David Sarnoff
David Sarnoff | |
---|---|
Давид Сарнов | |
Born | |
Died | December 12, 1971 New York City, U.S. | (aged 80)
Resting place | Kensico Cemetery Valhalla, New York, U.S. 41°04′40″N 73°47′11″W / 41.0779°N 73.7865°W |
Years active | 1919–1970 |
Employers |
|
Board member of | |
Spouse |
Lizette Hermant (m. 1917) |
Children | 3, including Richard Baer, Bruce J. Oreck |
Awards |
|
Military career | |
Nickname(s) | "The General" |
Allegiance | Army Signal Corps |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Awards |
|
David Sarnoff (US: /ˈsɑːrnɔːf/;[4] February 27, 1891 – December 12, 1971) was a Russian[5] and American businessman who played an important role in the American history of radio and television. He led RCA for most of his career in various capacities from shortly after its founding in 1919 until his retirement in 1970.
He headed a conglomerate of
Early life and career
David Sarnoff was born to a Jewish family in
Over the next 13 years, Sarnoff rose from office boy to commercial manager of the company, learning about the technology and the business of electronic communications on the job and in libraries. He also served at Marconi stations on ships and posts on
The following year, he led two other operators at the Wanamaker station in an effort to confirm the fate of the
Over the next two years Sarnoff earned promotions to chief inspector and contracts manager for a company whose revenues swelled after Congress passed legislation mandating continuous staffing of commercial shipboard radio stations. That same year Marconi won a patent suit that gave it the coastal stations of the
This demonstration and the
Business career
RCA
Unlike many who were involved with early radio communications, who often viewed radio as point-to-point, Sarnoff saw the potential of radio as point-to-mass. One person (the broadcaster) could speak to many (the listeners).
When
In 1925, RCA purchased its first radio station (
Sarnoff was instrumental in building and establishing the AM broadcasting radio business that became the preeminent public radio standard for the majority of the 20th century.
RKO
Sarnoff negotiated successful contracts to form
Early history of television
When Sarnoff was put in charge of radio broadcasting at RCA, he soon recognized the potential for
Zworykin pitched the concept to Sarnoff, claiming a viable television system could be realized in two years with a mere $100,000 investment. Sarnoff opted to fund Zworkyin's research, most likely well-aware that Zworykin was underestimating the scope of his television effort. Seven years later, in late 1935, Zworykin's photograph appeared on the cover of the trade journal Electronics, holding an early RCA
The final cost of the enterprise was closer to $50 million. On the road to success they encountered a legal battle with
In 1929, Sarnoff engineered the purchase of the
Sarnoff became president of RCA on January 3, 1930, succeeding General
Initially, the Great Depression caused RCA to cut costs, but Zworykin's project was protected. After nine years of Zworykin's hard work, Sarnoff's determination, and legal battles with Farnsworth (in which Farnsworth was proved in the right), they had a commercial system ready to launch. Finally, in April 1939, regularly scheduled, electronic television in America was initiated by RCA under the name of their broadcasting division at the time, The National Broadcasting Company (NBC). The first television broadcast aired was the dedication of the RCA pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fairgrounds and was introduced by Sarnoff himself. Later that month on April 30, opening day ceremonies at The World's Fair were telecast in the medium's first major production, featuring a speech by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the first US president to appear on television. These telecasts were seen only in New York City and the immediate vicinity, since NBC television had only one station at the time, W2XBS Channel 1, now WNBC Channel 4. The broadcast was seen by an estimated 1,000 viewers from the roughly 200 television sets which existed in the New York City area at the time.
The standard approved by the National Television System Committee (the NTSC) in 1941 differed from RCA's standard, but RCA quickly became the market leader of manufactured sets and NBC became the first television network in the United States, connecting their New York City station to stations in Philadelphia and Schenectady for occasional programs in the early 1940s.
Meanwhile, a system developed by
World War II
At the onset of World War II, Sarnoff served on
Thanks to his communications skills and support he received the
Sarnoff anticipated that post-war America would need an international radio voice explaining its policies and positions. In 1943, he tried to influence Secretary of State
Post-war expansion
After the war, monochrome TV production began in earnest. Color TV was the next major development, and NBC once again won the battle. CBS had their electro-mechanical color television system approved by the FCC on October 10, 1950, but Sarnoff filed an unsuccessful suit in the United States district court to suspend that ruling. Subsequently, he made an appeal to the Supreme Court which eventually upheld the FCC decision. Sarnoff's tenacity and determination to win the "Color War" pushed his engineers to perfect an all-electronic color television system that used a signal that could be received on existing monochrome sets that prevailed. CBS was now unable to take advantage of the color market, due to lack of manufacturing capability and color programming, a system that could not be seen on the millions of black and white receivers and sets that were triple the cost of monochrome sets. A few days after CBS had its color premiere on June 14, 1951, RCA demonstrated a fully functional all-electronic color TV system and became the leading manufacturer of color TV sets in the US.
CBS system color TV production was suspended in October 1951 for the duration of the Korean War. As more people bought monochrome sets, it was increasingly unlikely that CBS could achieve any success with its incompatible system. Few receivers were sold, and there were almost no color broadcasts, especially in prime time, when CBS could not run the risk of broadcasting a program which few could see. The NTSC was reformed and recommended a system virtually identical to RCA's in August 1952. On December 17, 1953, the FCC approved RCA's system as the new standard.
Later years
In 1955, Sarnoff received The Hundred Year Association of New York's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York."
In 1959 Sarnoff was a member of the
Sarnoff retired in 1970, at the age of 79, and died the following year, aged 80. He is interred in a mausoleum featuring a stained-glass vacuum tube in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.
After his death, Sarnoff left behind an estate estimated to be worth over $1 million. The majority of the estate went to his widow, Lizette Hermant Sarnoff, who received $300,000, personal and household effects in addition to the Sarnoff home, located on 44 East 71st Street.[17]
Family life
On July 4, 1917, Sarnoff married Lizette Hermant, the daughter of a
The couple had three sons. Eldest son Robert W. Sarnoff (1918–1997)[19] succeeded his father at the helm of RCA in 1970.[20] Robert's third wife was operatic soprano Anna Moffo.[19] Edward Sarnoff, the middle child, headed Fleet Services of New York.[21] Thomas W. Sarnoff, the youngest, was NBC's West Coast President.[22]
Sarnoff was the maternal
David Sarnoff was initiated to the Scottish Rite Freemasonry[24][25] in the Renovation Lodge No. 97, Albion, NY.[26][27]
Honors
- In 1938, he received an honorary degree Doctor of Commercial Science from Oglethorpe University.[28]
- He was an honorary member of Omicron Alpha Tau[29]
- Knight of the Cross of Lorraine (France), 1951.[3]
- Companion of the Resistance (France), 1951.[3]
- Legion of Merit from the United States Army, 1944.[13]
- Sarnoff was inducted into the Junior Achievement US Business Hall of Fame in 1975.
- Sarnoff was the winner of the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame Distinguished Service Award in 1953.[30]
- Sarnoff was posthumously inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1984.[31]
- Sarnoff was posthumously inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1989.[1]
- Sarnoff was posthumously inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2014.
Sarnoff museum
The David Sarnoff Library, a library and museum open to the public containing many historical items from David Sarnoff's life was in Princeton Junction, NJ. The David Sarnoff Library now exists as a virtual museum online. When the Library was operating, The David Sarnoff Radio Club composed of local amateur radio operators used to meet there, as did the New Jersey Antique Radio Club and other community organizations. The exhibits are now on display in Roscoe L. West Hall at The College of New Jersey.
Sarnoff's Law
In 1999, computer scientist
See also
- Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio
- Sarnoff Corporation, the eponymous successor organization to RCA Laboratories following the 1986 acquisition of RCA by General Electric.
- Metcalfe's law: the value of a communication network is proportional to the square of the number of users. By comparison, Sarnoff's law is linear.
References
- ^ a b c d "Radio Hall of Fame web site". Archived from the original on 2018-04-13. Retrieved 2015-07-06.
- ^ "How the General Earned his Star". Hagley Museum. 29 January 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Fowle, Farnsworth (10 January 1974). "Mrs. David Sarnoff Dies at 79; Widow of Broadcasting Pioneer". The New York Times. p. 40. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
- ^ "Sarnoff". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
The eldest of five children, [David Sarnoff] was born on Feb. 27, 1891, to a desperately poor itinerant trader ... in a bleak little village in the Russian province of Minsk. ... David Sarnoff, at age 5, with his mother in the village of Uzlian, Russia, where he was born.
- ^ a b c d e "Museum of Broadcast Communications web site". Archived from the original on 2018-06-21. Retrieved 2015-07-06.
- ^ a b Magoun, Alexander "Pushing Technology: David Sarnoff and Wireless Communications" Archived 2015-07-06 at the Wayback Machine paper presented at 2001 IEEE Conference on the History of Telecommunications
- ^ Urban Legends Revealed: Did David Sarnoff Work a Telegraph Three Days Straight Covering the Titanic Sinking?, Retrieved July 6, 2015
- ^ Benjamin, Louise. "In Search of the Sarnoff 'Radio Music Box' Memo: Nally's Reply." Archived 2015-07-06 at the Wayback Machine Journal of Radio Studies. June 2002. pp 97–106. Retrieved July 5, 2015. The 1915 memo has not been found, but Benjamin and the curator of Sarnoff's papers found a previously mis-filed 1916 memo that did mention a "radio music box scheme" (the word "scheme" at that time usually meant a plan)
- ^ "Big Dream, Small Screen," The American Experience television series. (1997)
- ^ RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. – retrieved February 4, 2006.
- ISBN 0-89950-284-9.
- ^ a b New York Times. October 12, 1944.
- ^ "Sarnoff Becomes a General". Radio Age. January 1945: 27. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
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(help) - ^ "Sarnoff Revives Pleas for U.S. Radio; 1943 Letter to Hull, Now Sent to Marshall, Bids Nation Set Up a 'Voice of America'," New York Times. May 16, 1947.
- ^ Sarnoff, David. "National Purpose: Sarnoff Program; Renewed Dedication of Traditions Urged in Fighting Communism," New York Times. June 2, 1960; Sarnoff, David. "Turn the Cold War Tide in America's Favor", Life. June 6, 1960.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
- ^ The Froehlich/Kent Encycloped of Telecommunications Vol 15 By Allen S. Kent
- ^ a b Kleinfeld, N.R. "Robert Sarnoff, 78, RCA Chairman, Dies," New York Times. February 24, 1997.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
- ^ "David Sarnoff, Head of RCA, Dies". Beckley Post-Herald. 1971-12-13. p. 11. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
- ^ Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1961-12-18.
- ^ a b c Nelson, Valerie J. (2008-02-26). "Richard Baer, 79; wrote for many popular sitcoms". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
- ^ "Famous men members of Masonic Lodges". American Canadian Grand Lodge ACGL. Archived from the original on November 17, 2018.
- ^ "Famous members of Masonic Lodges". Bavaria Lodge No. 935 A.F. & A. M. Archived from the original on October 13, 2018.
- ^ "List of famous freemasons". Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon. Archived from the original on October 4, 2001. Retrieved Sep 30, 2018.
- ^ "Information about famous members of Freemasonry". Scottish Rite Center (Columbus, Orient of Georgia). Archived from the original on September 30, 2014.
- ^ "Honorary Degrees Awarded by Oglethorpe University". Oglethorpe University. Archived from the original on 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
- ^ Radio Personalities 1935 – p142
- ^ "NAB Winners: Distinguished Service Award". National Association of Broadcasters. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ^ "Television Hall of Fame Honorees: Complete List".
- ^ David P. Reed. "Weapon of Math Destruction". Archived from the original on 1999-04-29. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
Sources
- Camenzind, Hans "Much ado about almost nothing" He bequeathed it to us at his passing. http://www.historyofelectronics.com/Much-Ado-About-Almost-Nothing.pdf Note chapter 8, Armstrong- The real inventor of radio vs. a charlatan and a ruthless promoter, & Chapter 9, Farnsworth- A 15 year old Idaho farm boy invents television and battles the same ruthless promoter. RIP Hans Camenzind- he designed the 555 Timer chip.
- ISBN 978-0-06-015568-1(cloth) – The best biography available, by a retired RCA vice president of public affairs.
- Dreher, Carl Dreher. (1977). Sarnoff: An American Success, New York: ISBN 0-8129-0672-1(cloth) – A thoughtful biography by an early associate of Sarnoff's.
- Lewis, Tom. (1991). Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio. New York: ISBN 978-0-06-098119-8– Profiles Sarnoff's life along with those of Edwin Armstrong and Lee De Forest, drawing on archival sources.
- ISBN 978-600-150-791-5(cloth) – A cousin's sympathetic but insightful biography approved by Sarnoff.
- Sarnoff, David. (1968). Looking Ahead: The Papers of David Sarnoff. New York: McGraw Hill. – A useful one-volume compendium of Sarnoff's writings, covering his views on innovation, broadcasting, monopoly rights and responsibilities, freedom, and future electronic innovations.
- ISBN 978-0-06-621069-8(cloth)
- ISBN 978-0-8128-3084-2(cloth) – The most authoritative history on the company by a prolific business historian, with a thorough bibliography but no footnotes.
- Gutterman, Leon. (1968). The Wisdom Society for the Advancement of Knowledge, Learning and Research in Education (1968) The Wisdom of Sarnoff and The World of RCA
- ISBN 978-0-06-224275-4
Further reading
- "David Sarnoff of RCA Is Dead; Visionary Broadcast Pioneer; David Sarnoff of RCA, the Visionary Broadcasting Pioneer, Is Dead Here at 80," New York Times. December 13, 1971.
- McGraw Hill.
External links
- NBC Radio broadcast tribute to David Sarnoff upon his death (Dec. 12, 1971)
- Biography on IEEE Global History Network
- David Sarnoff Library
- Talking About David Sarnoff at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
- Booknotes interview with Daniel Stashower on The Boy Genius and the Mogul: The Untold Story of Television, July 21, 2002.