Radio Corporation of America

RCA Corporation
Final logo, used from 1968 to 1987
RCA's former headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Center, 1933 to 1987
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Media
Electronics
Predecessor	Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America
Founded	November 8, 1897; 126 years ago as Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America
Founder	Guglielmo Marconi
Defunct	1987; 37 years ago
Fate	Acquired by GE in 1986, various divisions sold or liquidated, and Trademark rights sold to Thomson SA in 1988.
Successors	General Electric
RCA (owned by Talisman Brands)
RCA Records (owned by Sony Music Entertainment)
NBCUniversal (owned by Comcast)
Headquarters	New York City, New York, U.S.
Key people	David Sarnoff (first general manager)
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 (trademark rights only, 1987–2022)
Talisman Brands d.b.a Established Inc. (trademark, since 2022)
Divisions	RCA Records
NBC
RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video
RCA Services
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Company. In 1932, RCA became an independent company after the partners were required to divest their ownership as part of the settlement of a government antitrust suit.
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 as a major manufacturer of radio receivers, and the exclusive manufacturer of the first superheterodyne sets. The company also created the first nationwide American radio network, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). RCA was also a pioneer in the introduction and development of television, both black and white and especially color television. Throughout most of the company's existence, RCA was closely identified with the leadership of David 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.
During the 1970s, RCA's seemingly impregnable stature as America's leader in technology, innovation and home entertainment began to weaken as the company attempted to expand beyond its main focus of the development and marketing of consumer electronics and communications into a diversified multinational conglomerate. Additionally, RCA began to face increasing domestic competition from international electronics firms such as Sony, Philips, Matsushita and Mitsubishi. RCA suffered enormous financial losses in the mainframe computer industry and other failed projects including the CED videodisc system. Though the company was rebounding by the mid-1980s, RCA never regained its former eminence and was reacquired by General Electric in 1986; over the next few years, GE sold or liquidated most of the corporation's assets. Today, RCA exists as a brand name only; the various RCA trademarks are currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment and Vantiva, which in turn license the RCA brand name and trademarks to several other companies, including Voxx International, Curtis International, AVC Multimedia, TCL Corporation and Express LUCK International, Ltd. for their various products.
==Founded==
Founded in November 8, 1897
==Establishment by General Electric==
Company logo in 1921 stressed its leadership in international communication.
RCA originated as a reorganization of the Marconi 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 of Guglielmo Marconi. As part of worldwide expansion, in 1899 American Marconi was organized as a subsidiary company, holding the rights to use the Marconi patents in the United States and Cuba. In 1912 it took over the assets of the bankrupt United Wireless Telegraph Company, and from that point forward it became the dominant radio communications company in the United States.
When the United States entered World War I in April 1917, the federal government took control of most civilian radio stations in order to use them for the war effort. Although the government planned to restore civilian ownership of the radio stations once the war ended, many United 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 it had taken control of to the original owners.
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, a joint venture between American Marconi and the Federal Telegraph Company, with plans to set up service between the United States and South America.
The Navy, claiming support from U.S. President Woodrow 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 and Commander 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.
Upon its founding, RCA was the largest radio communications firm in the United States. 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 General James 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".
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 entered into negotiations which resulted in a series of mutually beneficial cross-licensing agreements between themselves and various other companies in the industry. On July 1, 1920, an agreement was made with the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T), which purchased 500,000 shares of RCA, although it would divest these shares in early 1923. The United Fruit Company held a small portfolio of radio patents and signed two agreements in 1921. GE's traditional electric company rival, the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Corporation, had also purchased rights to some critical patents, including one for heterodyne receiving originally issued to Reginald Fessenden, plus regenerative circuit and superheterodyne receiver patents issued to Edwin 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.
In 1930, RCA agreed to occupy the yet-to-be-constructed landmark skyscraper of the Rockefeller 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 after Comcast bought NBC-TV). 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".
Category:Production Companies
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