LAS VEGAS—RCA will introduce new 55- and 65-inch NextGen TVs here at CES 2025 (Jan. 7-10) with spring availability, the company said today.

“Now that 76% of American households have access to over-the-air NextGen TV from local broadcasters RCA is proud to launch two new NextGen TV models that come fully equipped with ATSC 3.0 reception electronics,” company president Tony Bozzini said. “Broadcasters across the country are now enhancing their signals with high dynamic range [HDR], and the new sets from RCA will deliver Advanced HDR from Technicolor to provide rich, vibrant colors that will make favorite shows pop like never before.”

The 65-inch RCA NextGen TV features up to 1,500 nits of peak brightness from its 664-zone Mini-LED QLED screens and will be offered at a suggested retail price of $949.99. The 55-inch model also features up to 1,500 nits of peak brightness from its 240-zone Mini-LED QLED screen and will carry a suggested retail price of $699.99, the company said.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with RCA as they bring their new TV products to market, featuring Advanced HDR by Technicolor technology,” Rick Dumont, head of business development for HDR at Philips, said.

“This integration underscores the growing adoption of our single-layer distribution mechanism, which streamlines production and distribution while delivering a superior viewing experience,” Dumont added. “As the most widely deployed HDR format in broadcasting, especially within NextGen TV through partnerships like Sinclair, Advanced HDR by Technicolor continues to set the standard for innovation.”

The new NextGen TVs offer a 144-Hz Game Mode PRO mode and allow gaming in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, as well as HDR10+ gaming. The sets include a built-in 2.1 speaker system with a built-in subwoofer and speaker audio system that supports Dolby Atmos and DTV Virtual-X, the company said.

Both models include hands-free voice control, including Google Assistant, and are smart-home-ready with Apple Home and Google Home. Chromecast and Airplay support are built-in.

Also at CES, RCA will show its new lineup of weatherproof, durable outdoor televisions designed to operate from minus 22 degrees to 122 degrees Fahrenheit.

More information is available on the company’s website.

With the curtain set to rise on the 2023 NAB Show and the event having reached centenarian status, it’s interesting to examine how it came to be and follow some of its twists and turns in going from infancy to becoming the “biggest and best” gathering of broadcasters and content creators on the planet.

Its origin is closely intertwined with the launch by Westinghouse of KDKA radio in late 1920. This experiment in wireless delivery of news and entertainment on a regularly scheduled basis was a game changer, arousing public attention as never before. Soon new stations were taking to the air on almost a daily basis, with hundreds in operation in just a relatively short time. 

With no established precedents or business models to follow, some of these first-generation broadcasters recognized the value in banding together to share knowledge and protect common interests, leading to the chartering of the National Association of Broadcasters in April 1923 and the first-ever “NAB Show” held later that year.

While little information survives, we do know that it was a single-day affair attended by only a few, and by later standards would seem rather anemic, with activities mostly centered on business matters such as performance royalties, the need for additional spectrum (a concern even then), and regulatory issues. As there were few equipment manufacturers, the technology displays were not a part of that show. (Exhibits at early NAB Shows came chiefly from the NAB and member stations. Technical displays did not appear until the show’s second decade.)

A Show For All Seasons
While the NAB Show is a rite of spring for many—seemingly always occurring in April and always in Las Vegas—this April/LV pairing is relatively recent. (Also, for many years the event was referred to as a “broadcasters’ convention.”)

New York City served as the backdrop for that 1923 show, with the event taking more than half a century to reach Las Vegas for the first time, and not becoming a yearly event there until 1991. After spending its first five years in the Big Apple, the show was moved to Washington D.C. in 1928. 

Seven years later, it began to move around, convening in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Detroit, Colorado Springs, San Francisco, St. Louis, Atlantic City, and even trying out resort hotels in White Sulfur Springs, W. Va., and West Baden, Ind. 

Since its inception, the NAB Show has been hosted by no less than 17 cities and in almost every month, skipping only December and January, and taking 20 years to convene in April for the first time.

A heavy snow slowed down proceedings at the November 1932 conference, triggering a schedule reevaluation that pushed the event—with one exception—into warmer months from then on. (However, even that didn’t guarantee good weather at the late-March 1987 Dallas show, where snow showers and bitterly cold temperatures greeted attendees.)

After a Century, Who’s Counting?
Even though the show has been scheduled every year from 1923 on, the recent pandemic forced two cancellations, and the 1945 wartime event was kyboshed by a government order directed at freeing up transportation and lodging for military and defense industry personnel. (The directive banned meetings of more than 50 persons from outside the community hosting the event). 

And technically speaking, there was no “NAB Show” from 1951–1957, as the organization temporarily rebranded itself as the NARTB (National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters) to recognize TV’s rise to prominence. The yearly gatherings continued, however, under the NARTB banner.

Broadcast technology was initially only a small part of early NAB Shows, but as the annual event entered its second decade, tech began to command an increasingly greater  share of attention, with the 1935 program including a report on the status of television in Europe, and the first mention of an NBC Show “engineering committee” meeting found in a report on the 1936 convocation. It was small by later standards—eight persons, with WSM’s legendary Jack DeWitt serving as chairman.

Several technical displays were featured at the 1937 event, with exhibitor Western Electric unveiling one of the first commercial audio processors, its model 110A “program amplifier.”

State-of-the-art tech made its presence known in a really big way at the 1939 Atlantic City, N.J. show, with RCA and NBC engineers setting up “high-definition” 441-line cameras and encouraging attendees to be “televised.” Photographic screen shots made it possible for those conventioneers posing before the iconoscope cameras to prove it to folks back home. As summed up by a trade publication: “…the photos will undoubtedly be cherished in later years as relics of the pioneer days of television.”

That 1939 show also included an eerily prophetic comment from New York Times radio editor, Orrin E. Dunlap Jr. “Today it may seem that television is creeping at the pace of a glacier. But by 1950 broadcasters will be deep into… television. The ice age will not last forever.”

(Dunlap’s address was read by an NAB staffer as he was unable to attend the show.)

‘First Looks’
In addition to providing many attendees with their first look at television, the NAB Show has also served as the launchpad for many more broadcasting technological innovations. New breakthroughs introduced included color, 3D and HDTV; UHF transmission; ENG; communications satellite linkage; timecode editing; the dawning of digital technology; server-based video playout; solid-state transmitters; chip sensor cameras—the list goes on and on.

Perhaps the most memorable tech rollout occurred at the 1956 Chicago NARTB, with Ampex ushering in not only a new technology, but a sociological game-changer with their introduction of the videotape recorder. The unveiling had been kept secret, and when wraps were taken off, the machine instantly became—and remained—the focus of attention at the show with the electronics firm receiving orders for some 80 of the $50k VTRs (more than $44 million in today’s money).

The number of attendees and exhibitors has risen steadily since the inaugural 1923 event. Over the next decade, hundreds attended, eventually surpassing 1,000 as the 1940s began, and has continued to climb almost every year. (In addition to the “VTR unveiling” the 1956 show is remembered for a (then) all-time high attendance that exceeded 4,500.)

By the time of the 1977 Washington show, registration had swelled to nearly 13,000, totally overwhelming the city’s limited convention resources. (There was no convention center then, requiring the conference to be spread over three hotels connected by shuttle buses.) Hotel rooms were also in short supply, leaving upwards of 100 registrants with no place to stay. 

Feathers were ruffled so much that the NAB vowed not to return the show to Washington until at least 1984, (it never did). Broadcasting magazine summed things up: “The NAB passes but D.C. flunks.” (A similar lodging issue at the 1947 Atlantic City show also earned that city a spot on the NAB’s “no more shows there” list.)  

The number of attendees has continued to grow, hitting more than 100,000 by the 1990s. The number of exhibitors and exhibit space has increased correspondingly, with more than 1,800 spread across more than a million square feet of floor space in 2016. 

Although attendance at the first post-pandemic show was substantially down from the show’s all-time high, the 2023 NAB Show will likely see an even higher number than the 52,468 who registered for the 2022 event. We hope you will be one of those who help swell that number as this “show of shows” moves into its second century! 

Sidebar:

Moments of Drama
NAB Show veterans know that they can sometimes expect the unexpected—sometimes above and beyond the unveiling of a revolutionary product, especially as high-level government officials, members of congress and even heads of state occasionally make appearances. At least two of the shows are especially memorable in this regard. 

An appearance at the 1941 NAB Show in St. Louis by then FCC Chairman James L. Fly sparked political fireworks that made headlines across the country. Just days before the show, Fly released a draft of new rules that would greatly impact business relationships between networks and their affiliates. The Commission’s “Report On Chain Broadcasting” quickly met with condemnation from major networks and NAB alike. 

Verbal blows came to a head at the show with past-NAB President Mark Ethridge lambasting Fly and the report, and Fly countering by repeatedly referring to the NAB as a “so-called” organization and likening the way the broadcasting industry operated to a “dead mackerel in the moonlight…that both shines and stinks.”

Following Fly’s remarks, then-current NAB president, Neville Miller, called for a congressional investigation of the FCC, and questioned whether “the state of mind exhibited by Mr. Fly qualifies him to be chairman of a government agency calling for judicial impartiality.”

Broadcasting magazine’s Sol Taishoff described the politics unleashed at the show as “the most tumultuous of its 19 years,” adding “For acrimony and invective, the convention had no parallel in NAB annals, and it will probably be recalled in radio history as the “'Battle of St. Louis.'"

(Fly was a no-show at the 1942 event.)

A half-century later, an anti-nuclear activist managed to slip past security and onto the dais at the 1992 Television Luncheon where former President Ronald Reagan was receiving the NAB’s Distinguished Service Award. Before the intruder was subdued, he managed to smash a large crystal statue that had been presented to Reagan, startling the former chief executive and showering him with glass shards. 

Fortunately, Reagan was not injured, the protester was wrestled to the stage and  removed, and the former president continued with his speech. 

However, there were plenty of frazzled nerves among those who recalled John Hinckley Jr.’s 1981 assassination attempt on Reagan (which occurred rather ironically at one of the three hotels hosting the final NAB Show to be held in Washington).

Although the audience was very small, the picture quality poor, and production techniques quite limited, the Sept. 11, 1928 airing of the drama “The Queen’s Messenger” marks the introduction of television as an entertainment medium.     

While test images, static and moving, had previously been transmitted via television, the one-act drama, staged under the auspices of the General Electric Company and its television project leader, Ernst Alexanderson, marked the first-ever broadcast of a television program intended for entertainment.

The 40 minute-long production began at promptly at 1:30 p.m. eastern time, and as it unfolded in one of the research buildings on GE’s Schenectady campus, the action was captured by three fixed flying spot “mechanical” cameras operating at 24 lines and an unspecified frame rate.

The program was transmitted on three transmitters, with images sent at 379.5 and 31.4 meters (798 kHz and 9.55 MHz respectively) and audio on 21.96 meters (13.65 MHz). Due to the shortwave portion of the spectrum used for audio and one of the video transmissions, reports of reception came from as far away as the west coast. Unlike some 21st century television, it was reported that “voice and action came together through space in perfect synchronization.”  

OTHER NEWS FROM TV’S PAST:

90 Years Ago – September 1932 – As the 1930s unfolded, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), under the leadership of David Sarnoff, was doing its best to move television out of the laboratory and into consumers’ homes. Sarnoff anticipated a bright future for the new medium, and was plowing a very substantial amount of Depression-era stockholder money into TV R&D. It seems, though, that one RCA executive somehow hadn’t gotten the message.

Broadcasting magazine (now TV Tech sister brand Broadcasting & Cable), reported in its Sept. 15, 1932 issue that the vice president in charge of RCA’s NBC network Pacific division, Don E. Gilman, had painted a rather dismal picture of television’s future during a “radio day” luncheon address at the recent Western Retailers Conference in San Francisco.

"The best radio sets now on the market will be obsolete before television is ready for general use," said Gilman. "My business obliges me to follow the progress of television closely, but I am personally so little impressed with it except for laboratory experiment that I would not be bothered having a television set in my home. Any radio dealer who is holding [radio] sales ideas in abeyance while awaiting the arrival of television is pursuing a short-sighted policy.”

There was no reporting of Sarnoff’s reaction to Gilman’s address. (For the record, RCA had set up shop in New York City’s Empire State Building the previous year and was busy conducting transmission field tests of the new medium throughout the greater Manhattan area. 

Four years later, in 1936, the BBC began airing scheduled television broadcasts, and was followed by NBC less than three years after that. It is to be imagined that 1932 model radios still had plenty of life left in them then when the “Auntie Beeb” TV service launched, and not all had yet been relegated to the junk pile even at the time of NBC’s television startup.)

71 Years Ago – September 1951: The long-promised coast-to-coast video linkage became a reality on Sept. 4, with AT&T Long Lines opening their transcontinental television service in time for President Truman’s address at the San Francisco Japanese peace treaty conference to be seen live across the nation. 

The 2,750-mile $40 million (almost half–a-billion in today’s money) microwave system required the construction of some 107 relay facilities.

50 Years Ago – September 1972: The FCC is hard at work on its latest TV spectrum grab; this time it’s Channels 70 to 83. The NAB has joined the Association of Maximum Service Telecasters in opposing the surrender of TV spectrum for land-mobile radio use, as it would require some 800 TV translators operating in this 800 to 890 MHz region to go dark or relocate. 

In other industry news, ABTO (a partnership between ABC TV and Technical Operations, Inc.) now has its first customer for the technology it developed that allows black and white motion picture film stock to capture events in full color. Metromedia’s NYC outlet, WNEW-TV, announced that by mid-month it would be using the ABTO process—which involves lenticular filter encoding—for filming one-third of its news stories. 

ABTO color had previously been tested at several stations including Boston’s WNAC-TV and New Haven’s WNHC-TV. (The ABTO color-from-B&W scheme did work, but was not a commercial success, as by the time it was “ready for prime time,” most stations had already pumped up their news budgets to include purchase of color film stock and color film processors.) 

25 Years Ago – September 1997: Broadcasters are still reeling from the recent stroke of the pen that set the gears in motion for auctioning off several chunks of the 1,710 to 2,150 microwave band, including 50 MHz of the current BAS (Broadcast Auxiliary Service) spectrum used to relay programming and news from the field to the studio, as well as for long-haul intercity relay. 

The legislation requires the FCC to reallocate 100 MHz of the 410 MHz spectrum chunk, with the existing 120 MHz BAS allocation shrinking to just 70 MHz. In other FCC news, the Commission is considering using its powers to pre-empt local zoning ordinances that are delaying the construction of new towers needed for the on-going digital TV transition. 

A century ago, the country (and most of the world) had fallen in love with the freshly-minted concept of radio broadcasting, and some individuals were already thinking about tapping this nascent tool for other purposes. 

Harry J. Powers Jr. was one of these. Grand opera (broadcast live, of course) was a staple of early radio, and Powers devised what he thought might be a way to cash in by adding “sight” to sound in a forerunner of today’s televising of live events to theater audiences. 

Realizing that 1922 low-res TV wasn’t up to this, Powers devised a scheme in which opera performances would be “pre-recorded” on film (silently, of course, as “talkies” were still five years away) and distributing these to multiple movie theaters where they would be projected in synchronism with a live radio broadcast. 

The opera performers and musicians would also be viewing a copy of the film and “lip sync” their radio performance to the projected images. Obviously, all projectors would have to start at exactly the same time and remain in sync for this to work. 

While Powers did not claim to have all problems solved in connection with his “radio talking pictures,” he was optimistic about their adoption. (In addition to maintaining synchronism, other issues such as the ability of anyone with a radio receiver to “ride free” seem to have doomed the scheme, and there appears to have been only limited interest in deploying it.)

OTHER NEWS FROM TV’S PAST:

75 Years Ago: Television was at the forefront in discussions involving industry groups and the FCC. Even though post-war TV broadcasting had barely cleared the gate, a spectrum shortage was forecast and it appeared broadcasters would likely be losing some of their newly-apportioned channels. (Ultimately, Ch. 1 (44 to 50 MHz), which had been designated for “community” (LPTV) broadcasting, was reassigned for land mobile use.). 

Co-channel and adjacent-channel interference (due to short spacing) were becoming more and more common as new TV stations began taking to the air. A possible solution proposed by the FCC’s television section head was to allow stations to increase power by “10-fold or even 100-fold” to try and override the distant signals interfering with local broadcasts. (TV station ERPs were capped then at 50 kW; however, most were operating at less than 20 kW.) 

RCA heralded the development of a new image orthicon studio camera that required only 1/10 of the light required by conventional iconoscope cameras. The company claimed it could produce “brilliant, sharply-defined” images with light levels in the 100 to 200 foot-candle range. 

RCA touted savings in both studio lighting and “oversized air conditioning plants,” as well as the elimination of eye-straining glare in the studio. RCA also began shipping a console version of its very successful 630TS television receiver introduced the previous year. The new 10-inch model came with a suggested list price of $450 (more than $5,000 in today’s money).

50 Years Ago: The big industry news reported in June 1972 also came from RCA. This time it was in the video display area. After 18 years of development of delta-gun shadow mask color CRTs, the company announced that it was dropping this design and moving to in-line gun, slotted mask tubes, a design favored by most of the industry then. 

The new design had much to offer, including greatly simplified convergence adjustments. (RCA developed the delta-gun tube in an early-1950s “crash program” to create an all-electronic color television system, and continued to make improvements throughput its lifespan.) 

Elsewhere, employees at EECO (the Electronics Engineering Co. of California), a supplier of precision timing systems for scientific organizations, were still basking in the limelight after having been honored at the 1972 National Academy of Arts and Sciences Emmy Awards Banquet for their development of serial timecode equipment for videotape editing. (The EECO timecode would morph into the SMPTE timecode that’s still in use.)

25 Years Ago: The fallout from the U.S. analog to digital TV broadcasting conversion continues, with questions arising about the FCC’s DTV facilities allotments and replication of existing analog service. Dr. Oded Bendov, then Dielectric’s vice president of antenna development, suggested that in some cases it might require ERPs as great as 5 MW to replicate service, even though the FCC had limited DTV stations to 1 MW ERP.

Art Allison, then senior engineer in the NAB’s Science and Technology department, also questioned the FCC’s assumption of outdoor 30-foot-high receiving antennas, as many viewers used indoor antennas. Allison also called attention to potential interference due to short spacing of stations in the new table of allocations. 

Sony and National Mobile Television demonstrated the first live broadcast of 4:2:2 SD television with a 16:9 aspect ratio. 

CBS’s Joe Flaherty urged broadcasters to make the digital transition as quickly as possible, warning that: “No standard and no spectrum assignments last long unused…and any lack of interest or inaction on the part of broadcasters and manufacturers will result in challenges to the digital spectrum assignment and in the proliferation of incompatible transmission standards by the computer industry and by the competitive media.”

Although radio broadcasting was barely out of the gate in the spring of 1922, some visionaries were looking beyond just an aural one-to-many form of communication.

 These included Los Angeles inventor Rudolph A. Dallugge, who in May that year filed for a patent on a television system. Although the patent describes mechanical scanning at both “camera” and “receiver” positions, Dallugge offered the possibility of using an electromagnetically-deflected cathode ray tube for display. No record exists of commercialization of his system.

Other Significant TV Tech Events that Happened in May:

75 Years Ago – May 1947: Television’s long-running “color war” was beginning to take shape, with RCA showing off an “all-electronic” color television system  just a couple of months after the FCC’s rejection of the 16-MHz-wide field sequential color system proposed by CBS. 

The demo, which took place at Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute, was accomplished via a tri-color television projector and images scanned from Kodachrome slides and 16 mm film. (RCA had yet to perfect a color CRT, and its live color camera was also still a work in progress.)  A record number of U.S. television stations were now on the air—12, including two still licensed as experimental. CPs had been issued for more than 50 others. 

At about the same time, reports were starting to be received about reception of FM stations at much greater distances than expected as radio broadcasters began to populate their new 88 to 106 MHz spectrum. Few, if any, saw a connection to the ongoing television rollout. However, with more and more new TV stations taking to the air, co-channel interference reports (and a “freeze” on new applications) would soon follow.

50 Years Ago –1972: The concept of a more-inclusive domestic communication satellite system was beginning to take off, with the FCC hosting a meeting to explore an “open entry” plan to circumvent domination of the new industry by AT&T and Comsat. 

Prospective satellite operating companies were joined in oral arguments on this very “hot potato” matter by both the DOJ and the Office of Telecommunications Policy. The heat was also on in the broadcaster/CATV area following a federal district court’s reaffirmation of the right of cable TV operators to retransmit copyrighted content from broadcasters without incurring copyright liability themselves (free carriage of broadcast content). CBS announced that it would appeal the decision. 

The consumer VCR was beginning to roll out, with Norelco announcing that it would be making some 23,000 units available in early 1973 through its U.S. distributor. Suggested price was $1,425 (almost $9,700 in today’s money). RCA released the results of a recent study revealing that nearly 55 percent of U.S. households now had color TVs.

25 Years Ago – 1997: Despite arguments about high implementation costs and little in the way of return, a move to digital television broadcasting seemed certain. Broadcasters and the NAB projected that DTV service would be available to 43 percent of U.S. television households within 18 to 24 months, and consumer receivers ready by Christmas 1998. 

However, questions were being raised about the availability of equipment and—what was to remain a concern for the next couple of decades—the lack of qualified workers needed to erect the necessary new towers and handle antenna installations. The move to DTV was also beginning raise questions in the CATV arena, as while the majority of U.S. households received TV via cable, there was no mandate for operators to carry the new digital signals. 

Lacking too was equipment for converting 8-VSB OTA signals to the 64-QAM modulation used in cable distribution. Operators were also wondering about carriage requirements for the additional program streams that broadcasters would be transmitting after converting to digital. 

Seattle public broadcaster, KCTS-TV, became the first North American purchaser of Sony’s HDC-750 HD camera, which had premiered at the previous month’s NAB Show. It only supported 1035-line video, but Sony promised a 1080i sensor by late 1998. List price was about $120K (nearly $215K in 2022 money). 

Editor's Note: In our continuing series on broadcasting history, James O'Neal takes a look back at technology milestones that occurred in April. 

February: Looking Back at Broadcasting's First 100 Years
March: Broadcasting: The Way We Were

As we approach the 2022 NAB Show, let's take a look back on some of the past highlights of this indispensable part of the broadcasting scene.

It’s not possible to go back a full century as a starting point, as broadcasting didn’t really take off until 1922, and there was no show—or National Association of Broadcasters—until the following year. 

Sufficient documentation does exist, however, for examining details of the show held to commemorate the 10th anniversary of broadcastings emergence as a societal gamechanger and major industry. (And though it may come as a bit of a surprise, the NAB Show hasn’t always been held in April and in Las Vegas. Show dates have meandered throughout the calendar, and it wasn’t until 1975 that it got to Nevada.)

90 Years Ago – 1932
St. Louis hosted the three-day NAB Show, which got underway on Nov. 14—just in time for a heavy snowstorm. Harold A. LaFount, acting chair of the Federal Radio Commission opened proceedings with an address in which he urged unity within the broadcasting industry to face the problems confronting it and to keep American broadcasting “the best in the world.” 

The new NAB president, Alfred J. McCosker, vowed to lobby for longer-term station licenses, as renewals then were required every six months. Sessions addressed other issues faced by Depression-era broadcasters, including copyrights, exorbitant network line charges and license fees for record turntables. 

Engineering sessions included a presentation by Washington radio attorney Louis G. Caldwell, who urged a move to long wave broadcasting by U.S. broadcasters to help alleviate band congestion and provide better service. (Long wave broadcasting, while successful in Europe and other regions, never caught on in the United States.) 

Television was not on the agenda, even though RCA/NBC had been conducting tests on the new medium since 1929, and had recently established a transmitter site atop New York’s new Empire State Building for testing the feasibility of VHF spectrum for TV broadcasting. Despite the “hard times,” the show boasted a record attendance of nearly 400.

75 Years Ago – 1947
Television was unquestionably the focus of the Sept. 15-18, Atlantic City Show, with RCA’s exhibition of a 6-bay antenna stretching almost all the way to the 150-foot ceiling of the city’s convention hall. The antenna and a mobile truck also on display were destined for Baltimore’s WBAL-TV start-up after the show. 

The 1947 event registered the highest attendance ever, with nearly 2,600 attending sessions and viewing equipment exhibits. In addition to TV gear, exhibitors also showed off facsimile technology, which was being touted as a delivery mechanism to get daily newspapers into homes. (The top two MHz—106 to 108 MHz—of the “new” FM band was originally designated for facsimile transmission.)

50 Years Ago –1972
The April 9-12 Chicago NAB Show marked the event’s golden anniversary and also the 23rd time it was hosted by the “Windy City.” Engineering sessions featured presentations on a number of contemporary topics, including maximization of video chain and transmitter performance (dual-redundant TV transmitters were just coming into their own). 

There was also a “faceoff” of sorts between members of an FCC panel and station engineers. When asked about special training Commission field inspectors received on broadcast operations, the FCC rep’s answer was “none,” which raised a comment from a station engineer about this being obvious, as he’d had to instruct an inspector on proper use of a field strength meter. 

Out on the exhibits floor, Amperex was celebrating the recent delivery of its 20,000 Plumbicon camera pickup tube, RCA was showing off its new TK-44B Plumbicon studio camera and TK-28 telecine camera, which could be supplied with either vidicons or Plumbicons. Personnel at the Ampex booth stayed busy explaining the feature set of the company’s new 2-inch cassette VTR, the ACR-25 (and how it was superior to RCA’s TCR-100). 

25 Years Ago – 1997
The move to digital television was high on the agenda at the April 7-10 Las Vegas NAB Show. A line in the sand had been drawn for analog switch-off by 2002, and this was not sitting well with attendees—especially operators of smaller market stations—due to the high cost of making the transition and uncertainty about recouping expenses. 

A continuing debate over the best digital standard was also permeated the show, with cases being made for both 720p and 1980i. (Kodak, still a big player in TV production and broadcasting, advocated sticking with film until video standards “shook out.”) 

Transmitter manufacturers reported a lot of interest in new digital-capable units; however, most of this was from “tire kickers,” with sales orders not expected until the following year. While there were plenty of digital-ready transmitters, broadcasters wanting to move to high-power solid-state UHF models would have to wait. 

As one large transmitter company UHF products line executive explained things: “We are not ready to mass produce solid-state [UHF] DTV transmitters at this point. No one in this business is.”

TV Technology's sister publication TWICE recently sat down with the Head of Trademark Licensing at Technicolor, Claire Villeneuve, to talk about the historic RCA electronics company, which celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2019.

Here is the full Q&A.

TWICE:Thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions about RCA, its history and future. What an accomplishment to be around after 100 years! What are some of the biggest highlights in RCA’s history?

Claire Villeneuve: To start off, David Sarnoff, founder of Radio Corporation of America in 1919, pioneer of radio and TV in the USA, introduced radio communications connecting people, cities, towns, states and countries. RCA created the first nationwide American radio network, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), and pioneered the black & white TV in 1929 and later color TVs in 1954.

Other major highlights for RCA include:

• RCA introduced the 7-inch 45-rpm “single” record in 1949, bringing music quickly to the younger generations;
• RCA opened a state-of-the-art recording studio in Nashville in 1957 to record famous artists such as Elvis Presley;
• RCA launched its first communications satellite in 1958, following the first satellite launch, Sputnik, in 1957 by the Soviet Union;
• RCA’s revolutionary technology, the “slow-scan television cameras (SSTV),” was used to capture Neil Armstrong landing on the moon during the Apollo mission’s live TV broadcast in 1969;
• In 1998, RCA and DirecTV demonstrated the first satellite transmission of High-Definition Television (HDTV) programs at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas;
• RCA now has electronic products such as SmartTVs, tablets, headsets, mobile phones, home appliances such as washers, dryers, refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners and more!

TWICE:What is the global reach of RCA products today?

CV: Today, RCA products are sold primarily in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Latin America and South America. Our products are rolling out in Europe and Asia now.

TWICE:What is one of the highlights of the RCA centennial year celebration?

CV: RCA has partnered with Pentatonix, the U.S. iconic a-cappella band and part of RCA Records label, to celebrate our 100 years of innovation.

An anniversary song to a super fan has been performed during the 2019/2020 concert tour and more magic moments to come.

TWICE:Owen D. Young was recently inducted into the Consumer Technology Association’s Hall of Fame. Are there other notable RCA alumni and their contributions you’d like to remind us about?

CV: Great question!

The Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame was founded by the Consumer Electronics Association (today called CTA) in 2000 and honors leaders whose creativity, persistence, determination and significant contributions helped shape the industry and made the consumer electronics marketplace what it is today. The first class of 50 inductees was in 2000, and David Sarnoff was one of the first 50 inductees!

Each year another group of inventors, engineers, business leaders, retailers and journalists are inducted into the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame and in 2019 Owen D. Young (1874-1962) joined David Sarnoff as significant technology leader of the century.

TWICE:What are RCA’s highest priorities in consumer electronics right now?

CV: Costs and services are big driving factors today. RCA prides itself on offering consumer electronics with enhanced features, such as Android or Roku, at affordable prices. RCA is also proud to bring families and friends together and help loved ones stay in touch.

TWICE:What Was David Sarnoff’s greatest contribution to the consumer electronic industry?

CV: David Sarnoff’s goal was to bring people together. David grew up in a time where news was no closer than a ride on a horse to another town or by post that could take weeks. Today, we can’t imagine a world without access to people, places and information.

Because of business leaders like David Sarnoff, whose creativity and persistence were relentless, we are connected to the world in the palm of our hands today.

TWICE:What is a fact about RCA that would surprise people?

CV: That RCA was one of the top suppliers of tablets in North America in 2018.

TWICE:Are there any new industries we can expect to see RCA expand into in the near future? (i.e. health and wellness, wearables)

CV: At RCA, we are striving to enter new businesses all the time. Consumer Electronics is a tough and competitive business on every level.

We are evaluating our opportunities and investing in new territories or products regularly. Consumer lighting, smart phones, home automation, automotive and electric mobility are hot categories today.

TWICE:What do the next 100 years look like for RCA?

CV: RCA will continue to bring families together and celebrate life’s magic moments!

Industry great Joseph “Joe” Clayton, who helped spearhead myriad CE and telecommunications technologies from satellite radio to Sling TV over his 42-year career, died Saturday at the age of 69 following a brief illness.

Clayton’s illustrious curriculum vitae included runs as president/CEO of Dish Network, from 2011-2015; chairman of Sirius Satellite Radio, from 2004-2008, and before that CEO, from 2001-2004; and president and president/CEO, respectively, of telecommunications providers Global Crossing and Frontier Corp.

Before that he helped launch DirecTV at Thomson Consumer Electronics in concert with Hughes Electronics, and also led RCA’s marketing and sales efforts for TVs and VCRs.

At Sirius (now SiriusXM Radio), he helped introduce new home and car hardware, and put the company on the map by signing multiple radio contracts with sports leagues and entertainment figures including Howard Stern.

“We were able to launch the Hopper, DishNet and Sling TV; navigate two spectrum auctions; and deliver our customers throughout,” Clayton said upon his retirement from Dish.

In his spare time, Clayton served on EchoStar’s board of directors; was chairman of the Consumer Electronics Association (now CTA) from 1995-1996; and was a trustee for his alma mater, Kentucky’s Bellarmine University.

He was inducted into the CT Hall of Fame in 2008, received CTA’s Digital Patriot Award in 2013, and was bestowed a LIfetime Achievement Award by the International Bluegrass Music Association.

The tributes came in fast and furious. “Joe was a man of passion and vision whose influence on our industry is remarkable in its breadth and depth,” said Dish co-founder and chairman Charlie Ergen. “As a master marketer, his brands, including RCA, DirecTV, Sirius Satellite Radio and Dish, were welcomed into tens of millions of American homes. As importantly, he mentored and influenced generations of leaders across our industry, including me. I am grateful for Joe’s leadership, his friendship and his generosity.”

Said CTA president/CEO Gary Shapiro, “The consumer technology sector has lost a legend. Joe was a strong and ethical leader — a lion of the industry, who was larger than life. He saw the future clearly and helped lead the industry in areas including direct broadcast satellite, HDTV and satellite radio. Joe focused on the big picture, increasing growth by inspiring people … Our industry and all those who knew Joe Clayton are better for his influence, leadership and guidance.”

n a 2016 column, longtime TWICE editor Steve Smith described Clayton as a mentor, an enthusiastic promoter of the RCA brand and its color TV line, and as someone who “knew and respected the role the press had in covering the business, when news was good, bad or indifferent.”

“He not only shared info on his products and technology,” Smith continued, “but was willing to provide significant insights into the arcane world of CE retailing, and without realizing it, helped me get up to speed rather quickly in this fast-paced business. Over the years he was generous with his time and his insights, even when the story was not about RCA — or later on — Sirius or Dish.”

Susan M. Donovan, Ph.D., president of Clayton’s beloved Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky., noted his role as a trustee and benefactor. “Joe Clayton was a part of everything at Bellarmine. The Bellarmine campus wouldn’t be what it is today without his incredible support,” she wrote in a university post. “Not just through our physical space, and not just through his leadership as a trustee and distinguished graduate. It lives in the legacy of so many students and alumni who have now moved on to become educators, librarians, business people and leaders in their communities. It is a legacy that will continue forever.”

A native Kentuckian and self-described “poor young kid from the hills of Bardstown,” Clayton was an avid traveler, hunter and University of Kentucky basketball fan.

He is survived by his wife, Janet, daughters Megan Stovall (Matthew), Kelly Herr (Brock), Kathleen Reitz (Andy), and Molly; son John Paul; grandchildren Samuel, Abigail, William and Lucas Paul; brother Mike Clayton (Leigh Ann); and sister Ellen Willett (Jerry).

Visitation will be Thursday, Nov. 8, from 3:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. in Knights Hall at Bellarmine. His funeral will be held Friday, Nov. 9 at 11:00 a.m. at Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral in Bardstown, with burial immediately to follow at St. Joseph.

HILLIARD, OHIO—For nearly two decades, aficionados of television’s technical history have trekked to this Columbus suburb to exchange information, add to their collections of vintage TV sets, secure obscure parts for receiver restoration projects and to make new friends.

This year’s May 4-6 Early Television Foundation conference drew 125 attendees who traveled from all across the United States to take part in what has become an annual event.

In addition to a large auction of antique television sets and associated vintage equipment, an afternoon of TV history-related presentations, socializing and a wrap-up Saturday night dinner, the conference also features a large flea market where “anything goes” that’s related to television. This year’s offerings included an early Ampex type “A” one-inch videotape recorder, a variety of cathode ray and receiving tubes, test equipment for servicing early receivers, complete and incomplete early TV chasses, and even some now-vintage analog TV broadcast gear including a Tektronix 520 vectorscope that was priced to sell at $20.

ON THE AUCTION BLOCK

The big draw (and money-making event) is the Saturday morning “live auction” (it’s streamed live to allow those who can’t attend in person to see and remotely bid on items). This year’s event lasted some three hours and saw literally hundreds of items put on the block.

Top dollar entries were a 1954 RCA CT-100 color set with good CRT selling for $4,400, a pre-war II (1937) British Baird “mirror lid” receiver that changed hands for $4,000, and a first-gen (early 1954) 15-inch color set from Westinghouse that also commanded $4,000. Color receivers from the 1950s and 60s always command premium prices at ETF auctions. Another RCA CT-100 with a defective CRT sold for $500, and a working Admiral 21-inch set commanded $950. The auction also included some early television camera tubes, including a very rare RCA 1930s/early 40s “orthicon.” The reserve on this item wasn’t reached, however, and it went unsold.

The annual conference also includes presentations on various aspects of television’s history and technology. This year’s presenters included Carl Doyle, senior product development engineer, who described the technical accomplishments of C. Francis Jenkins (early television researcher and founder of today’s SMPTE organization) and brought along one of Jenkins’ early 1930s mechanical television receivers.

Other presentations included a discussion of the accomplishments of the Bendix Corp. in the field of television by George Lemaster; a description of what was possibly RCA’s worst TV receiver, the 10-tube, 8-inch model KCS100 “personal portable” by former RCA employee Ed Milbourn; the “dos and don’ts” of early broadcast image orthicon television camera restoration by Ralph Sargent; and also a non-technical offering by collector Dave Sica, who offered fellow collectors advice on making provisions in their wills to ensure that their collections won’t wind up in a dumpster.

PREDICTA WORKSHOP

A special workshop session provided hands-on techniques and information for those wanting to restore Philco’s futuristic “Predicta” television receivers.

“All in all, this year’s conference was very successful” said McVoy, characterizing attendance as “pretty close to a record. We had 20 people who had never been to the convention before, and a lot more young people than usual. The auction proceeds totaled $21,500, much more than last year.”

McVoy also commented on the recent acquisition of what he termed the “rarest of the rare” color TVs, a late 1953 Raytheon model. “There are only a couple of others known to exist” said McVoy. “We were very fortunate to obtain this for the collection.” According to a Dec. 21, 1953 Chicago Tribune account, Raytheon had already begun shipping the sets to retailers, only days after the Dec. 19 decision by the FCC to allow the broadcasting of color via the NTSC standard.

McVoy said that he’s planning to add another display of television technology from the 1970s to the present, as younger visitors want to know what happened after the 1960s and why sets they are familiar with aren’t included in displays.

He also noted that the museum will play a part in an upcoming regional ATSC 3.0 conference in late June. “The ATSC conference itself will take place at an area hotel, and we will be hosting an evening reception for the broadcasters,” said McVoy. “They’ll be bussed over for the reception and get to see a lot of TV history leading up to this new broadcasting achievement.”

The Early Television Museum opened in 2001 and features more than 7,000-square feet of display space. It includes a complete RCA late 1940s television transmitter, a late-1940s vintage remote broadcast vehicle with cameras and microwave head, several early broadcast cameras, a large number of fully-restored mechanical, pre-war, and early color receivers, an operational CBS-type field sequential color camera and display, a gallery featuring camera and display tubes, and a laboratory facility established to perpetuate the rebuilding of cathode ray tubes. The first of the annual conferences took place in 2003.