RCA Corporation, founded as
Radio
Corporation of America, was an electronics company in
existence from 1919 to 1986. Currently, the
RCA trademark is owned by the French
conglomerate
Thomson SA through RCA
Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Thomson. The
trademark is used by
Sony Music
Entertainment and Thomson SA, which licenses the name to other
companies like
Audiovox and
TCL Corporation for products descended from
that common ancestor.
Origins
Organization by General Electric
On August 4, 1914, the United Kingdom and France declared war on
Germany and
Austria-Hungary,
starting
World War I. Radio traffic
across the Atlantic Ocean increased dramatically after the Germans
cut Allied cable telegraphs.
During the war, the
United States
Navy suppressed patents owned by the major companies involved
with radio manufacture in the United States to facilitate the war
effort. All production of radio equipment was allocated for the
Army and Navy. The Navy sought to maintain a government monopoly of
wireless radio; however, the wartime command system over radio was
to eventually end by the tabling of the maintenance of government
control by the U.S. Congress in 1918. The rejection of the
government monopoly did not prevent the Navy from creating a
national radio system. On April 8, 1919, U.S. Navy Captain Stanford
C. Hooper and Admiral W. H. G. Bullard met with General Electric
Company executives to ask that they not sell their
Alexanderson alternators to the
British-owned
Marconi Company and
its subsidiary Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America. The
premise of the Navy's proposal was that if GE created an American
owned radio company, then the Navy would secure a commercial
monopoly of long-distance radio communication. This marked the
beginning of negotiations by which GE would buy American Marconi
and organize what would become the Radio Corporation of
America.
Establishment
Original RCA logo, A later variation of this logo was revived by
BMG for sound recordings after it bought GE's interest in the
record company.
The incorporation of the assets of Marconi Wireless Telegraph
Company of America (including
David
Sarnoff), the Pan-American Telegraph Company and those already
controlled by the
United States
Navy led to a new publicly-held company formed by General
Electric (which owned a controlling interest) in 1919. The
subsequent cooperation among RCA,
General Electric,
United Fruit,
Westinghouse Electric
Corporation, and
AT&T laid the
groundwork for significant developments in point-to-point and
broadcast radio, including the new
National
Broadcasting Company. The Navy turned over to RCA the former
American Marconi radio stations appropriated during the war.
Admiral Bullard received a seat on the RCA Board of Directors for
his efforts in establishing RCA. The end result was
government-created monopolies in radio for GE and Westinghouse and
in telephone for AT&T.
The Navy's rationale that radio frequencies were limited and needed
to be appropriated and put in use before other countries, primarily
Great Britain, monopolized them first soon collapsed with the
discovery in the mid-1920s of the practicality of the shortwave
band for long-distance transmissions. The first head was
Owen D. Young. At
this time,
David Sarnoff became
general manager.RCA's charter required it be mostly American owned.
The company became responsible for marketing GE and Westinghouse's
radio equipment, and in a subsequent deal it also acquired the
patents of
United Fruit and
Westinghouse in exchange for
ownership stakes in those companies. As time passed, the company
secured a large number of patents, including the
superheterodyne concept. Some of RCA's early
radios were designed so as to prevent the internals from being
reverse-engineered.
Over the years it continued to operate international
telecommunications services, under the subsidiary
RCA Communications, Inc. and later
RCA Global
Communications.
Broadcast expansion
By 1926,
the market for commercial radio had expanded significantly, and RCA
purchased the WEAF
and WCAP radio stations and networks from
AT&T, merged them with the already-owned WJZ (the predecessor
of WABC
) New York to
WRC (presently WTEM) Washington chain, and
formed the National Broadcasting Company (NBC).
Phonograph
In 1929, RCA purchased the
Victor Talking Machine
Company, then the world's largest manufacturer of
phonographs (including the famous "Victrola") and
phonograph records. This included
a majority ownership of the
Victor Company of
Japan, or JVC. The new subsidiary then became
RCA-Victor. With Victor, RCA acquired
New World rights to the
Nipper trademark. RCA Victor produced many
radio-phonographs and also created
RCA
Photophone, a
sound-on-film system
for sound films that competed with
William Fox's sound-on-film
Movietone and
Warner Bros. sound-on-disc Vitaphone.
RCA began selling the first electronic
turntable in 1930. In 1931, RCA Victor developed
and released the first 33⅓ rpm records to the public. These had the
standard groove size identical to the contemporary 78 rpm records,
rather than the "microgroove" used in post-World War II 33⅓ "Long
Play" records. The format was a commercial failure at the height of
the
Great Depression, partially
because the records and playback equipment were expensive, and
partially because the audio performance was poor (tracking ability
depends upon, among other things, the stylus's radius of curvature,
and it would require the smaller-radius stylus of the microgroove
system to make slower-speed records track acceptably). The system
was withdrawn from the market after about a year. (This was not the
first attempt at a commercial long play record format, as
Edison Records had marketed a microgroove
vertically recorded disc with 20 minutes playing time per side the
previous decade; the Edison long playing records were also a
commercial failure.)
In 1930,
RCA became a crucial and key tenant in the yet to be constructed
landmark building of the Rockefeller Center
complex, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, which from 1933
became known as the RCA building, now the GE Building
. This critical lease in the massive project
enabled it to proceed as a commercially viable venture.
Electronic television
In 1939, RCA demonstrated an all-electronic television system at
the
New York World's Fair
and developed the USA's first-ever television test pattern. With
the introduction of the
NTSC standard, the
Federal Communications
Commission authorized the start of commercial television
transmission on July 1, 1941.
World War
II slowed the deployment of television in the US, but RCA began
selling television sets almost immediately after the war was over.
(
See also: History of
television) RCA labs was closely involved in RADAR and radio
development efforts in support of the war effort. These development
efforts greatly assisted RCA in their Television research
efforts.
RCA was one of the leading makers of
vacuum
tubes (branded
Radiotron) in the USA, creating
a series of innovative products ranging from
octal base metal tubes co-developed with
General Electric before World War
II to the transistor-sized
Nuvistor used in
the tuners of the New Vista series of television sets. The Nuvistor
tubes were a last hurrah for vacuum tubes and were meant to be a
competitive technology for the relatively newly introduced
transistors. RCA also partnered with
Tung-Sol to produce the legendary
KT88/6550 hi-fi vacuum tube. Their
power in the marketplace was so strong that
they effectively set the selling prices for vacuum tubes in the
USA. Except for the main
cathode ray
tube (CRT), the company had completely switched from tubes to
solid-state television sets by 1975.
Antitrust concerns led to the breakup of the NBC
radio networks by the FCC, a breakup affirmed by the United States
Supreme Court
. On October 12, 1943, the "NBC Blue" radio
network was sold to
Life Savers candy
magnate
Edward J. Noble for $8,000,000, and renamed "The
Blue Network, Inc". It would become the
American Broadcasting
Company (ABC) in 1946. The "NBC Red" network retained the NBC
name, and RCA retained ownership.
In 1941,
before the attack on Pearl
Harbor
, the cornerstone was laid for a research and
development facility, RCA Laboratories, located along Route 1 and just north of
New Jersey Rte 571 in
Princeton, New Jersey. It was in this facility that myriad
innovations and key technology such as
color television, the electron microscope,
CMOS based technology,
heterojunction
physics, optoelectronic emitting devices, Liquid Crystal Displays
(LCDs), video cassette recorders, direct broadcast television,
direct broadcast satellite systems and high-definition television
would be invented and developed during ensuing years. (After 1988,
the facility would be known as
Sarnoff Corporation, a subsidiary of SRI
International.) During World War 2 RCA organizations won 5
Army–Navy ‘E’
Award for Excellence in production . Also during World War II,
ties between RCA and JVC were severed.
In 1949, RCA-Victor developed and released the first
45
rpm record to the
public, answering
CBS/Columbia's
33⅓ rpm "
LP".

RCA Television Quad head 2" color
recorder/ reproducer used at broadcast studios in the late 1960s,
70s and early 80s.
It used a vertical scanning drum with head motion at 90
degrees to tape direction.
This unit was developed before the now-common helical scanning
used in commercial and home tape machines.
In 1953, RCA's all electronic color-TV technology was adopted as
the standard for American color TV; it is now known as
NTSC (after the "National Television System Committee"
that approved it). RCA
cameras and studio
gear, particularly of the
TK-40/41 series,
became standard equipment at many American television network
affiliates, as RCA
CT-100 ("RCA Merrill" to dealers) television sets
introduced color television to the public.
In 1955, RCA sold its Estate large appliance operations to
Whirlpool Corporation. As part of the
deal, Whirlpool was given the rights to market "RCA Whirlpool"
appliances through the mid-1960s.
Because of their rarity and technological significance, RCA
Merrill/CT-100 (and other early color television receivers) are
highly sought-after collectibles. Attic "relics", especially with
an RCA emblem, should be assessed by several knowledgeable and
trustworthy antique radio or television collectors before
acquisition.
Despite the company's indisputable leadership in television
technology, David Sarnoff in 1955 commented, "Television will never
be a medium of entertainment".
RCA was one of the eight major
computer
companies (along with
IBM,
Burroughs,
Control Data Corporation,
General Electric,
Honeywell,
NCR and
UNIVAC) through most of the 1960s. RCA
marketed the Spectra 70 Series (70/15, 70/25, 70/35, 70/45, 70/46,
70/55, 70/60, 70/61) that were compatible with IBM’s 360 series and
the RCA Series (RCA 2, 3, 6, 7) competing against the IBM 370.
These systems all ran RCA’s real memory operating systems, DOS and
TDOS. RCA’s Virtual Memory Systems, the Spectra 70/46 and 70/61 and
the RCA 3 and 7 could also run their Virtual Memory Operating
System, VMOS. VMOS was originally named TSOS (Time Sharing
Operating System), but was renamed in order to expand the system
beyond the time sharing market. In fact RCA was credited with
coining the term Virtual Memory. TSOS was the first mainframe,
demand paging, virtual memory operating system on the market. The
English Electric System 4 range,
the 4-10, 4-30, 4-50,4-70 and the time-sharing 4-75 computers were
essentially RCA Spectra 70 clones of the IBM System /360 and 370
range. RCA abandoned computers in 1971. In January 1972,
Sperry officially took over the RCA base.
RCA Graphic Services Division (GSD) was a pioneer in computerized
typesetting, marketing the
Rudolf Hell
Digiset as the VideoComp 800 with a Spectra computer running the
FileComp composition system. The system would also typeset from
tapes composed on a mainframe using the RCA Page-1 composition
system. When RCA left the computer field, support of the VideoComp
was taken over by Information International Inc. (known in the
typesetting industry as Triple-I).
RCA was a major proponent of the
eight-track tape cartridge, which it
launched in 1965. The eight-track cartridge initially had a huge
and profitable impact on the consumer marketplace. However, sales
of the 8-track tape format peaked early on as consumers
increasingly favored the compact cassette tape format developed by
competitor
Philips.
Sunset years
The ambition and business
acumen of
David Sarnoff led to RCA becoming one
of the largest companies in the world, successfully turning into a
conglomerate during the era
of the companies greatest success. However, in 1970, at 79 years
old, Sarnoff retired and was succeeded by his son Robert. David
Sarnoff died the next year.
During the 1970s,
RCA Corporation, as it was now
formally known, ventured into other markets. Under Robert Sarnoff's
leadership, RCA diversified far beyond its original focus on
electronics and communications. The company acquired
Hertz (rental cars),
Banquet (frozen foods), Coronet (carpeting),
Random House (publishing) and Gibson
(greeting cards). Despite this diversification the corporation
became plagued by financial problems.
Robert Sarnoff was ousted in a 1975
boardroom coup by Anthony Conrad, who
resigned a year later after he admitted failing to file income tax
returns for six years. Despite maintaining a high standard of
engineering excellence in such fields as broadcast engineering and
satellite communications equipment,
ventures such as the
NBC radio and television
networks declined. Forays into new
consumer electronics products, such as
the
SelectaVision videodisc system, proved to be money losers.
While maintaining profitability, in 1983, RCA switched
manufacturers of its VHS VCRs from
Panasonic to
Hitachi.
The SelectaVision videodisc system, not to be confused with the
same trademark RCA applied to their VCRs, was then abandoned in
1985 in a write-off of several hundred million dollars. Its chief
competitor, videotape, held two key advantages: recordability and
lower cost. Sales of the videodiscs continued through 1985. VCRs
quickly took a dominant market share, just as the market for
publicly traded equities was growing rapidly. RCA could not take
part in that field, and its competitors showed superior
performance.
In 1984,
RCA Broadcast Systems Division relocated from its Camden
, New
Jersey
, location to the site of the RCA antenna engineering facility in Gibbsboro
, New Jersey. Over time, all of the broadcast
product lines developed in Camden were terminated or sold off. Most
of the buildings at the Camden site were eventually demolished,
save for the original RCA Victor buildings, having been declared
national historical buildings.
Business and financial conditions led to RCA's takeover by GE in
1986 and its subsequent break-up.
GE sold its 50 percent interest in what
was then RCA/Ariola International Records to its partner Bertelsmann
and the company was renamed BMG
Music for Bertelsmann Music Group.
GE then sold the rights to make RCA and GE brand consumer
electronics products, notably television sets, to the French
Thomson Consumer Electronics, in
exchange for some of Thomson's medical businesses. After Thomson
Group's takeover, many owners of RCA branded products began to see
steep declines in quality.
RCA Laboratories was transferred to
SRI International as the
David Sarnoff Research Center,
subsequently renamed
Sarnoff
Corporation. Sarnoff Labs was put on a five-year plan whereby
GE would fund the labs' activities 100 percent for the first year.
That funding declined to zero or near zero after the fifth year of
Sarnoff Labs' operation. This required Sarnoff Labs to change its
business model to become an industrial contract research
facility.
The only RCA unit GE kept was the
National
Broadcasting Company. GE sold the
NBC Radio Network to
Westwood One and all of its radio stations to
various owners.
For information on products bearing the RCA name manufactured since
1986, see
RCA .
Legacy
Because of their popularity during the
golden age of radio, their manufacturing
quality, their
engineering innovations,
their
styling and their name, RCA
antique radios are one of the more
sought-after brands of collectible radios.
The
historic old RCA Victor Building 17 in Camden, New
Jersey
, was redeveloped in 2003 as a high-rise luxury
apartment building.
Environmental record
A former RCA facility—shut down in 1991—is located in Taiwan's
northern county of Taoyuan. There have been rumors (none confirmed)
about the company's plants polluting groundwater with toxic
chemicals which led to a high incidence of cancer among former
employees. A spokesman for RCA's current owners denied
responsibility, saying a study conducted by the Taiwan government
showed no correlation between the illnesses and the company's
facilities. The area was declared a toxic site by the Taiwanese
Environmental Protection Agency. Both GE and Thomson spent millions
of dollars for cleanup, removing of soil and installing municipal
water treatment facilities for neighboring communities.
The former
RCA facility located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
, also has a marred environmental legacy. RCA
owned the facility from the late 1940s to June 1986. According to
EPA's "Toxic Releases for Reporting Year 1987", the facility
released over 250,000 pounds of
pollutants per year in stack
emissions. Investigated by the EPA in the late 1980s and early
1990s, the main contaminants in the groundwater at the facility are
trichloroethylene (TCE) and
1,2-dichloroethylene (1,2-DCE).
Contaminants were also detected in monitoring wells on the east
side of the Conestoga River in 1991 and 1992 in Lancaster.
Another site having contamination issues is the Intersil Facility
in Mountaintop, Pennsylvania, which RCA operated in the 1960s and
later sold to Harris Semiconductor. The shallow and deep
groundwater aquifers beneath the facility contain elevated levels
of volatile organic compounds ("VOCs").
Another
former RCA site is located in Burlington, Massachusetts
. Between 1958 and 1994, the site was used as
an industrial facility, primarily for manufacturing and testing
military electronics equipment, generating hazardous waste.
Contaminants of concern include VOCs, TCE, toluene, ethylbenzene,
and xylenes.
Another RCA facility in
Barceloneta,
Puerto Rico, generated wastes containing chromium, selenium and
iron. Four lagoons holding chemical waste drained down into the
limestone aquifer.
See also
- Ampliphase
- Berliner Gramophone Company,
whose Canadian operation became RCA Victor of Canada
- RCA Mark II Sound
Synthesizer
- RCA connector
- CMOS 4000 series
- RCA/Columbia
Pictures Home Video, joint venture between RCA and Columbia
Pictures
- RKO Pictures, founded in part by
RCA
- RCA Photophone, Motion Picture
sound recording
- Electrofax
- Harold H. Beverage vice president of research and
development at RCA Communications Inc
- Ernst F. W. Alexanderson RCA's first Chief Engineer,
1920–1924
- George H. Brown, research engineer who
headed RCA's development of color television
- Colortrak and Colortrak 2000, a notable trademark for RCA's
color TVs from the past
- Dimensia, a very high-end advanced
trademark TV for RCA
- RCA Records
- Claude Robinson, American
pioneer in advertising and opinion survey research
- Film Chain—RCA TK-26, TK-27 and
TK-28
- Professional video
cameras—TK 47 and more
- Victor Company of Japan
References
- Robert N. Sobel: RCA. New York: Stein
and Day Publishers, 1986. ISBN.
- Featured here:
http://wethemedia.edublogs.org/the-jfk-berlin-programme/
External links