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==Establishment by General Electric== [[File:1921 Radio Corporation of America (Worldwide Wireless) logo.jpg|thumb|upright|Company logo in 1921 stressed its leadership in international communication.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101051572624&view=1up&seq=538 Radio Corporation of America advertisement], ''The Wireless Age'', August 1921, page 4.</ref>]] 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.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.65453774&view=1up&seq=902 "A Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company for America"], ''Electrical World and Engineer'', December 2, 1899, pages 870β871.</ref> 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 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.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112064674325&view=1up&seq=345 "Attempts to Establish a United States Government Radio Monopoly"], ''History of Communications-Electronics in the United States Navy'' by Captain L. S. Howeth, USN (Retired), 1963, pages 313β318.</ref> 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,<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101051572525&seq=906 Pan-American Wireless Telegraph and Telephone Company] (advertisement), ''Wireless Age'', July 1918, page 882.</ref> a joint venture between American Marconi and the [[Federal Telegraph Company]],<ref>Adams, Stephen B. "Arc of Empire: The Federal Telegraph Company, the U.S. Navy, and the Beginnings of Silicon Valley." ''Business History Review'', vol. 91, no. 2, 2017, pp. 329β359. doi:10.1017/S0007680517000630.</ref> with plans to set up service between the United States and South America.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015084536997&view=1up&seq=224 "A New Wireless Chain Between the Americas"] by John V. L. Hogan, ''Popular Science Monthly'', November 1918, pages 140β143.</ref> [[File:200-kw HF Alternator.jpg|thumb|right|Alexanderson 200-kW motor alternator transmitter installed at the U.S. Navy's New Brunswick, New Jersey station<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015026741614&seq=861 "Transoceanic Radio Communication"] by E. F. W. Alexanderson, ''General Electric Review'', October 1920, page 795.</ref>]] The Navy had installed a high-powered [[Alexanderson alternator]], built by General Electric (GE), at the American Marconi transmitter site in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It proved to be superior for transatlantic transmissions to the [[spark-gap transmitter]]s that had been traditionally used by the Marconi companies. Marconi officials were so impressed by the capabilities of the Alexanderson alternators that they began making preparations to adopt them as their standard transmitters for international communication. A tentative plan made with General Electric proposed that over a two-year period the Marconi companies would purchase most of GE's alternator production. However, the U.S. Navy objected to the plan, fearing British domination in international radio communications and the national security concerns this raised.<ref name="formation">[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89074767138&view=1up&seq=191 ''History of Radio to 1926''] by Gleason L. Archer, 1938, pages 159β167, 180.</ref> 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, [[William H. G. Bullard|Admiral H. G. Bullard]] and [[Stanford Caldwell Hooper|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.<ref name="formation" /> Upon its founding, RCA was the largest radio communications firm in the United States.<ref>{{cite journal|date=May 1922|title=The March Of Events: America in Control Of Its Wireless|journal=The World's Work|volume=XLIV|pages=11β13|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZW0AAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA11|access-date=June 1, 2017|last1=Page |first1=Walter Hines|last2=Page|first2=Arthur W}}</ref> 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".<ref>Archer (1938), [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89074767138&view=1up&seq=223 pages 187β188]</ref> 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,<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.65463418&seq=393 "The History of the Development of the United Fruit Company's Radio Telegraph System"] by Roy Mason, ''Radio Broadcast'', September 1922, pages 377-398.</ref> and signed two agreements in 1921. GE's traditional electric company rival, the [[Westinghouse Electric Corporation|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.<ref>''The Continuous Wave'' by Hugh G. J. Aitken, 1985, pages 445β447, 454β469, 477β481.</ref> 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]] acquired NBC). This lease was critical for enabling the massive project to proceed as a commercially viable ventureβDavid Rockefeller cited RCA's action as being responsible for "the salvation of the project".<ref>"Rescuing the Project" section of ''Memoirs'' by David Rockefeller, New York: Random House, 2002, p. 55.</ref>
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