths, proved to be unpopular and retired in early 1981. Griffiths was succeeded by Thornton Bradshaw, who turned out to be the last RCA president.
After the departure of Robert Sarnoff, Griffiths, who considered the demoted "His Master's Voice" trademark a "valuable company asset", restored Nipper as RCA's corporate mascot. On October 31, 1976, RCA formally announced the return of the Nipper trademark to RCA products and advertising. RCA Records reinstated Nipper to most record labels in countries and territories where RCA held the rights to the trademark. Once again, Nipper was widely used in RCA newspaper, magazine, and TV advertisements. The trademark also returned to company stationery, sales literature, shipping cartons, store displays, delivery and service vehicles and reappeared on RCA television sets and in 1981, the newCED Videodisc system. Several newspaper articles and TV news reports about Nipper's revival appeared at the time. A multitude of new Nipper promotional items and collectibles also appeared, including T-shirts, caps, neckties, beach towels, cigarette lighters, coin banks, keychains, watches, clocks, coffee mugs, drinking glasses and stuffed toys.
Projects attempting to establish newconsumer electronics products during this era failed and lost RCA much money and prestige. AnRCA Studio II home video game console, introduced in 1977, was canceled just under two years later due to poor sales. Development of RCA'scapacitance electronic (CED) videodisc system began in 1964, and after several years of delays was launched in March 1981. Marketed under theSelectaVision name, the RCA CED videodisc system represented the largest investment RCA made in a single product, even greater than color TV. However, the system was practically obsolete by the time it finally appeared, and never reached the manufacturing volumes needed to bring its price down to the level needed to compete against the newer, recordable and increasingly cheaper videotape technology. In April 1984, after three years of slow sales, RCA abandoned manufacture of the CED players, and ended videodisc production in 1986, after a loss of around $650 million.
Around 1980, RCA corporate strategy reported on moving manufacture of its television receivers to Mexico. In 1981,Columbia Pictures sold its share in the home video division to RCA and outside of North America this division was renamed "RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video (nowSony Pictures Home Entertainment)". The following year, within North America, it was renamed to "RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video". In 1983, the German media conglomerateBertelsmann sold 50% ofArista Records to RCA Records; in 1985, RCA and Bertelsmann formed a joint venture, RCA/Ariola International, which took over management of RCA Records. Bertelsmann would fully acquire RCA Records from General Electric after GE absorbed RCA in 1986.[52]
RCA was still profitable in 1983, when it switched manufacturing of its VHS VCRs fromPanasonic toHitachi. In 1984, RCA Broadcast Systems Division moved from the RCA Victor plant inCamden, New Jersey, to the site of the RCA antenna engineering facility inGibbsboro, New Jersey. On October 3, 1985, RCA announced it was closing the Broadcast Systems Division.[53] In the years that followed, the broadcast product lines developed in Camden were terminated or sold off, and most of the old RCA Victor buildings and factories in Camden were demolished, except for a few of the original Victor buildings that had been declared national historic buildings.[54] For several years, RCA spinoffL-3 Communications Systems East was headquartered in the famousNipper Building, but has since moved to an adjacent building built by the city for them. The renovated Nipper Building now houses shops and luxury loft apartments.[55] Also in 1985, RCA sold the Hertz car rental company toUAL, Inc.[56]
In December 1985, it was announced that General Electric would reacquire its former subsidiary for $6.28 billion in cash, or $66.50 per share of stock.[57] GE's acquisition of RCA was the largest non-oil company merger in history up to that time and was completed on June 9, 1986. Despite initial assurances that under GE, RCA would continue to operate as a mostly autonomous unit, over the next few years, GE proceeded to sell off most of RCA's remaining assets. It was revealed that GE's main motivation for purchasing RCA was to acquire theNBC Television Network and the corporation's defense related businesses. In 1987, GE disposed of its 50% interest in RCA Records to its German partnerBertelsmann and RCA Records became a division ofBertelsmann Music Group. RCA Global Communications Inc., a division with roots dating back to RCA's founding in 1919, was sold to theMCI Communications Corporation; also in 1987,Westwood One purchased theNBC Radio Network.[58]
In 1988, the rights to manufacture consumer electronics products under the RCA and GE brands was acquired byThomson Consumer Electronics, in exchange for some of Thomson's medical businesses. Also in 1988, its semiconductor business (including the former RCA Solid State unit andIntersil) was bought byHarris Corporation.[59] That same year, the iconicRCA Building, known as "30 Rock" atRockefeller Center was renamed the GE Building.
In 1991, GE sold its share in RCA/Columbia to Sony Pictures which renamed the unit "Columbia TriStar Home Video" (later further renamed to Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, now Sony Pictures Home Entertainment).[60]
Sarnoff Labs was put on a five-year plan whereby GE would fund all the labs' activities for the first year, then reduce its support to near zero after the fifth year. This required Sarnoff Labs to change its business model to become an industrial contract research facility. In 1988, it was transferred toSRI International (SRI) as theDavid Sarnoff Research Center, and subsequently renamed theSarnoff Corporation. In January 2011, Sarnoff Corporation was fully integrated into SRI.[61]
In 2011, GE sold its controlling interest inNBC, by this time part of the multimediaNBCUniversal venture that included TV and cable, toComcast, and in 2013, Comcast acquired the remaining interest.[62] After the sale of NBCUniversal, the only former RCA unit which GE retained was Government Services.
In 2022, Thomson's successor company,Technicolor SA, sold theRCA trademarks[63] to licensing firm Talisman Brands, Inc.[64]d/b/a Established Incorporated, stylized asestablished.[65]
RCAantique radios, and early color television receivers such as the RCA Merrill/CT-100, are among the more sought-after collectible radios and televisions, due to their popularity during thegolden age of radio and the historic significance of the RCA name, as well as their styling, manufacturing quality and engineering innovations. Most collectable are the pre-war television sets manufactured by RCA beginning in 1939, including the TRK-5, TRK-9 and TRK-12 models.
The RCA Heritage Museum was established atRowan University in 2012.[66]
The historic RCA Victor Building 17, the "Nipper Building", inCamden, New Jersey, was converted to luxury apartments in 2003.[67]
A type of plug/jack combination used in audio and video cables is still called theRCA connector.
To this day, a variety of consumer electronics including 2-in-1 tablets, televisions and telephones, home appliances and more are sold under theRCA brand name.
Numerous former RCA manufacturing sites have been reported to be polluted with industrial waste.
![One of 4 Nipper stained glass windows seen from inside the "Nipper Tower" in the old RCA Victor Building 17[79]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aRCANipperGlass.jpg)
.jpg)
![First U.S. commercial TV set, the RCA Victor TRK 12 (1939)[80]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aRCA_Victor_TRK_12_(1939)%2c_Wolfsonian-FIU%2c_Miami%2c_Florida%2c_USA_-_20130910.jpg)
![1954 RCA CT-100 TV[81]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aRCA_CT-100_screenshot.jpg)
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
| 1909 | Independent Moving Pictures founded |
|---|---|
| 1912 | Universal Pictures is founded afterIMP merged with smaller studios |
| 1926 | NBC is founded |
| 1928 | Walter Lantz Productions is established |
| 1943 | MCA Inc. establishes Revue Studios (laterUniversal Television) |
| 1963 | American Cable Systems is founded |
| 1964 | Universal Studios Hollywood opens |
| 1968 | American Cable Systems rebrands toComcast |
| 1975 | Filmworks is founded |
| 1976 | Filmworks becomes Casablanca Record & Filmworks |
| 1980 | PolyGram renames Casablanca Record & Filmworks to PolyGram Pictures MCA Videocassette‚ Inc. (laterUniversal Pictures Home Entertainment) is established |
| 1983 | PolyGram Pictures closes |
| 1984 | Walter Lantz Productions' assets are sold to Universal Telemundo is founded |
| 1986 | General Electric re-purchases its former subsidiaryRCA for $6.4 billion, including NBC and a stake inA&E |
| 1987 | PolyGram Movies is founded |
| 1989 | NBC relaunchesTempo Television asCNBC |
| 1990 | Universal Studios Florida opens PolyGram Movies is renamedPolyGram Filmed Entertainment Sky Television andBritish Satellite Broadcasting merge to form British Sky Broadcasting Universal Cartoon Studios (laterUniversal Animation Studios) is established |
| 1994 | DreamWorks Pictures andDreamWorks Animation are founded |
| 1995 | Seagram acquires Universal through its acquisition of MCA NBC andMicrosoft replaceAmerica's Talking withMSNBC |
| 1998 | Seagram acquires PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Barry Diller purchases Universal's domestic television assets Universal Television is renamed Studios USA Television |
| 1999 | PolyGram Filmed Entertainment is folded into Universal Pictures PolyGram Video is renamed USA Home Entertainment Universal Studios Florida expands to becomeUniversal Orlando Resort |
| 2000 | Seagram is sold toVivendi and merged withStudioCanal to become Vivendi Universal Entertainment |
| 2001 | Grand opening ofUniversal Studios Japan Vivendi purchases Studios USA |
| 2002 | NBC acquiresTelemundo andBravo Studios USA assets are folded into Universal Focus Features is formed Comcast acquiresAT&T Broadband for $44.5 billion |
| 2004 | GE and Vivendi merge NBC and Universal intoNBCUniversal |
| 2005 | Comcast sets up a joint-venture withPBS,Sesame Workshop &HIT Entertainment to form PBS Kids Sprout Comcast &Time Warner Cable jointly acquireAdelphia Cable assets for $17.6 billion |
| 2007 | Illumination is founded |
| 2011 | Vivendi divests interest in NBCU; Comcast buys 51% of NBCU from GE, turning it into a limited liability company NBCUniversal Archives is founded |
| 2012 | NBCUniversal divests itsA&E Networks minority stake |
| 2013 | Comcast buys GE's remaining 49% of NBCU Comcast/NBCU assumes full ownership of Sprout |
| 2015 | Amblin Partners is founded |
| 2016 | NBCU acquiresDreamWorks Animation |
| 2017 | NBCU acquires a minority stake inAmblin Partners Sprout relaunches asUniversal Kids |
| 2018 | Comcast acquires Sky from21st Century Fox |
| 2020 | NBCU launchesPeacock |
| 2024 | NBCU announces the split of its cable networks intoVersant |
| 2025 | NBCUniversal announces the closure of Universal Kids Versant spins off fromNBCUniversal by 2026 |
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