RCA
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2008-07-15T16:18:36Z
El C
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Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/OrgasGirl|OrgasGirl]] ([[User talk:OrgasGirl|talk]]) to last version by Steelbeard1
{{otheruses4|the former RCA Corporation}}
{{for|information on products bearing the RCA trademark today|RCA (trademark)}}
{{Infobox Defunct Company
| company_name = RCA Corporation
| company_logo = [[Image:RCA logo.svg|220px|RCA Logo]]
| slogan = The most trusted name in electronics.
| fate = [[Takeover|Taken-over]] by [[GE|General Electric]] and broken up <!--Suggestions: bankrupt, merged etc.-->
| successor = <!--company merged into etc.-->
| foundation = 1919
| defunct = 1986
| location = [[New York]], {{USA}}
| industry = Electronics <!--types of products or services offered-->
| key_people = David Sarnoff, first general manager
| products = <!--some of company's notable products-->
| num_employees = <!--peak number of employees-->
| parent = <!--former parent companies, if any-->
| subsid = <!--former subsidiaries, if any-->
}}
'''RCA Corporation''', founded as '''Radio Corporation of America''', was an electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. Today, the [[RCA (trademark)|RCA trademark]] is owned by [[Thomson SA]] through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Thomson. The trademark is used by two companies, namely [[Sony BMG Music Entertainment]] and Thomson SA, which licences the name to other companies like [[Audiovox]] and [[TCL Corporation]] for products descended from that common ancestor.<ref>http://home.rca.com/en-US/RCA-Brand.html</ref>
==Prior to RCA==
During [[World War I]] the U.S. Navy suppressed patents of the major companies involved with radio in the [[United States]] to facilitate the war effort. All production of radio equipment was allocated for either the army or the navy. The incorporation of the assets of British-owned [[Marconi Company|Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America]], the Pan-American Telegraph Company and those controlled by the [[United States Navy]] led to a new firm started by General Electric in 1919. The subsequent cooperation among RCA, [[General Electric]], [[United Fruit]], [[Westinghouse Electric Corporation]], [[AT&T]] laid the groundwork for significant developments in point-to-point and broadcast radio, including the new National Broadcasting Company, [[NBC]].
==History of RCA==
[[Image:RCA original logo.png|right|200px|thumb|Original RCA logo, revived by BMG for sound recordings after it bought GE's interest in the record company. Unlike this picture, it was colored red. It was affectionately known as "the Meatball" to RCA insiders.]]
RCA was formed in 1919 as a publicly held company owned by [[General Electric]], which had a controlling interest in the company.
The intent was to create an operating company that could purchase and then use GE's powerful Alexanderson alternator radio transmitters, to make it possible for the United States to utilize what were believed to be very limited numbers of radio frequencies before other countries, particularly Great Britain, could buy the alternators and take the frequencies first. This rationale soon collapsed with the discover in the mid-1920s of the practicality of the short wave band for long distance transmissions.<ref>[http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/WINNEX.html Winkler, Jonathan Reed. Nexus: Strategic Communications and American Security in World War I. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2008)]</ref> The first head was [[Owen D. Young]]<ref>[http://www.ge.com/en/company/companyinfo/at_a_glance/bio_young.htm Biography of Owen D. Young on the GE website]</ref> [[David Sarnoff]] became General Manager.
RCA's charter required it be mostly American-owned. RCA took over the assets of American Marconi, and was responsible for marketing GE and Westinghouse's radio equipment. In a subsequent deal, it also acquired the patents of United Fruit and Westinghouse, in exchange for ownership stakes. Later on the company went on a patenting and licensing binge, patenting the [[superheterodyne]] concept. Some of their early radios had their guts hidden in "catacombs" to prevent reverse-engineering.
By 1926, RCA had grasped the market for commercial radio, and purchased the WEAF and WCAP radio stations and network from AT&T, merged them with RCA's own attempt at networking, the WJZ New York/WRC Washington chain, and formed the National Broadcasting Company ([[NBC]]).
In 1929, RCA purchased the [[Victor Talking Machine Company]], then the world's largest manufacturer of [[phonograph]]s (including the famous "Victrola") and [[phonograph record]]s (in [[British English]], "gramophone records"). This new subsidiary then became '''RCA-Victor'''. With Victor, RCA acquired [[New World]] rights to the famous [[Nipper]] trademark. RCA Victor produced many radio-phonographs. The company also created [[RCA Photophone]], a [[sound-on-film]] system for sound films that competed with [[William Fox (producer)|William Fox]]'s sound-on-film [[Movietone sound system|Movietone]] and [[Warner Bros.]] [[sound-on-disc]] [[Vitaphone]].
RCA began selling the first electronic [[Phonograph|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 technical performance was terrible. (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.<ref>Crucial tenant in 30 Rockefeller Plaza - see David Rockefeller, "Memoirs", New York: Random House, 2002. (p.55)</ref>
[[Image:RCA Indian Head test pattern.JPG|right|200px|thumb|Old television [[Indian Head test card|test pattern]], created by RCA in 1939 and widely used until color television gained in popularity.]]
In 1939, RCA demonstrated an all-electronic television system at the [[1939 New York World's Fair|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 tube]]s (branded '''Radiotron''') in the USA, creating a series of innovative products ranging from [[Tube socket#Octal base|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]] hifi vacuum tube. Their [[market power|power in the marketplace]] was so strong that they effectively set the selling prices for vacuum tubes in the USA. A look at their competitor's price lists shows them to be identical to RCA's, from 1940 through 1970 at least. In spite of this, the company had to completely switch over to making 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, prior to [[Pearl Harbor]], the cornerstone was laid for a R&D 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.)
In 1949, RCA-Victor developed and released the first 45 [[revolutions per minute|rpm]] record to the public, answering [[Columbia Records|CBS/Columbia]]'s 33⅓ rpm "[[Vinyl record|LP]]".
[[Image:RCA Video-Aufzeichnungsgerät.jpg|thumb|RCA Television Tape machine]]
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 [[camera]]s and studio gear, particularly of the [[RCA TK-40|TK-40/41]] series, became standard equipment at many American television network [[affiliate]]s, as RCA [[Ct-100|CT-100]]<ref>[http://www.novia.net/~ereitan/Gallery/CT-100_Gallery.html CT-100 Color Receiver Gallery<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> <!-- we really need a CT-100 article, it's one of the most important television receivers ever made - yiddophile@yahoo.com, bofh www.glowingplate.com - just fixed that! --> ("RCA Merrill" to dealers) television sets introduced color television to the public.
In 1955, RCA sold its 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.
Due to 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 prior to 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 Corporation|Burroughs]], [[Control Data Corporation]], [[General Electric]], [[Honeywell]], [[NCR Corporation|NCR]] and [[UNIVAC]]) through most of the 1960s, but abandoned computers in 1971.
RCA was a major proponent of the [[8-track cartridge|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]].
== Environmental record ==
A former RCA facility is located in Taiwan's northern county of Taoyuan. More than 1,000 former employees of that facility are suffering from cancer and more than 200 have died. Most believe the company's plants polluted groundwater with toxic chemicals which lead to the outbreak of illness. Richard Knoph, a spokesman for RCA's current owners, Thomson Multimedia of France, denied responsibility for the illnesses, saying a study conducted by the Taiwan government showed no correlation between the illnesses and the company's facilities. He also said a 1999 lawsuit alleging similar connections.<ref>[http://www.commondreams.org/news2002/0522-11.htm Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> After RCA operated the plants for more than two decades, its facilities in northern Taiwan were shut down in 1991 and the area was declared a toxic site by the Taiwanese Environmental Protection Agency. General Electric, which bought RCA in 1986, sold it to Thomson one year later, in 1987.<ref>[http://svtc.igc.org/icrt/asia/taiwan3_01.htm Silicon Valley to Taiwan Silicon Island<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Both GE and Thomson spent millions of dollars for the cleanup of the site in the mid-1990s, removing {{convert|10000|yd3|m3}} of soil and installing municipal water treatment facilities for neighboring communities.<ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/05/24/BU155111.DTL Taiwan workers plead cancer case / Link RCA plant to disease<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
==Sunset years ==
In many ways the story of RCA is the story of [[David Sarnoff]]. His drive and business [[wikt:acumen|acumen]] led to RCA becoming one of the largest companies in the world, successfully turning it into a [[conglomerate (company)|conglomerate]] during the era of their success. However in 1970, at 79 years old, Sarnoff retired and was succeeded by his son Robert. David Sarnoff died the next year; by some accounts, much of RCA's success died with him.
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 [[The Hertz Corporation|Hertz]] (rental cars), [[Banquet Foods|Banquet]] (frozen foods), Coronet (carpeting), [[Random House]] (publishing) and Gibson (greeting cards). Despite this diversification, or perhaps because of it, the corporation was plagued by financial problems.
Robert Sarnoff was ousted in a 1975 [[boardroom coup]] by Anthony Conrad, who resigned a year later after admitting 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 innovative but technologically obsolescent [[SelectaVision]] [[videodisc]] system, proved money losers.
While maintaining profitability, in 1983, RCA switched manufacturers of its SelectaVision VHS VCRs from [[Matsushita]] ([[Panasonic]]) to [[Hitachi, Ltd.|Hitachi]]. SelectaVision was then abandoned in 1985, in a tremendous and very public write-off of several hundred million dollars. Its chief competitor, videotape, held two key advantages: recordability, and lower cost. (Some also claim that easy viewing of pornographic and erotic programs in private was an important factor in favor of the VCR. RCA was unwilling to produce CED discs with adult content, allegedly reducing demand for the CED system.) VCRs quickly took a dominant market share, and did so at an inauspicious time, just as the market for publicly traded equities was growing rapidly. RCA could not take part in that field, and its better-managed competitors showed superior performance in these years.
In 1984, RCA Broadcast Systems Division relocated from its [[Camden, New Jersey|Camden]], [[New Jersey]] location to the site of the RCA [[Antenna (radio)|antenna]] engineering facility in [[Gibbsboro, New Jersey|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.<ref>[http://www.oldradio.com/archives/hardware/TV/RCA-TV.htm RCA TV Equipment Archive]</ref>
At the ripest moment, 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|BMG Music]] for Bertelsmann Music Group.
GE sold the rights to make RCA and GE brand consumer electronics products, notably television sets, to the French Thomson Group, in exchange for some of Thomson's medical businesses. After Thomson Group's takeover, many owners of RCA 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 5th year of Sarnoff Labs operation. This required the Sarnoff Labs to change their business model to become an industrial contract research facility.
The only RCA unit GE kept was the [[National Broadcasting Company]], but GE sold the [[NBC Radio Network]] to [[Westwood One]] and all of its radio stations to various owners.
==Legacy==
{{for|information on products bearing the RCA trademark today|RCA (trademark)}}
Due to their popularity during the [[old-time radio|golden age of radio]], their manufacturing quality, their [[engineering]] innovations, their [[design|styling]] and their name, RCA [[antique radio]]s <!-- I can't believe there's no page for this; gimme a stub and I'll add content. www.glowingplate.com --> are one of the more sought-after brands of collectible radios.
[[Image:RCAVictorBuilding.jpg|right|250px|thumb|The historic [[Nipper Building]] (RCA Building 17) in [[Camden, New Jersey]], which was converted to luxury apartments in 2003, is one of a few remaining buildings that once housed the vast RCA Victor complex]] [[Image:RCANipperGlass.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Although it is not original, the [[Nipper]] stained glass remains illuminated atop the "Nipper Tower" in the former Building 17. This photograph was taken from the inside of the "Nipper Tower".]]
The historic old RCA Victor Building 17 in [[Camden, New Jersey]], was redeveloped in 2003 as a high-rise luxury apartment building.<ref>[http://www.preservationnj.org/ten_most/ten_most_property_detail.asp?COUNTY=Camden%20County&PropID=25 Preservation New Jersey<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/dep/hpo/4sustain/awds2004.htm#4 AWARDS<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
==Trivia==
*30 Rockefeller Plaza, which anchors the [[Radio City]] district of [[Manhattan]], was originally named the [[RCA Building]]. Two years after the merger, the name was changed to the [[GE Building]], and the neon signage at the top was replaced.
*For many years, RCA was the sponsor of [[Disney]]'s [[Space Mountain (Disneyland, Anaheim)|Space Mountain]] ride, showcasing technology.
*The [[Indianapolis Colts]] professional football team's stadium is sponsored by RCA, and is simply known as the [[RCA Dome]]. The RCA Dome is currently being replaced by the new [[Lucas Oil Stadium]].
==See also==
*[[Ampliphase]]
*[[Berliner Gramophone]] Company, whose Canadian operation became RCA Victor of Canada
*[[RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer]]
*[[RCA connector]]
*[[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 Beverage|Harold H. Beverage]] vice president of research and development at RCA Communications Inc
*[[Ernst Alexanderson|Ernst F. W. Alexanderson]] RCA's first Chief Engineer, 1920-1924
*[[George H. Brown (Engineer)|George H. Brown]], research engineer who headed RCA's development of color television
*[[Colortrak]], a notable trademark for RCA's color TVs from the past
*[[RCA Records]]
*[[Film Chain]] - RCA TK-26, TK-27 and TK-28
*[[Professional video camera]]s - TK 47 and more
==References==
{{Reflist}}
*[[Robert N. Sobel]]: '''RCA.''' New York: Stein and Day Publishers, 1986. ISBN.
* Featured here: http://wethemedia.edublogs.org/the-jfk-berlin-programme/
==External links==
*[http://www.rca.com/ RCA (Thomson) website]
*[http://home.rca.com/en-US/PhotoDownloadHistoryLanding.html RCA History from Thomson Consumer Electronics]
*http://www.intechconstruction.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=intechconstruction.completed_details&projectid=56
*[http://www.rcaglobal.com/ RCA New York City]
*[http://www.thevictorlofts.com/ The Victor Lofts]
*[http://earlyradiohistory.us/1922RCA.htm RCA Radio Central, Rock Point, Long Island, NY]
*[http://www.tcl.com/ TCL Corporation]
*[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/05/24/BU155111.DTL RCA Taiwan factory pollution]
*[http://www.oldradio.com/archives/hardware/TV/RCA-TV.htm RCA TV equipment archive]
[[Category:Companies established in 1919]]
[[Category:1986 disestablishments]]
[[Category:Electronics companies]]
[[Category:NBC television network]]
[[Category:RCA brands|RCA]]
[[Category:Rockefeller Center]]
[[Category:Defunct companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Companies without an unabbreviated name]]
[[Category:Thomson SA]]
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