David Sarnoff
By single-handedly forging the mediums of television and radio, David Sarnoff had an immeasurable impact on today's world in the areas of culture, government, technology, and economics.
David Sarnoff
I am a leader, not a follower.
I wonder how I can harness the knowledge of one for the benefit of many.
I hear the ideas of others and always give them a chance.
I see a world built on top of a brick I laid.
I am a giant, with my head in the clouds and my feet on the ground.
I pretend to be cruel when I must, and kind when I can.
I feel hope for the future.
I touch the hearts and minds of men.
I worry when I see others who can do the same.
I cry for those I had to harm in order to change the world.
I am a visionary, and I will not rest until my prophecies are proven.
I understand the power I have created.
I say that this power must be used for the benefit of humanity.
I dream of a world in which peace and understanding are constant.
I try to forge that world from the fires of our own.
I hope someone will take that hammer and anvil and finish what I have started.
I am David Sarnoff.
Justification
David Sarnoff in 300 Words
David Sarnoff was born on February 27, 1891, in
Russia. After immigrating to
New York City in 1900 Sarnoff took his dying father’s place as money-earner, mainly by delivering newspapers. In 1907, Sarnoff took a job for the American Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company, and slowly climbed its ranks. By 1917, Sarnoff had reached the upper management of the American Marconi Company. Until this point, radio had been used only in the shipping industry; no one thought that the public had a use for radio. Sarnoff challenged this notion, and in 1920 the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) was formed as a subsidiary of the Marconi Company. In 1922, RCA was sold to General Electric, which Sarnoff joined as a mid-level manager. There needed to be quality, networked broadcasting, so Sarnoff oversaw the creation of the National Broadcasting Company to provide the necessary programs. Over 12 million people tuned in to NBC’s first broadcast on November 15, 1926. In 1930, Sarnoff was made President of RCA. Shortly after Sarnoff’s promotion, GE was sued by the Justice Department for monopolizing radio production, and in 1932, GE was forced to give up RCA/NBC. Sarnoff was now free to concentrate on what he viewed as “the next big thing”: commercial television. By 1936, the last television related patent had been acquired by RCA, and mass-production of television sets was possible. From 1936-1945 Sarnoff worked as a communications consultant for the government, delaying the widespread release of television. After the war, RCA started selling monochrome television sets to the general public. NBC beat its competitors to color broadcasting in 1954, which solidified its hold on the television industry for years to come. Sarnoff continued to control RCA/NBC until 1970, when he retired. David Sarnoff died of cardiac arrest in 1971 at the age of 80.
The Rationale of My Choice
When I was first looking for a potential subject for the Power of One project, I was trying to think of the things in the world that affect the “average American” the most. My thoughts naturally drifted towards the technologies of the late 19th and 20th centuries, like the computer, the telephone, and, of course, the television. I initially considered the inventor of the television as a subject; no one could argue with the influence that the television has had on the world today. I realized, however, that without media corporations and their broadcasts, the television would probably only find use in specialized industries. It certainly wouldn’t be the icon it is today. It only took a few minutes to find an example of such a company: the National Broadcasting Company. NBC’s many and varied broadcasts have certainly affected the culture of
America and, to a certain extant, the world. I reasoned that whoever founded NBC has therefore had a moderately large effect on the world, and that they might be suitable as a Power of One subject. I went into the search expecting little, but I came out of it having seen a great deal more. Many sources pointed towards David Sarnoff as the founder of NBC. Interestingly, one my sources stated that it wasn’t Sarnoff that founded NBC; rather, it was the collaboration of many at NBC’s parent company, Radio Corporation of
America. One would think that the discovery of such a major misconception both on my part and the part of many of my sources would deter me from researching him further. Actually, it was this that really made me resolute in my decision to research him. I reasoned that only two things could have caused this huge mistake on such a wide scale. The first possibility is that Sarnoff was a very convincing liar. The second was that he made such an impact that it was generally assumed that he attained this minor-by-comparison achievement. I decided that both possibilities merited further investigation, and since then I have discovered what a truly influential man David Sarnoff was.
The Times of Sarnoff
The times in which David Sarnoff lived were extremely varied. His early life, from about 1891-1918, was marked with many revolutions, both literally and metaphorically. The first cars were put into production during this time, the last Czar of Russia was overthrown in 1917, and World War I was fought from 1914-1918. These were times of great turmoil and unrest in the world, and information was highly valued. The seeds sown by this age of unease contributed to the very beginnings of the mass-media revolution, aided in its growth by Sarnoff himself. During Sarnoff’s service as mid-level manager at RCA, from around 1918-1930, the sea of history gradually roughened. Mussolini rose to power in
Italy in 1922, NBC broadcast one of the first commercial radio programs in 1926, and the Great Depression started in 1929. Relations in the world began to worsen over Communism’s rise, as well as the world-wide economic depression. From 1930-1945, when Sarnoff served both as President of RCA and communications consultant to the government, the world essentially exploded. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party rose to power in 1934,
Hollywood entered its “golden age”, World War II was fought from 1939-1945, and the Great Depression finally ended. The influence of this age on world history is huge, mainly due to the war. From the end of the war in 1945 to Sarnoff’s death in 1971, political relations became the worst they had been in centuries. In 1949, the Berlin Airlift marked the beginning of the Cold War, the Korean War was fought from 1950-1953, the Vietnam War began in 1959, and the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred in 1963. By the time David Sarnoff died in 1971, the Vietnam War had yet to be resolved, and there was fear and anxiety revolving around the Cold War.
Sarnoff's Influence
I think that, after learning about his accomplishments, it is obvious that David Sarnoff was a huge influence in the world. Although he didn’t invent the television or the radio, he almost single-handedly orchestrated their rise from obscure inventions to technological revolutions, which is equally as important. By doing so, he certainly made an impact on each of the four pillars needed to become a Power of One subject. His effect in the realm of culture is abundantly obvious. By starting the radio and television revolutions with NBC, he helped inform Americans as to what was happening in the world, from World War I all the way to the War on Terror. Few people, if any, in
America and
Europe can say that they don’t tune in to their television to catch up on the latest news. Sarnoff also helped create a sense of solidarity in the
America when it sorely needed it, during World War I. For the first time ever, you could listen to someone speaking and know that 11,999,999 people (to give the example of NBC’s first broadcast) were listening along with you. You could really feel that you were part of something bigger than yourself, your city, or even your state; you could truly feel like an American. Of course, radio and television’s capacity to entertain was also important. Even during humanity's darkest days you could still smile, still laugh, still cope, thanks to Sarnoff’s revolutions. The world of politics also had to go through many changes because of Sarnoff. Because of live broadcasting, it wasn’t sufficient for politicians to actually be competent; they now also had to look competent in order to keep their jobs. In fact, some would say that the latter has become more important than the former, causing a general decline in the quality of government the world over. Sarnoff also had a large influence in the area of technology. While it is true that Sarnoff didn’t invent anything in his life, he made the widespread use of radios and televisions a reality. Without such an adoption of those inventions, other technologies we take for granted might not have seen commercial use, or even come into existence at all, including computers, satellites/GPS, and digital cameras. Finally, Sarnoff also made a huge impact on economics. He established both the radio and television industries, now multi-trillion dollar businesses. He also helped found NBC, which would go on to become the multi-media conglomerate NBC Universal and a major market force in and of itself. Overall, I think it is clear that David Sarnoff was, is, and will continue to be a huge influence on the world.
Research Journal
December 4th, 2007: As of now, I'm not really sure how I feel about the Power of One project. I am somewhat excited about researching David Sarnoff; I think that he will prove to be a very interesting subject. The people that forged modern society have always intrigued me, and I think it will be... not so much "fun" as "enlightening" to learn more about one such a person. However, I have a few concerns over the project. First of all, I'm not exactly sure what it is I will be doing. I know that there will be more of these journal prompts, as well as an end of the year research paper, but will there be anything in between? Secondly, I don't know how long the research paper will be. Will it be long enough that I should start taking notes now, or do I not have to worry about it for quite some time? Thirdly, I don't know how many sources I will need to cite by the projects end. I have seen on this site that I need 15, but that may be out of date information and I have heard elsewhere that I need 25. Finally, I don't know what proportion of online to non-online sources I need. If the ratio is 2:1, like it appears to have been earlier, and we need 15 sources, than I only need 2 more non-online sources. If the proportion is different this year, or we need more sources, than I should probably start looking for more now. All in all, I have mixed feelings over the Power of One project. I am excited to learn more about David Sarnoff, but I am somewhat anxious.
December 21st, 2007: Now that I've started looking for information on Sarnoff in earnest, I have discovered two main problems that may hamper my research. The first obstacle is finding enough print sources on my subject in a timely manner. After a quick search on Amazon, I found one viable biography on Sarnoff, and one viable history of NBC (both of which I have purchased). There were few other useful print sources on the web site, and the small amount that I did see were out of my budget (seventy-five dollars is to much for any book, let alone a book I will use only once). I think the solution to that problem will lie in finding more magazine articles online, as well as online primary sources. This isn't an impassible mountain of a challenge; it's more like a small mud pit in the obstacle course of this project. The second and somewhat more dire problem that I have encountered is that it will be difficult to sort out the facts from the exaggerations. For those who know his story, David Sarnoff is a polarizing figure. Some see him as a greedy mogul who profited off the ideas of more intelligent and productive men. Others view him as a benevolent businessman who saw the true potential of television and simply did all in his power to bring the new invention into the main stream. Either way, I need to make sure I take the biases of the authors of my sources into account, and to adjust my emphasis on those sources accordingly. This will not be difficult, but that doesn't mean it is unimportant. If I fail to adjust for bias, my research will not only be misleading, but it will also contradict itself. I need to approach this cautiously...
January 7th, 2008: I have actually learned quite a few interesting things in the course of my research on Sarnoff. The most interesting, however, was that David Sarnoff engineered the creation of Radio-Keith-Orpheum Pictures (which became yet another subsidiary of RCA) in 1929. You may not know the name, but you almost certainly know of RKO's movies: RKO produced both the original King Kong and Citizen Kane, two of the best and most famous movies in history. I had no idea that Sarnoff had any influence on Hollywood, but it turns out that moviedom would be significantly different if it had not been for him. Aside from that, there have been a few other things I have learned. I've found out far more about the history of NBC, and the history of television broadcasting in general, such as the intense rivalry between CBS and NBC early in their lives. I have learned little about Sarnoff's personal life, however. I see information on Robert Sarnoff, David Sarnoff's son, fairly frequently (he worked in NBC under his father, and eventually inherited the RCA presidency). However, I have found out little else but the names of Sarnoff's two other sons, Edward and Thomas. Perhaps I simply haven't run into anything on them yet, though. My thinking so far is that Sarnoff has turned out to be a great subject for Power of One. He has had a great deal of influence on the four pillars, even more than I had originally anticipated. I think that the only challenge now is to depict his influence accurately, now that all questions of his importance have been removed (at least, for me). The thing that excites me the most about my research is that the more I study it, the more interesting it becomes. There have been several tidbits, like the RKO Pictures thing, that have both completely surprised and intrigued me, and as time goes on I think I will find more.
January 22nd, 2008: Critical Question 1: How did David Sarnoff influence the world outside of the United States?
Answering this question in a more concrete way will allow me to strengthen the overall idea for my research paper (that David Sarnoff is among the most influential people in history). Right now my answer would be that by affecting the United States in such a huge way, David Sarnoff had a profound affect on the rest of the world. However, I hope to find more direct influence on other nations; I can see glimpses of this with RCA's global subsidiaries, like RCA Italiana. With luck, I will be able to find more information on this, and make my argument all the stronger.
Critical Question 2: Would someone else have done what David Sarnoff did had he not been born?
Like the question above, answering this question will strengthen my overall argument that Sarnoff influenced the world just as much as (if not more than) any other famous or well-known president, inventor, or dictator. As of now, my answer would be that David Sarnoff was a unique individual, and the chances of anyone else being able to do what he did are very slim. Instead, the world would have had to wait for a variety of different men to each do only a small part of what Sarnoff acheived in his lifetime. Obviously, we are very lucky Sarnoff came along.
February 9, 2008: "Work and live to serve others, to leave the world a little better than you found it and garner for yourself as much peace of mind as you can. This is happiness."
-David Sarnoff
I chose this quote because, at first glance, this does not seem to be the kind of thing a multimedia mogul would say. Few would expect someone in Sarnoff's position to give such meaningful, poignant wisdom. This quote reflects the main force that drove Sarnoff to greatness; that is, his determination to change the world for the better. By bringing radio and television to the masses, he dramatically improved the quality of life for billions of people. He made it possible for humanity's greatest acts of kindness and most terrible acts of cruelty to be brought directly to you. By doing so, he hoped to inspire you to greatness, and call you action. In short, he hoped to convince everyone to "leave the world a little better than you found it." Sarnoff sincerely believed that if everyone acted on this idea, no obstacle would be insurmountable, no challenge impossible, no problem unsolvable. This was not a man content with mediocrity. This was not a man who accepted the world at status quo. This was not a man who saw the troubled world and decided that it wasn't his problem. This was a man who saw mankind's potential, and tried to show it to everyone else.
February 15, 2008 - I began by reading your poem of David Sarnoff and I immediately became intrigued by the picture you painted of him. The first question that came to mind was when I read his name “Sarnoff.” I asked myself, “what origin could that be, is it Greek, European or a Russian name? The first part of your poem describes a person that is a forward thinker, planner and future idealist. I found it interesting that you mentioned that this person harmed others in order to change the world. Overall you made a great impression with your powerful sentences leading me to want to know more about David Sarnoff. Later in your justification you explained that Sarnoff was a hard working immigrant that worked his way up the radio and television industry. I found it most interesting that he accomplished so much in the span of just over 30 years. By becoming president of RCA, a radio giant, and a pioneer in television he personified and lived the American dream. You did an excellent job in explaining who Sarnoff was, presenting the facts in a cohesive and well thought out manner. Your rationale for choosing David Sarnoff makes a lot of sense. I was immediately intrigued when you highlighted the fact that there is a possibility that David Sarnoff could have been simply a very “convincing liar.” In your discussion of the Time of Sarnoff, you highlight the turmoil and unrest of the world of the early 1900’s. I also find it interesting that David Sarnoff persevered through such a turbulent time in history. You also did an excellent job in outlining events in the early 20th century. To include Sarnoffs influence on American culture, government, technology, and economics. We love our radio, television and are thankful for its accessibility with minimum government intervention, thanks to the influence of people like Sarnoff. When I reviewed your research journal I found it comical that you and I both shared a bit of apprehension at the beginning of our project. I agree that David Sarnoff is a very influential person, however, I also find it very interesting that his name is not synonymous with radio or television or seems to be associated with either outside the industry. In other words, not a mainstream, recognizable name such as Henry Ford and the automobile. Great work Nate!
-Denice Patron<3
February 22, 2008: David Sarnoff’s success in life, both from a business and an influence perspective, was due to a variety of different facets of his personality. His foresight enabled him to see what the public needed, and his innate leadership abilities helped Sarnoff give it to them. This combination proved invaluable when he first learned of public radio transmitting, as he was able to predict its utility and lead RCA to become one of the biggest radio set producers in the world. His creativity and unorthodox actions also played a large role in Sarnoff`s rise to prominence. He could take pre-established technologies and modify them to suit the people`s needs. Something else that was instrumental to Sarnoff`s success, especially in the business world, was his willingness to listen to others. Besides earning the respect of his subordinates, co-workers, and supervisors, this also kept a steady influx of ideas on hand. Sarnoff himself wasn`t very good at creating whole new products. Instead, his skill lied in refining the ideas of others to perfection. While some might consider this a dishonest way to make a name for yourself, I think that it demonstrates Sarnoff`s practicality: if he knew no one would use an idea, he would take it, improve it, and use it himself (within the bounds of the law). Similarly, if he knew that he could execute this idea better than someone else, he would do everything he could to do so. Sarnoff wasn`t dishonest or cruel, he was simply pragmatic. The final major quality that helped Sarnoff to succeed was his confidence in himself and his decisions. If he had a "gut feeling" that something wouldn't work out, he tossed it aside; no matter what, he was the final judge on what would be produced and what wouldn't. During his life, the main forces that acted against Sarnoff were rival corporations, the American government, and the prevailing opinion of the public. Industrial competitors were, by their very nature, trying to destroy Sarnoff`s companies. Had this happened early in the life of RCA or NBC, Sarnoff would not have had the infrastructure to impact the world in the way that he did. The second major "opponent" of Sarnoff was the government of America. Unlike the industrial competitors, the government was not actively trying to harm Sarnoff, it was just trying to enforce the regulations it had put forth. One example of this would be the battle for color television between CBS and NBC. The FCC approved CBS`s color system, which could not broadcast to monochrome televisions. NBC`s color system, on the other hand, could broadcast to monochrome televisions (the program would still be seen in black and white, but at least people didn`t have to buy expensive color sets just to watch the news). Had Sarnoff not fought hard for the FCC to reverse its decision, CBS would have won the color war, NBC would be history, and the American people would have had to spend millions of dollars to replace their old monochrome sets. The final force that acted against Sarnoff was the general opinion of the public. Most of Sarnoff`s ideas were considered almost insane in his time. No one could have imagined that public radio would catch on; up until then it was a technology used exclusively in the military and the shipping industry. No one was willing to back commercial broadcasting except Sarnoff and his managers (whom he single-handedly convinced). Similar thinking plagued Sarnoff throughout his career, but he never let that bog him down. Considering such huge obstacles, you might wonder what could have possibly motivated Sarnoff to persevere. His early life of poverty in New York City showed him how difficult life could be, and once he had dragged himself out of that pit he became determined to help pull as many others out it as he could. This is what motivated Sarnoff: his belief that world could and should be made a better place, and it just needed someone to help others to realize their potential.
David Sarnoff rose up to be that "someone", and I think he succeeded.
Sources: http://www.museum.tv/archives/ metv/S/htmlS/sarnoffdavi/sarnoffdavi.htm
www.time.com/time/time100/builder/profile/sarnoff.html
www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/sarnoff.html
http://www.radiohof.org/pioneer/davidsarnoff.html
Picture: http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/biographies/MainBiographies/S/Sarnoff/sarnoffdavi.jpg
Is there a possibility that you can acquire contact information for his son and ask him a few key questions about his father's life? Last year we had a student contact their subject and they actually received a response. Just a thought. Ms. Smith
Comments (6)
Anonymous said
at 7:06 pm on Jan 22, 2008
hi nate!!!!!
whats up?
denice<3
Anonymous said
at 3:15 pm on Jan 25, 2008
Nice job on the research journals, Nate. I appreciate your honesty and depth of thought. Keep up the good work!
40-40-40-40
Anonymous said
at 9:18 pm on Jan 28, 2008
Hi Nate!
Anonymous said
at 7:25 pm on Feb 4, 2008
hey, Nate! This is a pretty info-filled page you got here....just dropping by!
:)
Anonymous said
at 7:52 pm on Feb 4, 2008
I try, but it's frustrating. I cry sometimes (i'm just kidding).
Anonymous said
at 4:37 pm on Feb 15, 2008
its fixed now, sry about that.
denice<3
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