THE GENERAL: David Sarnoff and the Rise of the Communications Industry

by Kenneth Bilby ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 10, 1986

Incredibly, though nearly 15 years have passed since Sarnoff's death, no responsible biographer has emerged to tell his fascinating story. Until now, that is. A close associate and member of his management council at RCA for two decades, Bilby here provides a warts-and-all portrait of the radio/TV pioneer whose demanding, visionary executive style had a ""transforming impact on society. ""A Russian-born Jew who arrived in America in 1900 at age nine, Sarnoff soon apprenticed himself to the wireless trade. With grim purpose and the help of sympathetic patrons like Guglielmo Marconi, the largely self-educated immigrant drove his way upward in the infant communications industry. Before reaching 40, he was named president of Radio Corp. of America. Sarnoff was not a founding father, but a valued employee of RCA; its sires were major corporations--General Electric, AT&T, United Fruit, and Westinghouse--that sought to monopolize key radio patents (at the US Navy's urging) in the name of national security. Nor, enduring myth to the contrary, did young Sarnoff keep a one-man radio watch on the stricken Titanic for three long days. Nonetheless, his many accomplishments were the stuff of legend. Characterized by Bilby as an innovator rather than an inventor, he had an awesome ability to envision the long-range possibilities of electronics technology. Equally important was Sarnoff's proficiency in mobilizing scientific and industrial resources to realize his goals. Among other achievements, he played the leading role in making radio and television commercial realities, in the process creating the first national broadcasting network. Sarnoff also found time to serve his adopted country as a defense contractor and in other capacities; a Signal Corps reservist, he was briefly on active duty during WW II to help SHAEF plan D-Day communications. His Army tour yielded a brigadier's star, and the autocratic, honors-minded Sarnoff reveled in the title, general, ever after. But in a very real sense, the ultracompetitive Sarnoff was always at war. He feuded constantly with rivals (Philco, Zenith, et al.), battled federal antitrust lawyers to several draws, struggled against the odds for close to 13 years to secure standards to his liking for compatible-color TV, and imposed culture on an entertainment-oriented public by bringing Toscanini to NBC. Along the way, Bilby recounts, Sarnoff suffered some lapses in judgment and technological defeats. CBS, for example, attained primacy in network broadcasting; its LP record swamped RCA's 45-rpm entry. In the author's view, though, Sarnoff's principal dereliction was failure to ensure an adequate management succession. On the whole, the General's stewardship emerges as impressively productive, both on a stand-alone basis and in the perspective of Bilby's afterword, which summarizes the aimless estate of a post-Sarnoff RCA and its recent reunion with GE. With the benefit of an insider's insights and intelligence (including corporate archives), the author offers a balanced, broad appreciation of a remarkable, difficult man, which places him clearly in the context of the switched-on, high-tech times he helped to inaugurate.

Pub Date: Sept. 10, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1986

Categories: NONFICTION