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The American Boom

Asa Briggs

in The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom, Volume I: The Birth of Broadcasting

This chapter focuses on the boom of the broadcasting sector in the U.S. It discusses American visitor P.F. Godley's address to the Wireless Society of London in which he described broadcasting ... More

This chapter focuses on the boom of the broadcasting sector in the U.S. It discusses American visitor P.F. Godley's address to the Wireless Society of London in which he described broadcasting developments in the U.S. and criticised the attitude of the British Post Office towards broadcasting. It highlights the eventual impact of the broadcasting pattern that developed in the U.S. on the sequence of events of Great Britain. It also discusses the work of the Radio Corporation of America.Less

The Godlike Presence

Tom Lewis

in Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio

This chapter highlights the impressive statistics of the Radio Corporation of America Building at 30 Rockefeller Center. It argues that the Rockefeller Center physically embodied everything that was ... More

This chapter highlights the impressive statistics of the Radio Corporation of America Building at 30 Rockefeller Center. It argues that the Rockefeller Center physically embodied everything that was important about American business. The chapter then shifts to discuss the charges being faced by the RCA with violation of the federal antitrust laws. The suit originated in the depressed economic conditions of 1930 and the increasing influence and authority RCA exercised over radio development and broadcasting. It then explores the nature of broadcasting and how broadcasters were emphasizing a lighter fare of comedy, variety, and popular music. The chapter looks at how the minority induced sympathetic congressmen to propose legislation that would force the Federal Radio Commission to license stations with more power and more favorable places on the broadcasting spectrum. It also examines de Forest's efforts to change broadcasting.Less

Releasing the Art: The Creation of RCA

Tom Lewis

in Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio

This chapter details the creation of Radio Corporation of America (RCA), led by Owen D. Young. It tracks the formation of the new American communication corporation that could protect and advance ... More

This chapter details the creation of Radio Corporation of America (RCA), led by Owen D. Young. It tracks the formation of the new American communication corporation that could protect and advance American interests in the world. The chapter then elaborates on the discussions and meetings between Young, vice-president of General Electric Company, and Edward J. Nally, vice-president of American Marconi. It looks at the General Electric Company's decision to take over Marconi's American interests — including its patent licenses — add them to the patents controlled by the navy, and place these holdings in a new American company. The chapter assesses the industry's dramatic changes: thousands of radio amateurs had been drafted into the war effort; they had emerged radio professionals, committed to staying with the art, and requiring tubes and equipment from RCA. It then explores the relationship between RCA's radio transmitters and American Telephone and Telegraph Company's telephone lines, and the idea of broadcasting.Less

Geopolitics and Telecommunications Policy in Puerto Rico: ITT and the Porto Rico Telephone Company, 1942–1948

Luis Rosario Albert

in Island at War: Puerto Rico in the Crucible of the Second World War

Luis Rosario Albert studies the conflicts surrounding the public telecommunications modernization plan in Puerto Rico between 1942 and 1948. The author, a filmmaker and academic researcher on ... More

Luis Rosario Albert studies the conflicts surrounding the public telecommunications modernization plan in Puerto Rico between 1942 and 1948. The author, a filmmaker and academic researcher on communications, places developments in Puerto Rico, where the vast multinational corporation ITT originated, in a complex field of international power relations that embraced the Caribbean, the US and Europe.Less

Epilogue: The Empire in Decline

Tom Lewis

in Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio

This chapter tracks the future of Radio Corporation of America in the years after David Sarnoff's retirement. It begins by describing the reverence of the founder and director of the huge Japanese ... More

This chapter tracks the future of Radio Corporation of America in the years after David Sarnoff's retirement. It begins by describing the reverence of the founder and director of the huge Japanese electronics empire, Konosuki Matsushita to Sarnoff for the way he commanded his corporation. The chapter then examines how RCA had suffered great reversals after David's son, Robert Sarnoff, was fired as chairman of the RCA board and chief executive officer. Robert was followed by a ruinous succession. The chapter investigates how the empire David had given his life to shaping and expanding, to fortifying and developing, had crumbled. It then shifts to discuss Lee de Forest's creation of a small tube capable of regulating the flow of electrons. It was truly the empire of the air, as Lee de Forest described it. The chapter then delves into how Americans have been shaped by their inventions. Today, the names of de Forest, Armstrong, and Sarnoff have passed into a dim twilight.Less

America

Peter Manning

in Electronic and Computer Music

This chapter describes the development of electronic music in America. The lack of institutional support after the Second World War resulted in no major system of lasting significance, until the ... More

This chapter describes the development of electronic music in America. The lack of institutional support after the Second World War resulted in no major system of lasting significance, until the mid-1950s. Many so-called studios were merely of a collection of tape recorders and interconnecting wires assembled in a back room or, at best, commercial recording systems leased for experimentation. Despite this general lack of resources, however, several composers managed to investigate the creative possibilities of manipulating sounds recorded on tape. Two notable events were Radio Corporation of America's development of a fully self-contained sound synthesizer and the establishment of the Columbia–Princeton Electronic Music Center at Columbia University.Less

Epilogue

Donald G. Godfrey

in C. Francis Jenkins, Pioneer of Film and Television

This epilogue summarizes C. Francis Jenkins' pioneering ideas that have all come to fruition, a testament that he was a man with a vision. Jenkins dreamed of uniting television and motion pictures ... More

This epilogue summarizes C. Francis Jenkins' pioneering ideas that have all come to fruition, a testament that he was a man with a vision. Jenkins dreamed of uniting television and motion pictures with his patents and inventions. He saw the potential of television and film as educational and entertaining tools, a visual art of communication with the capability of unifying people and nations. He envisioned cities and individuals being connected by multiple systems and services, as well as television surpassing radio's success in terms of audience. This epilogue also asks speculative and rhetorical questions of alternative history related to Jenkins and his work, for example, what would happen if: Jenkins had been given a stronger management role in the Jenkins Television Corporation and the overall De Forest organization; the Great Depression had not occurred; or the Radio Corporation of America had followed Jenkins' electro-optical scanning theories instead of burying them in favor of Vladmir Zworykin's electronics.Less

Vassos and RCA: Money, Media, and Modernism

Danielle Shapiro

in John Vassos: Industrial Design for Modern Life

Vassos contributed to the remake of RCA as new type of corporation, one that sought to enhance its public presence through design. The chapter starts with his radio murals for the radio station WCAU. ... More

Vassos contributed to the remake of RCA as new type of corporation, one that sought to enhance its public presence through design. The chapter starts with his radio murals for the radio station WCAU. Vassos’s ergonomic and modern reshaping of key back-end equipment, such as the transmitters and the electronic microscope are examined.Less

Rowing, Radio, and American Sports Broadcasting, 1925–36

Michael J. Socolow

in Six Minutes in Berlin: Broadcast Spectacle and Rowing Gold at the Nazi Olympics

This chapter discusses the role of broadcasting and rowing during the U.S. network radio's developmental decade between 1926 and 1936. Before advertising agencies captured control over production and ... More

This chapter discusses the role of broadcasting and rowing during the U.S. network radio's developmental decade between 1926 and 1936. Before advertising agencies captured control over production and scheduling of programming on the U.S. airwaves, the networks sought low-cost, high-interest “sustaining” programs capable of growing network radio's national audience. Coverage of rowing in allied media provided free promotion for network radio's regatta programming. The sport was often practiced in major urban areas, near broadcasting facilities, keeping production costs low. Unlike boxing matches or baseball games, crew races had predictable durations, allowing radio executives to confidently slot them into fifteen-minute or thirty-minute programs. The races also proved useful for experimenting with new technologies; U.S. broadcasting's first test of portable shortwave (wireless) retransmission from an outdoor pickup occurred when Radio Corporation of America (RCA) engineers placed a transmitter aboard a yacht following the Child's Cup race between Columbia, Princeton, and the University of Pennsylvania on the Harlem River racecourse.Less

The Quest for Magnalux, 1951–1956

Benjamin Gross

in The TVs of Tomorrow: How RCA's Flat-Screen Dreams Led to the First LCDs

In September 1951, RCA chairman David Sarnoff celebrated his forty-fifth year in the electronics industry by challenging members of his research staff to invent three new technologies in time for his ... More

In September 1951, RCA chairman David Sarnoff celebrated his forty-fifth year in the electronics industry by challenging members of his research staff to invent three new technologies in time for his golden anniversary dinner five years later. This chapter focuses upon the first of these gifts, the “Magnalux” light amplifier, which would supposedly enable the creation of television pictures of any size and brightness. After reviewing the content and context of Sarnoff’s speech, it considers the development of two separate light amplifiers based upon electroluminescence, each embodying different aspects of his request. As engineers at the newly renamed David Sarnoff Research Center in Princeton, New Jersey rushed to complete these projects, their accomplishments prompted Sarnoff to alter his rhetoric concerning Magnalux’s capabilities, reaffirming the capacity of corporate researchers to shape public discussions of industrial innovation and the ultimate contingency of technological success and failure.Less

A Fumbling Prelude, 1956–1966

Benjamin Gross

in The TVs of Tomorrow: How RCA's Flat-Screen Dreams Led to the First LCDs

Flat-panel display research continued at RCA after David Sarnoff’s golden anniversary dinner, funded by royalties the company collected from its radio and television patents. After a federal ... More

Flat-panel display research continued at RCA after David Sarnoff’s golden anniversary dinner, funded by royalties the company collected from its radio and television patents. After a federal antitrust settlement eliminated this revenue stream, the company’s commitment to “mural television” wavered. Sarnoff appointed a new president, John Burns, who sought to scale back such speculative projects and focus instead on making RCA a leader in electronic data processing. This chapter shows how engineers at the David Sarnoff Research Center responded to Burns’ strategic pivot by seeking out new funding sources and protected institutional spaces where they could pursue their research. These experiences supplied them with technical expertise and bureaucratic savvy that would prove crucial during the subsequent development of the LCD.Less

Disruptive Displays, 1968–1971

Benjamin Gross

in The TVs of Tomorrow: How RCA's Flat-Screen Dreams Led to the First LCDs

Contrary to the optimistic predictions presented at its 1968 press conference, RCA’s dynamic scattering LCD prototypes were not ready for the marketplace. Liquid crystal display fabrication remained ... More

Contrary to the optimistic predictions presented at its 1968 press conference, RCA’s dynamic scattering LCD prototypes were not ready for the marketplace. Liquid crystal display fabrication remained a haphazard affair, and it was unclear what applications would benefit from the company’s new invention. Personnel at the David Sarnoff Research Center (DSRC) attempted to address these issues, most notably through a collaboration with RCA’s semiconductor division to organize the first LCD assembly line. Nevertheless, this chapter confirms that there were limits to their agency. RCA’s management viewed LCDs as a distraction from the company’s ongoing campaign to become a major player in the computer industry and resisted the DSRC’s efforts to commercialize liquid crystals. While George Heilmeier and his colleagues later criticized those actions as short-sighted, their growing recognition of dynamic scattering’s limitations also contributed to the LCD’s marginalization and its eventual characterization as a disruptive technology.Less

Modernizing the Home Through Radio

Danielle Shapiro

in John Vassos: Industrial Design for Modern Life

Chapter three examines Vassos’s contributions to radio design at RCA for both tabletop and console radios and his role in developing modern styling priorities at the company.

The TRK-12: RCA’s First Mass-Marketed Television Receiver

Danielle Shapiro

in John Vassos: Industrial Design for Modern Life

Vassos significantly shaped the Radio Corporation of America’s (RCA) installations at the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair and its first mass marketed televisions. This chapter examines the first mass ... More

Vassos significantly shaped the Radio Corporation of America’s (RCA) installations at the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair and its first mass marketed televisions. This chapter examines the first mass marketed receivers that Vassos designed for RCA and also how they were marketed.Less

The Changing of the Guard, 1969–1976

Benjamin Gross

in The TVs of Tomorrow: How RCA's Flat-Screen Dreams Led to the First LCDs

In September 1971, Robert Sarnoff—David Sarnoff’s son and successor as chairman of RCA—announced plans to divest his company’s commercial computing operation. The resulting staff and budget cuts left ... More

In September 1971, Robert Sarnoff—David Sarnoff’s son and successor as chairman of RCA—announced plans to divest his company’s commercial computing operation. The resulting staff and budget cuts left RCA’s liquid crystal program in flux just as new competitors and display technologies were beginning to emerge. This chapter contrasts the gradual decline of liquid crystal research at RCA with the rapid growth of Optel, the first major LCD spinoff. Founded by Zoltan Kiss, a physicist previously employed at the David Sarnoff Research Center, Optel embraced a flexible attitude toward innovation reminiscent of Silicon Valley startups. This approach enabled it to assemble the first wristwatch with a liquid crystal readout and quickly make the transition from dynamic scattering displays to the “twisted nematic” models that came to dominate the market. In the end, neither firm established itself as a lasting presence in the LCD industry, but their respective downfalls showcase the strategic challenges confronting scientists in different types of research organizations as they struggle to commercialize disruptive technologies.Less

A World of Screens

Benjamin Gross

in The TVs of Tomorrow: How RCA's Flat-Screen Dreams Led to the First LCDs

This book begins at the 1968 press conference where the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) announced the creation of the first liquid crystal displays and provided the earliest description of that ... More

This book begins at the 1968 press conference where the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) announced the creation of the first liquid crystal displays and provided the earliest description of that technology’s history. The company’s predictions of flat-panel televisions and electronic windows that switched from clear to opaque at the push of a button captivated everyone in attendance. Newspaper articles echoed the discovery narrative set forth by RCA vice-president James Hillier. While many details in Hillier’s account of the invention of the LCD were accurate, they were not derived from first-hand experience. Instead he relied upon members of RCA’s technical staff to distill the complexities of industrial research into a streamlined summary for public consumption. Through the selective inclusion and omission of information, these scientists and engineers molded popular understandings of the LCD’s origins and commercial potential, just as they had shaped the corporation’s R&D strategy since 1951, when RCA launched its earliest flat-panel display projects.Less

An Invisible Monument

Benjamin Gross

in The TVs of Tomorrow: How RCA's Flat-Screen Dreams Led to the First LCDs

Less than a decade after introducing the world to the LCD, RCA sold its liquid crystal operation to Timex. Today the company no longer exists, and its contributions to the flat-panel display industry ... More

Less than a decade after introducing the world to the LCD, RCA sold its liquid crystal operation to Timex. Today the company no longer exists, and its contributions to the flat-panel display industry are largely forgotten. As this concluding chapter argues, however, the collapse of RCA’s liquid crystal display program did not spell the end of its influence on consumer electronics. Through their inventions, publications, and direct consultation, RCA scientists and engineers remained involved in LCD production, first in the United States and later in Europe and Asia. The proliferation of liquid crystal displays in our televisions, calculators, wristwatches, and smartphones hinged upon the actions of these pioneering researchers.Less

Scattered Origins, 1961–1968

Benjamin Gross

in The TVs of Tomorrow: How RCA's Flat-Screen Dreams Led to the First LCDs

This chapter describes the origins of the liquid crystal display project at the David Sarnoff Research Center (DSRC). The discussion focuses on two members of RCA’s technical staff: physical chemist ... More

This chapter describes the origins of the liquid crystal display project at the David Sarnoff Research Center (DSRC). The discussion focuses on two members of RCA’s technical staff: physical chemist Richard Williams and electrical engineer George Heilmeier. In 1962, Williams demonstrated that certain liquid crystals could modulate light when subjected to an electric field. He composed a patent describing how this behavior might be utilized in displays before setting the idea aside to pursue other investigations. Two years later, Heilmeier expanded on Williams’ research and observed several electro-optical effects in liquid crystals. Heilmeier convinced the DSRC’s leadership to organize the interdisciplinary team that ultimately transformed one of these phenomena, known as “dynamic scattering,” into the basis for the first LCD prototypes. Examining how Williams and Heilmeier approached the development of liquid crystal displays illustrates the importance of individual research styles even in the supposedly impersonal confines of a corporate laboratory.Less