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TIME: Almanac of the 20th Century
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TIME, Almanac of the 20th Century.ISO
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1920
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20sarnof
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1994-02-27
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<text>
<title>
(1920s) David Sarnoff
</title>
<history>
TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1920s Highlights
People
</history>
<article>
<source>Time Magazine</source>
<hdr>
David Sarnoff
</hdr>
<body>
<p>(JULY 15, 1929)
</p>
<p> Springing directly from the Silent Cinema, the Talking Cinema
is controlled mainly by strong Silent Cinemen. Great film names,
with sound and without, are Fox Film Corp., Paramount-Famous-
Lasky Corp., Warner Bros., United Artists. Yet one potent
Talking Cinema company backs its speaking present with no silent
past. This company is opulent, many-branched Radio Corp. of
America. In Photophone it has its own talking mechanism. In RKO
Productions, Inc., it has its own production and distribution
company. In General Electric and Westinghouse Electric it has
tremendous laboratory resources. During 1929-30 there will be
made 30 full-length and 52 short Radio pictures, all of which
will talk, many of which will also sing. In these pictures will
appear Richard Dix, Rudy Vallee, Rod La Rocque, Owen Moore, Bebe
Daniels, Betty Compson. Writers will include Ben Hecht, Charles
MacArthur, Eugene Walter, Vina Delmar. Thus among great film
companies must be ranked Radio Corp., and to the list of cinema
tycoons must be added the name of short, stocky David Sarnoff,
Radio Corp.'s Vice President and General Manager.
</p>
<p> In 1919, when Radio Corp. was formed, it was organized solely
for the purpose of transmitting messages.
</p>
<p> First step in Radio Corp.'s change from communications to
entertainment came with the development of music and voice
broadcasting. Endowed with many a vital patent (it has licensed
25 set-makers to manufacture under it patents), Radio Corp. grew
with radio, found that Station-to-Home transmission was far more
profitable a business than Shore-to-Shore or Ship-to-Shore
transmission. In 1921 Radio Corp.'s entertainment business
totaled some $1,500,000, or about 36% of the company's total
business. In 1922, entertainment totaled some $11,250,000, or
about 80% of total business. Last year Radio Corp's gross sales
were approximately $87,000,000, and its $6,000,000 income in
patent royalties was slightly larger than its total income from
communications.
</p>
<p> From radio the expansion into the phonograph business was
logical inasmuch as the old-style phonograph, failing to compete
with radio sets, went in for electric reproduction and also for
combination radio-phonographs. Entrance into the theatrical
field resulted partly from the invention of Photophone, the
talking cinema mechanism perfected by Westinghouse and General
Electric engineers, and partly from Radio Corp.'s realization
of the potential profits in electrical entertainment on the
largest possible scale.
</p>
<p> Ramifications of Radio Corp. in entertainment are best shown
by noting what Radio Corp. can (and doubtless will) do to "plug"
(exploit) its entertainers. Example: Rudy Vallee, singer and
orchestra leader, will soon be seen and heard in a Radio talkie.
He can make Radio-Victor records of the featured songs. He can
broadcast them over National Broadcasting Co.'s chain of 53
stations (N.B.C. is 50% owned by Radio Corp.). He can appear at
RKO theaters. Cinema, radio, phonograph, vaudeville--Radio
Corp. is very much in them all.
</p>
</body>
</article>
</text>