Talk:RKO Pictures

message: This article is fairly well done, but there's an issue in the description of what happened to WNAC that I haven't figured out how to rephrase.  Until rules changes in the 1980s, the FCC's rules allowed for new license applications mutually exclusive with the renewal of an existing license.  (Today, there is a presumption of renewal.)  Emboldened by lingering doubts about RKO's billing practices at KHJ, and by the FCC's decision in the Herald Traveler case, two different groups applied for the channel 7 license.
The actual wrongdoing which caused WNAC-TV to lose its license did not tale place until the mid-1970s!  It was a tribute, of sorts, to the other two applicants that they managed to drag out the competitive hearings long enough for RKO General to trip.  The two competing applicants would later merge to form New England Television Corp., which was eventually granted a new license for WNEV-TV.  (The article implies that the license was somehow transferred ffrom RKO to NE-TV; this is not so.  WNEV was a new license.)
In the late 1970s, when things started to turn against them, GTR executives appeared before the FCC and offered to sell RKO General to an unrelated third party; the FCC replied that one cannot sell a license one does not have.  The only license they actually lost was the WNAC-TV license; RKO was ultimately able to sell all of the other stations (including WRKO and WROR(FM) in Boston), and they were able to sell the facilities and intellectual property of WNAC-TV to the new licensee.  (NE-TV was controlled by David Mugar, heir to the Star supermarket fortune.)  The Boston radio stations went to a company called Atlantic Ventures, later American Radio Systems, and now part of Viacom's Infinity Broadcasting unit.  --Garrett Wollman, editor, The Archives @ BostonRadio.org. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 18.24.0.120 (talk) 17:58, 19 January 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: WNAC

message: I have added this to the defunct companies category because it sounds like the "resurrected" entity renamed RKO Pictures does not share continuity or the character of the famous original, which is the defunct company referred to. --Gary D 07:10, 15 Jul 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: Hmm it's descended from the original so there is continuity but yeah i'd agree that that the character is not the same. PMA 10:55, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)
thread_title:  Defunct companies category 

message: There is an error in the company name of "Film Booking Office of America" the right name is: "Film Booking Offices of America".
for references you can see:
*graphic logo
*IMDB
*FBO company logos gallery with the right name
I wrote the same thing in the FBO article discussion, I'm not able to make the necessary change.(GPM)--151.29.129.12 00:30, 11 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: FBO company name

message: I would like to disclose a "law case" I found. It's very interesting and important about the RKO rights (it's a gold mine of true informations). but the technical language is a little bit difficoult for me because I'm not very familiar with english. I'm sure there's someone will read the law case and will use it to improve the RKO article.
Here it is the law case and the link:
SALTZMAN v CIR
U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals
Argued: October 3, 1997 Decided: December 11, 1997
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=2nd&navby=case&no=964195
Ciao GPM from Italy - 15:18, 23 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: A good source of informations about the RKO rights and RKO library

message: The published sources I have checked describe both of these acquistions as occurring later than the article currently states.
For KAO:
I have found no published source that describes Kennedy and FBO having anything to do with the KAO theater chain before RCA became involved in 1928, and two sources that directly contradict an earlier date.
The Hollywood Story, by Joel W. Finler (New York: Crown, 1988): "RCA...was looking for a means of exploiting its sound patents and expertise and purchased the FBO studio in 1928. Later that year a merger with the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theatre chain was the final step in the creation of...RKO" (p.168).
The RKO Story, by Richard B. Jewell (New York: Arlington House/Crown, 1982): After RCA's acquisition of a "substantial interest" in FBO in January 1928 (p. 9), "FBO now had the economic muscle of RCA backing it up, [but] the studio remained vulnerable.... The obvious problem was its lack of theatres. Sarnoff and Kennedy discovered the solution in an affiliation between FBO and the Keith-Albee-Orpheum circuit of vaudeville houses.... In October 1928...RCA, through an equitable exchange of stock, gained control of both Keith-Albee-Orpheum and FBO, resulting in the birth of a giant $300 million corporation" (p. 10).
For Pathé:
Similarly, no sources indicating its control by Kennedy, FBO, Sarnoff, RCA, or RKO before 1930 at the earliest.
The Hollywood Story: "Late in 1930 RKO had over extended itself by taking over the Pathé studio and exchange" (p. 168); "1931: The Pathé studio and exchange takeover is completed in January" (p. 170).
The RKO Story: "On 29 January, 1931, RKO assimilated the Pathé Exchange—its Culver City studio and its contract stars... The idea was to operate RKO Pathé as an autonomous unit within the corporate structure" (p. 32).
--DCGeist 20:23, 14 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Questioning accuracy of dating of Keith-Albee-Orpheum and Pathé acquisitions [resolved]

message: For Demiurge,
you removed www.generaltire.com and www.gencorp.com links but those links were added because the two companies were involved in the RKO story.
I have a huge interest in all things regarding RKO.
It wasn't spam, it was only for educational and informative purposes. I think the two links can remain in the article.
GPM from Italy
:My mistake, I've added your changes back in. Demiurge 18:46, 5 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  GeneralTire and GenCorp links 

message: I don't know where this would go, but Samuel Goldwyn Productions-produced films from the 1940's and 1950's that were merely distributed by RKO (such as The Pride of the Yankees, The Best Years of Our Lives, and The Bishop's Wife) are today owned by Goldwyn's successor company, MGM.Ranma9617 05:23, 19 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Film library 

message: You know what?  I think RKO Pictures should be sold to Sony Pictures Entertainment so RKO can get back into theaters.  King Shadeed 16:56, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Very funny 71.111.215.224, this is only a discussion page!  Hey, that's just like saying Warner Bros. has a lot of subsidiaries.  I think SPE is a good choice.  Regardless of, there's no such thing as no space for another subsidiary.  King Shadeed 19:32, 9 June 2006
Shadeed, don't you remember me? I'm MegaMan. I had to leave the International Jingle Collection because of my parents. 71.111.232.40 16:22, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  RKO's new future suggestion 

message: RKO Radio Pictures plays a relatively prmonent role in the movie, and, I guess, in the musical, the Rocky Horror Show, as the final numbers are performed in front of a fullscreen RKO backdrop. RKO is also mentioned in the opening song, Science Fiction Double Feature. Could anyone suggest how this could be worked in to the RKO article? 
samwaltz 21:52, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: That's why I clicked to this page. Among many other things, Rocky Horror is both a parody of and a loving homage to those old films, and the recreation of the RKO ident plays a climactic role in the film. PurpleChez (talk) 14:43, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
thread_title: [[Rocky Horror Picture Show]]

message: This page was becoming pretty long, in part due to the stuff on RKO General.  There really is enough info on it that I split it off into a separate article.Blueboy96 21:27, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: RKO General

message: My browser told me this article is 562KB. That's quite large for a WP article. Perhaps there could be a seperate article for "The Films of RKO"? A lot of that 562KB is probably movie posters. Whyaduck 05:24, 22 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Big! 

message: This is an excellent article, but just one negative comment:  I dont think there ever was a "Radio Pictures Inc.".  On the early pictures, the copyright is to the RKO Distributing Corporation, then RKO Productions,Inc., and finally, in 1930 to RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.  The presentation credit was originally "RKO Productions, Inc.", then "Radio Pictures" until 1937 when it became "RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.".  I think Radio Pictures was never a legal entity and was merely a trade name. The Radio Keith Orpheum Corp. ad in my 1930 Year Book of Motion Pictures states "Radio Pictures produced and distributed by RKO Productions, Inc.".  By the way, the same source shows around 97 theaters as owned by the RKO theater circuit as of 1929, which corresponds with your suspicion about inflated numbers of theaters in some sources.  The earliest print reference to "RKO Radio Picture" I've seen is for 1931's "Are These Our Children".  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rkolian (talk • contribs) 16:10, 19 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Thnaks for that. I've looked over what I can online--basically Google Book snippet views of old government documents--and the weight of evidence does indicate the primary business was incorporated as RKO Radio Pictures Inc. by the mid-1930s at least. Before changing the article, I'm just going to stop by the library and check the original newspaper source: "New Incorporations," New York Times, April 11, 1929. Thanks again.—DCGeist 16:48, 19 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Radio Pictures Inc." ? 

message: The anonymous editor who keeps adding this claim needs to learn something: the threshold for inclusion of material on Wikipedia is not "truth", but verifiability. If not a single authoritative source has seen fit to mention this supposed "fact" within the past six-and-a-half decades, it is hardly worthy of mention in this encyclopedia. If you have a source that meets our standards of verifiability, please cite it, otherwise your claim about "every single RKO movie made between 1941 & 1945" is unacceptable original research. DocKino (talk) 01:42, 18 December 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I'll do you one better.  If you can find ANY RKO movie that didn't have the first four notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony played during the initial logo sequence since America's involvement in WWII until VJ day, then not only will I stop bothering you all, but I'll also print a FULL apology.  If you can't, then let my VALID and LEGITIMATE post remain.  I have have laid down the challenge.  A challenge that you will no doubt lose.  You have asked me to provide proof of ALL RKO movies in the war years having this victory cadence.  All you have to do is to provide evidence of ONE that doesn't.  Surely your task is easier than mine.  Once again, I am ADDING MY ADDITION TO THIS PAGE.  If it is removed, then I shall report with the strongest conviction, those who remove it.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.192.47.25 (talk) 01:51, 18 December 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Claim about logo opening music 

message: Please show me evidence that Radio Pictures, Inc. existed. The films are copyrighted to RKO Distributing Corp. and RKO Productions trhough 1930, then RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. from 1931. Jewell, Lasky, Balio nor any other reference I have mentions Radio Pictures Inc., and in fact Jewell states RKO Productions, Inc. was the initial production unit, and the films were "trade named" Radio Pictures. I believe the production subsidiary prior to RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. was RKO Productions, Inc. This is also stated in the Year Book of Motion Pictures, Film Daily, 1930.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rkolian (talk • contribs) 06:31, 19 April 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: I returned to the sources, and I agree. I've made the edit, putting RKO Productions Inc. in the lede, as the style there is to give the full business names--the "Radio Pictures" trade name is very well covered in the main text. However, I would like a good cite for RKO Productions Inc., and I'm not finding it in Jewell. Are you able to relocate it and give the page number?—DCGeist (talk) 19:56, 19 April 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  I see my edits were undone 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Shouldn't RKO General's formation of a new RKO Pictures film studio in 1978 be at least considered the successor to the RKO Pictures film studio that was shut down in 1959? After all, it was RKO General that shut down RKO Pictures in 1959. So, wouldn't that possibly mean they probably re-used the RKO branding/IP to launch the new RKO studio in 1978? In fact, if the new RKO claimed ownership of films produced by the RKO that was shut down in 1959, then I see no reason why the RKO launched in 1978 shouldn't be viewed as the successor to the one closed down in 1959. 2600:1700:C960:2270:3CCD:7292:4DF1:A919 (talk) 05:17, 19 September 2019 (UTC)
replies: text: To some extent it is and is described as such in the article. oknazevad (talk) 12:23, 9 January 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Just a thought..... 

message: It appears that the RKO-produced Zane Grey film adaptations are now controlled by his estate and managed by the Peter Rodgers Organization which has licensed video rights to Lionsgate as evidenced by a DVD copy of Wild Horse Mesa.Ranma9617 (talk) 05:35, 28 February 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Zane Grey film adaptations 

message: "The Jazz Singer" was not "the first feature-length talking picture". The movie was primarily a silent film, and only contained a few lines ad-libbed by Al Jolson. "Lights of New York" is the first feature length talking picture. It still makes sense to reference "The Jazz Singer" for the technology and cultural significance, but some rephrasing is needed. 72.241.9.29 (talk) 01:41, 2 December 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: While Lights of New York, released nine months later, is retrospectively identified as the first *all-talking* feature-length picture, The Jazz Singer was inarguably the first feature film released with synchronized singing and dialogue (together totaling considerably more than "a few lines"), by virtue of which it had an epochal impact. Precisely because of its unparalleled "technolog[ical] and cultural significance", its description as the "first feature-length talking picture" is both well-founded in film history and perfectly appropriate in the current context, where the distinctions between part-talkie and all-talking are not relevant. —24.90.253.80 (talk) 08:39, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Inaccuracies Regarding "The Jazz Singer"