Editing RCA (section)

==Radio development==
===International and marine communication===
[[File:Proposed RCA Radio Central facility at Rocky Point, Long Island, New York.jpg|thumb|Illustration of how a fully built RCA Radio Central facility at [[Rocky Point, Long Island]], New York would have appeared. Only two of the twelve "antenna spokes" were actually built.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo1.ark:/13960/t88g95j7b&view=1up&seq=360 ''The Book of Radio''] by Charles William Taussig, 1922, page 320.</ref>]]
[[File:STS-61-C SATCOM Ku-1 deployment.jpg|thumb|RCA [[Satcom (satellite)|Satcom]] K1 geostationary communications satellite deployed from {{OV|Columbia}} in 1986]]

RCA's primary business objectives at its founding were to provide equipment and services for seagoing vessels, and "worldwide wireless" communication in competition with existing international undersea telegraph cables. To provide the international service, the company soon undertook a massive project to build a "Radio Central" communications hub at Rocky Point, [[Long Island]], New York, designed to achieve "the realization of the vision of communication engineers to transmit messages to all points of the world from a single centrally located source". Construction began in July 1920, and the site was dedicated on November 5, 1921, after two of the proposed twelve antenna spokes had been completed, and two of the 200-kilowatt alternators installed. The debut transmissions received replies from stations in 17 countries.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101051572632&view=1up&seq=106 "The Opening of Radio Central"], ''The Wireless Age'', December 1921, pages 18–22, 45.</ref>

Although the initial installation would remain in operation, the additional antenna spokes and alternator installations would not be completed, due to a major discovery about radio signal propagation. While investigating transmitter "harmonics" – unwanted additional radio signals produced at higher frequencies than a station's normal transmission frequency – Westinghouse's [[Frank Conrad]] unexpectedly found that in some cases the harmonics could be heard farther than the primary signal, something previously thought impossible, as high-frequency [[shortwave]] signals, which had poor groundwave coverage, were thought to have a very limited transmission range. In 1924, Conrad demonstrated to Sarnoff that a low-powered shortwave station in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania could be readily received in London by a simple receiver using a curtain rod as an antenna, matching, at a small fraction of the cost, the performance of the massive alternator transmitters. In 1926, [[Harold H. Beverage]] further reported that a shortwave signal, transmitted on a 15-meter wavelength (approximately 20&nbsp;MHz), was received in South America more readily during the daytime than the 200-kilowatt alternator transmissions.<ref>[https://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx/antenna/wire/beverage/interview1.html Dr. Harold H. Beverage interview] (hard-core-dx.com)</ref>

The Alexanderson alternators, control of which had led to RCA's formation, were now considered obsolete, and international radio communication would be primarily conducted using [[vacuum tube]] transmitters operating on shortwave bands. RCA would continue to operate international telecommunications services for the remainder of its existence, through its subsidiary RCA Communications, Inc., and later the RCA Global Communications Company. In 1975, the company formed [[RCA American Communications]], which operated its Satcom series of [[Geostationary orbit|geostationary]] [[Communications satellite|communications satellites]]. International shortwave links were in turn largely supplanted by communications satellites, especially for distributing network radio and television programming.

At the time RCA was founded in 1919, all radio and telegraphic communication between China and the US, including official messages, were sent  through either German radio or British cable links. The U.S. Navy lobbied RCA to seek a [[concession (contract)|concession]] for a radio link to China, however the company was reluctant because its other concessions were already operating at a loss. This link began operation in 1928. The [[Mackay Radio|Mackay Radio and Telegraph Company of California]] signed a similar agreement with China in 1932. RCA claimed this was [[breach of contract]] on the grounds that its 1928 agreement had given it exclusive rights. The dispute went to arbitration, and in 1935 a decision, issued in ''[[Radio Corporation of America v China]]'', concluded the Mackay concession was valid, because the earlier RCA concession had not granted exclusive rights.<ref>[https://pca-cpa.org/en/cases/16/ "Cases: Radio Corporation of America v. China] (pca-cpa.org)</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Maurer |first1=Noel |title=The Empire Trap: The Rise and Fall of U.S. Intervention to Protect American Property Overseas, 1893–2013 |date=2013 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=9780691155821 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SWiYDwAAQBAJ |access-date=January 16, 2020}}</ref>

===Broadcasting===
[[File:1921 ad for Playhouse Theater Dempsey-Carpentier radiophone broadcast.jpg|thumb|Advertisement promoting theater attendance to hear the ringside commentary broadcast by RCA's temporary station, WJY (1921)]]
[[File:1922 radio station WDY hexagonal studio.JPEG|thumb|Studio of RCA's first broadcasting station, the short-lived WDY, located at its plant in Roselle Park, New Jersey (1922)]]
[[File:1922 Radio Enters the Home cover.jpg|thumb|The June 1, 1922, cover of RCA's equipment catalog showcased the emerging home market.]]
The introduction of organized radio broadcasting in the early 1920s resulted in a dramatic reorientation and expansion of RCA's business activities. The development of vacuum tube radio transmitters made audio transmissions practical, in contrast with the earlier transmitters which were limited to sending the dits-and-dahs of [[Morse code]]. Since at least 1916, when he was still at American Marconi, David Sarnoff had proposed establishing broadcasting stations, but his memos to management promoting the idea for sales of a "Radio Music Box" had not been followed up at the time.<ref>Archer (1938), [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89074767138&view=1up&seq=140 pages 112–113]</ref>

A small number of broadcasting stations began operating, and soon interest in the innovation was spreading nationwide. In the summer of 1921, a [[Madison Square Garden (1925)|Madison Square Garden]] employee, Julius Hopp, devised a plan to raise charitable funds by broadcasting, from ringside, the July 2, 1921 [[Jack Dempsey versus Georges Carpentier|Dempsey-Carpentier]] heavyweight championship fight to be held in Jersey City, New Jersey. Hopp recruited theaters and halls as listening locations that would charge admission fees to be used as charitable donations. He also contacted RCA's J. Andrew White, the acting president of the National Amateur Wireless Association (NAWA), an organization originally formed by American Marconi which had been inherited by RCA. White agreed to recruit the NAWA membership for volunteers to provide assistance at the listening sites, and also enlisted David Sarnoff for financial and technical support. RCA was authorized to set up a temporary longwave radio station, located in Hoboken a short distance from the match site, and operating under the call letters [[WJY (Hoboken, New Jersey)|WJY]]. For the broadcast White and Sarnoff telephoned commentary from ringside, which was typed up and then read over the air by J. Owen Smith. The demonstration was a technical success, with a claimed audience of 300,000 listeners throughout the northeast.<ref name="stirring">[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101051572624&view=1up&seq=545 "Voice-Broadcasting the Stirring Progress of the 'Battle of the Century'&nbsp;"], ''The Wireless Age'', August 1921, pages 11–21.</ref>

RCA quickly moved to expand its broadcasting activities. In the fall of 1921, it set up its first full-time broadcasting station, [[WDY]], at the Roselle Park, New Jersey company plant. By 1923, RCA was operating three stations—WJZ (now [[WABC (AM)|WABC]]) and [[WJY (New York City)|WJY]] in New York City, and WRC (now [[WTEM]]) in Washington, D.C. A restriction imposed by AT&T's interpretation of the patent cross-licensing agreements required that the RCA stations remain commercial free, and they were financed by profits from radio equipment sales.

===National Broadcasting Company===
Beginning in 1922, AT&T became heavily involved in radio broadcasting, and soon became the new industry's most important participant. From the beginning, AT&T's policy was to finance stations by commercial sponsorship of the programs. The company also created the first radio network, centered on its New York City station WEAF (now [[WFAN (AM)|WFAN]]), using its long-distance telephone lines to interconnect stations. This allowed them to economize by having multiple stations carry the same program.

RCA and its partners soon faced an economic crisis, as the costs of providing programming threatened to exceed the funds available from equipment profits. The problem was resolved in 1926 when AT&T unexpectedly decided to exit the radio broadcasting field. RCA purchased, for $1,000,000, AT&Ts two radio stations, WEAF and [[WCAP (Washington, D.C.)|WCAP]] in Washington, D.C., as well as its network operations. These assets formed the basis for the creation of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), with ownership divided between RCA (50%), General Electric (30%), and Westinghouse (20%) until 1930, when RCA assumed 100% ownership. This purchase also included the right to begin commercial operations. NBC formed two radio networks that eventually expanded nationwide: the [[NBC Red Network|NBC-Red Network]], with flagship station WEAF, and [[Blue Network|NBC-Blue]], centered on WJZ. Although NBC was originally promoted as expecting to just break even economically, it soon became extremely profitable, which would be an important factor in helping RCA survive the economic pressures of the [[Great Depression]] that began in late 1929.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b78643&view=1up&seq=17 "Early History of Network Broadcasting"], ''Report on Chain Broadcasting: May 1941'', Federal Communications Commission, pages 5-8, 17.</ref>

Concerned that NBC's control of two national radio networks gave it too much power over the industry, in 1941 the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) issued an industry review, [[Report on Chain Broadcasting]], which included a rule designed to force NBC to divest one of them.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b78643&view=1up&seq=104 Rule 3.107], ''Report on Chain Broadcasting: May 1941'', Federal Communications Commission, page 92.</ref> This order was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, and on October 12, 1943, the NBC-Blue network was sold to candy magnate [[Edward J. Noble]] for $8,000,000, and renamed "The Blue Network, Inc." In 1946 the name was changed to the [[American Broadcasting Company]] (ABC). The "Red" network retained the NBC name and remained under RCA ownership until 1986.

For two decades the NBC radio network's roster of stars provided ratings consistently surpassing those of its main competitor, the [[Columbia Broadcasting System]] (CBS). But in 1948, as the transition from radio to television was beginning, NBC's leadership came under attack due to what became known as the "Paley raids", named after the president of CBS, [[William S. Paley]]. After World War II the tax rate for annual incomes above $70,000 was 77%, while capital gains were taxed at 25%. Paley worked out an accounting technique whereby individual performers could set up corporations that allowed their earnings to be taxed at the significantly lower rate. Instead of NBC responding with a similar package, Sarnoff decided that this accounting method was legally and ethically wrong. NBC's performers did not agree, and most of the top stars, including [[Amos and Andy]], [[Jack Benny]], [[Red Skelton]], [[Edgar Bergen]], [[Burns and Allen]], [[Ed Wynn]], [[Fred Waring]], [[Al Jolson]], [[Groucho Marx]] and [[Frank Sinatra]] moved from NBC to CBS. As a result, CBS boasted of having sixteen of the twenty top-rated programs in 1949. The consequences would carry over to television, where CBS maintained its newfound dominance for decades. Paley had personally worked to woo the performers, while Sarnoff professed his indifference to the defections, stating at an annual meeting that "Leadership built over the years on a foundation of solid service cannot be snatched overnight by buying a few high-priced comedians. Leadership is not a laughing matter."<ref>''The General'' by Kenneth Bilby, 1986, pages 246–249.</ref>

===Radio receivers===
Following its founding, RCA acted as the sales agent for a small line of Westinghouse and GE branded receivers and parts used by home constructors, originally for a limited market of [[amateur radio]] enthusiasts. By 1922, the rise of broadcasting had dramatically increased the demand for radio equipment by the general public, and this development was reflected in the title of RCA's June 1, 1922 catalog, "Radio Enters the Home". RCA began selling receivers under the "Radiola" name, marketing equipment produced by GE and Westinghouse under the production agreement that allocated a 60%–40% ratio in output between the two companies. Although the patent cross-licensing agreements had been intended to give the participants domination of equipment sales, the tremendous growth of the market led to fierce competition, and in 1925 RCA fell behind [[Atwater Kent]] as the leader in receiver sales. RCA was particularly hamstrung by the need to coordinate its sales within the limits of the GE/Westinghouse production quotas, and often had difficulty keeping up with industry trends. However, the company made a key advance in early 1924 when it began selling the first [[superheterodyne]] receivers, whose high level of performance increased the brand's reputation and popularity. RCA was the exclusive manufacturer of superheterodyne radio sets until 1930. All RCA receivers were battery powered until late 1927 when plug-in AC sets were introduced, providing another boost in sales.<ref>''Radio Manufacturers of the 1920s: Volume 3'' by Alan Douglas, 1991, pages 1–60.</ref>