What if RCA kept RKO instead of selling it?

Eccentric aviation tycoon and occasional movie producer Howard Hughes spent $8.8 million to gain control of the company, beating out British film magnate J. Arthur Rank for Odlum's stake. During Hughes's tenure, RKO suffered its worst years since the early 1930s, as his capricious management style took a heavy toll. Production chief Schary quit almost immediately due to his new boss's interference and Rathvon soon followed. Within weeks of taking over, Hughes had dismissed three-fourths of the work force; production was virtually shut down for six months as the conservative Hughes shelved or canceled several of the "message pictures" that Schary had backed. All of the Big Five saw their profits dwindle in 1948—from Fox, down 11 percent, to Loew's/MGM, down 62 percent—but at RKO they virtually vanished: from $5.1 million in 1947 to $0.5 million, a drop of 90 percent. The production-distribution end of the RKO business, now deep in the red, would never make a profit again.

Offscreen, Robert Mitchum's arrest and conviction for marijuana possession—he served two months in jail—was widely assumed to mean career death for RKO's most promising young star, but Hughes surprised the industry by announcing that his contract was not endangered. Of much broader significance, Hughes decided to get the jump on his Big Five competitors by being the first to settle the federal government's antitrust suit against the major studios, which had won a crucial Supreme Court ruling in *United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.* Under the consent decree he signed, Hughes agreed to dissolve the old parent company, Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corp., and split RKO's production-distribution business and its exhibition chain into two entirely separate corporations—RKO Pictures Corp. and RKO Theatres Corp.—with the obligation to promptly sell off one or the other. While Hughes delayed the divorcement procedure until December 1950 and didn't actually sell his stock in the theater company for another three years, his decision to acquiesce was one of the crucial steps in the collapse of classical Hollywood's studio system but what if RCA actually kept RKO instead of selling it in 1948.

Here's what might have happened.

This theory is interconnected to What if Paramount kept the rights to Buzzy the Crow, Herman and Katnip, Little Audrey, Modern Madcaps, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Baby Huey, Tommy Tortoise and Moe Hare?

## Changes

* RKO would keep it's pre-1959 library.
* The Van Beuren Corporation would be remain open after 1938.
	+ The Van Beuren Corporation would be reorganized as RKO Cartoon Studios in 1974.
* RKO would still be owned by RCA in 1948 until 1986.
	+ RCA would be still reacquired and folded into General Electric in 1986.
		- As a result RKO Pictures would be become part of Universal Pictures in 2004 after General Electric merged with Vivendi Universal Entertainment in 2004.
* RCA via RKO Pictures, CBS Inc. via Republic Pictures, MCA via Universal Pictures and Gulf and Western Industries via Paramount Pictures would be create Cinema International Corporation as a Joint ventures in 1970.
	+ Taft Broadcasting Company via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, RCA via RKO Pictures, CBS Inc. via Republic Pictures, MCA via Universal Pictures and Gulf and Western Industries via Paramount Pictures would merge with United Artists International and MGM International with Cinema International Corporation to form United International Pictures in 1981.
		- As a result Turner Broadcasting System would sell MGM's stake of United International Pictures to Viacom, Westinghouse, Seagram and General Electric in October 9, 1996.
* RKO would still keep the rights to Felix the Cat.
	+ Felix the Cat would be the mascot of RKO Pictures.
	+ Felix the Cat would appear in *Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue*(1990) and *Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue 2000* (2000).
	+ Molly Moo-Cow and Scotty the Dog from *Rainbow Parade*would appear as babies in *Baby Felix and Friends* (2000-2001).
	+ *Baby Felix and Friends* (2000-2001) would be co-produced by RKO Television Animation Japan.
		- It would air on RKO Kids on NBC and RKO Kids' preschool block RKO Jr. and later air reruns on Sprout/Universal Junior since 2004 in the United States.
* General Electric would launch RKO Kids in 1992.
* RKO would still keep the rights to King Kong.
	+ *King Kong vs. Godzilla* and *King Kong Escapes* would be distributed by RKO Radio Pictures in the United States (along with Universal-International for *King Kong vs. Godzilla* and instead of Universal Pictures for *King Kong Escapes*).
		- In *Destory All Monsters*, Gorosaurus would be replaced by Maguma (from *Gorath*).
	+ *Mighty Joe Young* (1998) would be fully distributed by RKO Pictures instead of Walt Disney Pictures.
	+ *King Kong* (2005) would be produced by RKO Pictures instead of Universal Pictures.
* RCA would form RKO Home Video as a Home Video distribution arm of RKO Pictures in 1976.
	+ *King Kong* (1933) would be first RKO Home Video release ever made in 1978.
* RCA would acquire Total Television in 1969 instead of closing down.
	+ *Underdog* (2007) would be produced by RKO Pictures instead of Walt Disney Pictures.
* General Electric would keep RCA Records in 1987.
	+ As a result, RCA Records would become part of Universal Music Group in 2004 after General Electric merged with Vivendi Universal Entertainment in 2004.