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{{Short description|Russian and American businessman (1891–1971)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = David Sarnoff
| image              = DavidSarnoff 1922.jpg
| caption            = Sarnoff in 1922
| native_name        = {{nobold|Давид Сарнов}}<br/>{{nobold|Давід Сарноў}}
| native_name_lang   = 
| pronunciation      = 
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1891|2|27}}
| birth_place        = [[Uzlyany]], [[Minsk Governorate]], [[Russian Empire]] (now [[Belarus]])
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1971|12|12|1891|2|27}}
| death_place        = [[New York City]], U.S.
| resting_place      = [[Kensico Cemetery]]<br/>[[Valhalla, New York]], U.S.
| resting_place_coordinates = {{coord|41.0779|-73.7865|type:landmark|display=inline}}
| education          = 
| alma_mater         = 
| occupation         = 
| years_active       = 1919–1970
| employer           = 
* Marconi Wireless Company
* [[Radio Corporation of America]]
| organization       = 
| known_for          = 
| notable_works      = <!-- produces label "Notable work"; may be overridden by |credits=, which produces label "Notable credit(s)"; or by |works=, which produces label "Works" -->
| boards             = 
* [[Rockefeller Brothers Fund]]
| spouse             = {{marriage|Lizette Hermant|July 4, 1917}}
| children           = 3, including [[Robert Sarnoff|Robert W. Sarnoff]]
| relatives          = [[Eugene Lyons]], [[Bernie Privin]], [[Richard Baer (writer)|Richard Baer]], [[Bruce J. Oreck]]
| awards             = 
* [[Junior Achievement]] US Business Hall of Fame
* [[National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame]] Distinguished Service Award
* [[Television Hall of Fame]] ''{{small|posthumously}}''
* [[Radio Hall of Fame]] ''{{small|posthumously}}''<ref name="radiohof"/>
* [[New Jersey Hall of Fame]] ''{{small|posthumously}}''
| website            = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| module             = {{Infobox military person | embed=yes
| nickname      = "The General"
| allegiance    = {{USA|1944}}
| branch        = {{army|USA|1944}}
| serviceyears  = 1941–1945
| rank          = [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier General]]<ref>{{cite web|title=How the General Earned his Star|url=https://www.hagley.org/librarynews/sarnoff/how-general-earned-his-star|website=Hagley Museum|date=29 January 2015 |access-date=15 October 2016}}</ref>
| servicenumber = <!-- Do not use data from primary sources such as service records -->
| unit          = [[Signal Corps (United States Army)|Army Signal Corps]]
| commands      = 
| battles       = [[World War II]]
| awards        = 
* Knight of the Cross of Lorraine (France)<ref name="nyt1974"/>
* Companion of the Resistance (France)<ref name="nyt1974"/>
* [[Legion of Merit]]
}}
}}

'''David Sarnoff''' (February 27, 1891 – December 12, 1971) was a Russian<ref name="nyt obit">{{Cite news |date=December 16, 1971 |title=Genius Who Brought Radio and TV into Homes |pages=71 |work=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]] |agency=[[New York Times]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch/125914520/ |access-date=June 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605212715/https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch/125914520/ |archive-date=June 5, 2023 |quote=The eldest of five children, [David Sarnoff] was born on Feb. 27, 1891, to a desperately poor itinerant trader ... in a bleak little village in the Russian province of Minsk. ... David Sarnoff, at age 5, with his mother in the village of Uzlian, Russia, where he was born. |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> and American businessman who played an important role in the American history of [[radio broadcasting|radio]] and [[television]]. He led the [[Radio Corporation of America]] (RCA) for most of his career in various capacities from shortly after its founding in 1919 until his retirement in 1970.

He headed a conglomerate of [[telecommunications]] and [[Media (communication)|media]] companies, including RCA and [[NBC]], that became one of the largest in the world. Named a Reserve [[Brigadier General]] of the [[Signal Corps (United States Army)|Signal Corps]] in 1945, Sarnoff thereafter was widely known as "The General".<ref name="nyt1974">{{cite news|last1=Fowle|first1=Farnsworth|title=Mrs. David Sarnoff Dies at 79; Widow of Broadcasting Pioneer|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/01/10/archives/mrs-david-sarnoff-dies-at-79-widow-of-broadcasting-pioneer.html|access-date=15 October 2016|work=The New York Times|date=10 January 1974|page=40}}</ref>

==Early life and career==
David Sarnoff was born to a [[Jewish]] family in [[Uzlyany]], a small town in [[Minsk Governorate]], [[Russian Empire]]<ref name="nyt obit" /> (today part of [[Belarus]]), the son of Abraham Sarnoff and Leah Privin. Abraham emigrated to the [[United States]] and raised funds to bring the family. Sarnoff spent much of his early childhood in a [[cheder]] (or [[yeshiva]]) studying and memorizing the [[Torah]]. He emigrated with his mother and three brothers and one sister to [[New York City]] in 1900, where he helped support his family by selling newspapers before and after his classes at the [[Educational Alliance]]. In 1906 his father became incapacitated by [[tuberculosis]], and at age 15 Sarnoff went to work to support the family.<ref name="museumbc">{{Cite web |url=https://www.museum.tv/eotv/sarnoffdavi.htm |title=Museum of Broadcast Communications web site |access-date=2015-07-06 |archive-date=2018-06-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621152041/http://www.museum.tv/eotv/sarnoffdavi.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> He had planned to pursue a full-time career in the newspaper business, but a chance encounter led to a position as an office boy at the [[Commercial Cable Company]]. When his superior refused him  leave for [[Rosh Hashanah]], he joined the [[Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America]] on September 30, 1906, and started a career of over {{nowrap|60 years}} in [[electronic communications]].

Over the next {{nowrap|13 years}}, Sarnoff rose from office boy to commercial manager of the company, learning about the technology and the business of electronic communications on the job and in libraries. He also served at Marconi stations on ships and posts on [[Siasconset]], [[Nantucket]] and the New York [[Wanamaker's|Wanamaker Department Store]]. In 1911, he installed and operated the wireless equipment on a ship hunting seals off [[Newfoundland and Labrador]], and used the technology to relay the first remote medical diagnosis from the ship's doctor to a radio operator at [[Belle Isle (Newfoundland and Labrador)|Belle Isle]] with an infected tooth.

The following year, he led two other operators at the Wanamaker station in an effort to confirm the fate of the [[RMS Titanic|''Titanic'']].<ref name="radiohof">{{Cite web |url=https://www.radiohof.org/david_sarnoff.htm |title=Radio Hall of Fame web site |access-date=2015-07-06 |archive-date=2018-04-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413090957/http://www.radiohof.org/david_sarnoff.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Sarnoff later exaggerated his role as the sole hero who stayed by his [[telegraph key]] for three days to receive information on the ''Titanic''{{'}}s survivors.<ref name="museumbc"/><ref name="Magoun">Magoun, Alexander [https://ethw.org/Images/1/1c/Magoun.pdf "Pushing Technology: David Sarnoff and Wireless Communications"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706140132/http://ethw.org/images/1/1c/Magoun.pdf |date=2015-07-06 }} paper presented at 2001 IEEE Conference on the History of Telecommunications</ref> [[Evan Schwartz (author)|Schwartz]] questions whether Sarnoff, who was a manager of the telegraphers by the time of the disaster, was working the key although that brushes aside concerns about corporate hierarchy. The event began on a Sunday when the store would have been closed.<ref>[https://legendsrevealed.com/entertainment/2012/10/01/did-david-sarnoff-work-a-telegraph-three-days-straight-covering-the-titanic-sinking/ Urban Legends Revealed]: Did David Sarnoff Work a Telegraph Three Days Straight Covering the Titanic Sinking?, Retrieved July 6, 2015</ref>

Over the next two years Sarnoff earned promotions to chief inspector and contracts manager for a company whose revenues swelled after Congress passed legislation mandating continuous staffing of commercial shipboard radio stations. That same year Marconi won a patent suit that gave it the coastal stations of the [[United Wireless Telegraph Company]]. Sarnoff also demonstrated the first use of radio on a railroad line, the [[Lackawanna Railroad]] Company's link between [[Binghamton, New York]], and [[Scranton, Pennsylvania]]; and permitted and observed [[Edwin Armstrong]]'s demonstration of his regenerative receiver at the Marconi station at [[Belmar, New Jersey]]. Sarnoff used [[H. J. Round]]'s hydrogen arc transmitter to demonstrate the broadcast of music from the New York Wanamaker station.

This demonstration and the [[American Telephone & Telegraph|AT&T]] demonstrations in 1915 of long-distance wireless telephony inspired the first of many memos to his superiors on applications of current and future radio technologies. Sometime late in 1915 or in 1916 he proposed to the company's president, [[Edward J. Nally]], that the company develop a "radio music box" for the "amateur" market of radio enthusiasts.<ref name="Magoun"/><ref>Benjamin, Louise. [http://users.ipfw.edu/tankel/Syllabi/Fall%202007/COM%20584/Benjamin.pdf "In Search of the Sarnoff 'Radio Music Box' Memo: Nally's Reply."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706212515/http://users.ipfw.edu/tankel/Syllabi/Fall%202007/COM%20584/Benjamin.pdf |date=2015-07-06 }} ''Journal of Radio Studies. ''June 2002. pp 97–106. Retrieved July 5, 2015. The 1915 memo has not been found, but Benjamin and the curator of Sarnoff's papers found a previously mis-filed 1916 memo that did mention a "radio music box scheme" (the word "scheme" at that time usually meant a plan)</ref> Nally deferred on the proposal because of the expanded volume of business during [[World War I]]. Throughout the war years, Sarnoff remained Marconi's Commercial Manager,<ref name="nyt1974"/> including oversight of the company's factory in [[Roselle Park, New Jersey]].

==Business career==
===RCA===
[[File:Albert Einstein with engineers and scientists - RCA radio station - Hagley Archives - restoration1.jpg|thumb|300px|Sarnoff with [[Albert Einstein]] and other noted scientists and engineers on a tour of the RCA wireless station in [[New Brunswick, New Jersey]] in 1921. [[Charles Proteus Steinmetz]] is next to Einstein.]]

Unlike many who were involved with early radio communications, who often viewed radio as point-to-point, Sarnoff saw the potential of radio as point-to-mass. One person (the broadcaster) could speak to many (the listeners).

When [[Owen D. Young]] of [[General Electric]] arranged the purchase of American Marconi and reorganized it as the [[Radio Corporation of America]], a radio patent [[monopoly]], Sarnoff realized his dream and revived his proposal in a lengthy memo on the company's business and prospects. His superiors again ignored him but he contributed to the rising postwar radio boom by helping arrange for the broadcast of a [[Jack Dempsey vs. Georges Carpentier|heavyweight boxing match between Jack Dempsey and Georges Carpentier]] in July, 1921. Up to 300,000 people listened to the broadcast of the fight, and demand for home radio equipment bloomed that winter.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/technology/bigdream/masarnoff.html "Big Dream, Small Screen,"] ''The American Experience'' television series. (1997)</ref> By the spring of 1922, Sarnoff's prediction of popular demand for radio broadcasting had come to pass and over the next few years, he gained much stature and influence.

In 1925, RCA purchased its first radio station ([[WFAN (AM)|WEAF]], New York) and launched the National Broadcasting Company ([[NBC]]), the first radio network in America. Four years later, Sarnoff became president of RCA. NBC had by that time split into two networks, the [[NBC Red Network|Red]] and the [[Blue Network|Blue]]. The Blue Network eventually became [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] Radio.<ref name="radiohof"/> Sarnoff is often inaccurately referred to as the founder of both RCA and NBC, but he was in fact founder of only NBC.<ref name="museumbc"/>

Sarnoff was instrumental in building and establishing the [[AM broadcasting]] radio business that became the preeminent public radio standard for the majority of the 20th century.

===RKO===
Sarnoff negotiated successful contracts to form [[RKO Pictures|Radio-Keith-Orpheum]] (RKO), a film production and distribution company.<ref name="museumbc"/> Essential elements in that new company were RCA, the [[Film Booking Offices of America]] (FBO), and the [[Keith-Albee-Orpheum]] (KAO) theater chain.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/money/RKO-Radio-Pictures-Inc RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.] – retrieved February 4, 2006.</ref>

===Early history of television===
[[File:Sarnoff RCA videotape recorder 1954.jpg|thumb|right|Sarnoff with the first RCA videotape recorder in 1954]]
When Sarnoff was put in charge of radio broadcasting at RCA, he soon recognized the potential for [[television]], i.e., the combination of motion pictures with electronic transmission. Schemes for television had long been proposed (well before World War I) but with no practical outcome. Sarnoff was determined to lead his company in pioneering the medium and met with [[Westinghouse Electric Corporation|Westinghouse]] engineer [[Vladimir Zworykin]] in 1928. At the time Zworykin was attempting to develop an all-electronic television system at Westinghouse, but with little success. Zworykin had visited the laboratory of the inventor [[Philo T. Farnsworth]], who had developed an Image Dissector, part of a system that could enable a working television. Zworykin was sufficiently impressed with Farnsworth's invention that he had his team at Westinghouse make several copies of the device for experimentation.<ref>^ Abramson, Albert (1987), The History of Television, 1880 to 1941. Jefferson, NC: Albert Abramson. p. 149-151. {{ISBN|0-89950-284-9}}.</ref>

Zworykin pitched the concept to Sarnoff, claiming a viable television system could be realized in two years with a mere $100,000 investment. Sarnoff opted to fund Zworkyin's research, most likely well-aware that Zworykin was underestimating the scope of his television effort. Seven years later, in late 1935, Zworykin's photograph appeared on the cover of the trade journal ''Electronics'', holding an early RCA [[photomultiplier]] prototype. The photomultiplier, subject of intensive research at RCA and in Leningrad, Russia, would become an essential component within sensitive television cameras. On April 24, 1936, RCA demonstrated to the press a working [[iconoscope]] camera tube and [[kinescope]] receiver display tube (an early [[cathode-ray tube]]), two key components of all-electronic [[television]].

The final cost of the enterprise was closer to $50 million. On the road to success they encountered a legal battle with [[Philo T. Farnsworth|Farnsworth]], who had been granted [[patent]]s in 1930 for his solution to [[broadcasting]] moving pictures. Despite Sarnoff's efforts to prove that he was the inventor of the television, he was ordered to pay Farnsworth $1,000,000 in royalties, a small price to settle the dispute for an invention that would profoundly revolutionize the world. However this sum was never paid to Farnsworth.

In 1929, Sarnoff engineered the purchase of the [[Victor Talking Machine Company]], the nation's largest manufacturer of [[gramophone record|records]] and [[phonograph]]s, merging radio-phonograph production at Victor's large manufacturing facility in [[Camden, New Jersey]]. The acquisition became known as the [[RCA Victor|RCA Victor Division]], later [[RCA Records]].

On January 3, 1930, Sarnoff became president of RCA, succeeding General [[James Harbord]]. On May 30, the company became involved in an [[antitrust]] case concerning the original radio [[patent pool]]. Sarnoff negotiated an outcome where RCA was no longer partially owned by Westinghouse and [[General Electric]], giving him final say in the company's affairs.

Initially, the [[Great Depression]] of the early 1930s caused RCA to cut costs, but Zworykin's project was protected. After nine years of Zworykin's hard work, Sarnoff's determination, and legal battles with Farnsworth (in which Farnsworth was proved in the right), they had a commercial system ready to launch. Finally, in April 1939, regularly scheduled, electronic television in America was initiated by RCA under the name of their broadcasting division at the time, The [[National Broadcasting Company]] (NBC). The first television broadcast aired was the dedication of the RCA pavilion at the [[1939 New York World's Fair]]grounds and was introduced by Sarnoff himself. Later that month on April 30, opening day ceremonies at The World's Fair were telecast in the medium's first major production, featuring a speech by President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], the first US president to appear on television. These telecasts were seen only in New York City and the immediate vicinity, since NBC television had only one station at the time, W2XBS Channel 1, now WNBC Channel 4. The broadcast was seen by an estimated 1,000 viewers from the roughly 200 television sets which existed in the New York City area at the time.

The standard approved by the [[NTSC|National Television System Committee]] (the [[NTSC]]) in 1941 differed from RCA's standard, but RCA quickly became the market leader of manufactured sets and NBC became the first television network in the United States, connecting their New York City station to stations in Philadelphia and Schenectady for occasional programs in the early 1940s.

According to the book “Global Communication Since 1844” <ref>{{Cite book |last=Hughill |first=Peter |title=Global Communication Since 1844 |date=9 April 1999 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University }}</ref> by Peter J. Hughill, Sarnoff was part of a group of Russian Jewish scientists  in the 1930s who wanted their research to advance military technology with the possibility of a forthcoming war with Germany. The account, credited to British government scientist [https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80025338 Brian Callick], is supported by other contemporary evidence.<ref>Broadway, Leonard (November 13, 1986). "IEE International Conference on The History of Television (publication 271) 13-15th November 1986. Appendix of Additional Papers. i) Session 3 Dr LF Broadway. ii) Opening address by Sir James Redmond quoting LF Broadway". ''Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE)'' (271 appendix).</ref><ref>Military Manoeuvres", 'The Listener' magazine BBC Publications (Vol 116, No 2984) 30th Oct 1986, pg 37. The birth of television and national defence.</ref> The group, also comprising [[Simeon Aisenstein]], [[Vladimir K. Zworykin|Vladimir Zworykin]] and [[Isaac Shoenberg]], knew each other well from Russia and saw possible military applications for their work on television. The group is said to have raised one million pounds sterling (about $5 million at the time) from US donors. The specific work took place at EMI-Marconi in the U.K. and resulted in Britain becoming significantly advanced in television development and able to launch a public service on 2 November 1936. The military applications helped the development of radio-location (later named radar). In addition the design and production in quantity of television equipment and sets allowed the similar military technology (cathode ray tubes, VHF transmission and reception and wideband circuits to be advanced. A former British defence minister, [[Ian Orr-Ewing, Baron Orr-Ewing|Lord Orr-Ewing]], referred to the work in a [https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/100-voices/birth-of-tv/sets-and-signals 1979 BBC interview] and stated “that’s how we won the [[Battle of Britain]]”.

Meanwhile, a system developed by [[EMI]] based on Russian research and Zworykin's work was adopted in [[United Kingdom|Britain]] and the [[BBC]] had a [[BBC Television Service|regular television service]] from 1936 onwards. However, [[World War II]] put a halt to a dynamic growth of the early television development stages.

===World War II===
[[File:David Sarnoff becomes brigadier general 1945.jpg|thumb|Sarnoff receiving his brigadier general's star from Major General Harry C. Ingles, chief signal officer of the US Army.]]

At the onset of World War II, Sarnoff served on [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower's]] communications staff, arranging expanded radio circuits for NBC to transmit news from the [[D-Day|invasion of France in June 1944]]. In France, Sarnoff arranged for the restoration of the [[Radio France]] station in [[Paris]] that the Germans destroyed and oversaw the construction of a radio transmitter powerful enough to reach all of the allied forces in Europe, called [[Radio Free Europe]]. In recognition of his achievements, Sarnoff was decorated with the [[Legion of Merit]] on October 11, 1944.<ref name="New York Times. October 12, 1944">New York Times. October 12, 1944.</ref>

Thanks to his communications skills and support he received the [[Brigadier General]]'s star in December 1945, and thereafter was known as "General Sarnoff."<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/radioageresearch194245newyrich#page/n381/mode/2up| title=Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television |chapter=Sarnoff Becomes a General|date=January 1945|publisher=Radio Age|page=27|access-date=August 4, 2014}}</ref> The star, which he proudly and frequently wore, was buried with him.

Sarnoff anticipated that post-war America would need an international radio voice explaining its policies and positions. In 1943, he tried to influence Secretary of State [[Cordell Hull]] to include radio broadcasting in post-war planning. In 1947, he lobbied Secretary of State George Marshall to expand the roles of [[Radio Free Europe]] and [[Voice of America]]. His concerns and proposed solutions were eventually seen as prescient.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1947/05/16/archives/sarnoff-revives-plea-for-us-radio-1943-letter-to-hull-now-sent-to.html?sq=david+sarnoff&scp=1&st=p "Sarnoff Revives Pleas for U.S. Radio; 1943 Letter to Hull, Now Sent to Marshall, Bids Nation Set Up a 'Voice of America',"] ''New York Times.'' May 16, 1947.</ref>

===Post-war expansion===
After the war, monochrome TV production began in earnest. Color TV was the next major development, and NBC once again won the battle. [[CBS]] had their electro-mechanical color television system approved by the [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]] on October 10, 1950, but Sarnoff filed an unsuccessful suit in the [[United States district court]] to suspend that ruling. Subsequently, he made an appeal to the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] which eventually upheld the FCC decision. Sarnoff's tenacity and determination to win the "Color War" pushed his engineers to perfect an all-electronic color television system that used a signal that could be received on existing monochrome sets that prevailed. CBS was now unable to take advantage of the color market, due to lack of manufacturing capability and color programming, a system that could not be seen on the millions of black and white receivers and sets that were triple the cost of monochrome sets. A few days after CBS had its color premiere on June 14, 1951, RCA demonstrated a fully functional all-electronic color TV system and became the leading manufacturer of color TV sets in the US.

CBS system color TV production was suspended in October 1951 for the duration of the [[Korean War]]. As more people bought monochrome sets, it was increasingly unlikely that CBS could achieve any success with its incompatible system. Few receivers were sold, and there were almost no color broadcasts, especially in prime time, when CBS could not run the risk of broadcasting a program which few could see. The NTSC was reformed and recommended a system virtually identical to RCA's in August 1952. On December 17, 1953, the FCC approved RCA's system as the new standard.

===Later years===
[[File:1 David Sarnoff 800.jpg|thumb|Sarnoff's mausoleum at Kensico Cemetery.]]
In 1955, Sarnoff received [[The Hundred Year Association of New York]]'s Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York."

In 1959, Sarnoff was a member of the [[Rockefeller Brothers Fund]] panel to report on U.S. foreign policy. As a member of that panel and in a subsequent essay published in ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' as part of its "The National Purpose" series, he was critical of the tentative stand being taken by the United States in fighting the political and psychological warfare being waged by [[USSR|Soviet]]-led international [[Communism]] against the [[First World|West]]. He strongly advocated an aggressive, multi-faceted fight in the ideological and political realms with a determination to decisively win the [[Cold War]].<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1960/06/02/archives/national-purpose-sarnoff-program-renewed-dedication-of-traditions.html?sq=david+sarnoff&scp=11&st=p Sarnoff, David. "National Purpose: Sarnoff Program; Renewed Dedication of Traditions Urged in Fighting Communism,"] ''New York Times.'' June 2, 1960; Sarnoff, David. "Turn the Cold War Tide in America's Favor", ''Life.'' June 6, 1960.</ref>

Sarnoff retired in 1970, at the age of 79, and died the following year, aged 80. He is interred in a mausoleum featuring a stained-glass vacuum tube in [[Kensico Cemetery]] in [[Valhalla, New York]].

After his death, Sarnoff left behind an estate estimated to be worth over $1 million. The majority of the estate went to his widow, Lizette Hermant Sarnoff, who received $300,000, personal and household effects in addition to the Sarnoff home, located on 44 East 71st Street.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/12/24/archives/sarnoff-estate-tops-million-with-most-going-to-his-widow.html|title=Sarnoff Estate Tops Million, With Most Going to His Widow|date=1971-12-24|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-04-15|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==Family life==
On July 4, 1917, Sarnoff married Lizette Hermant, the daughter of a [[French-Jewish]] immigrant family who settled in the Bronx as one of his family's neighbors.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=OCRaaFoxXvsC&dq=Lizette+Hermant&pg=PA228 ''The Froehlich/Kent Encycloped of Telecommunications Vol 15'' By Allen S. Kent]</ref><ref name="nyt1974"/> The [[Museum of Broadcast Communications]] describes their 54-year marriage as the bedrock of his life.<ref name="museumbc"/> Lizette was often the first person to hear her husband's new ideas as radio and television became integral to American home life.<ref name="nyt1974"/>

The couple had three sons. Eldest son [[Robert Sarnoff|Robert W. Sarnoff]] (1918–1997)<ref name="nyt1997">[https://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/24/nyregion/robert-sarnoff-78-rca-chairman-dies.html?sq=david+sarnoff&scp=5&st=nyt Kleinfeld, N.R. "Robert Sarnoff, 78, RCA Chairman, Dies,"] ''New York Times.'' February 24, 1997.</ref> succeeded his father at the helm of RCA in 1970.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/24/nyregion/robert-sarnoff-78-rca-chairman-dies.html|title=Robert Sarnoff, 78, RCA Chairman, Dies|last=Kleinfield|first=N. R.|date=1997-02-24|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-11-17|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Robert's third wife was operatic soprano [[Anna Moffo]].<ref name="nyt1997" /> Edward Sarnoff, the middle child, headed Fleet Services of New York.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15181837/david_sarnoff_head_of_rca_dies/|title=David Sarnoff, Head of RCA, Dies|date=1971-12-13|work=Beckley Post-Herald|access-date=2017-11-17|pages=11}}</ref> Thomas W. Sarnoff, the youngest, was NBC's West Coast President.<ref>{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hiAEAAAAMBAJ&q=david+sarnoff+son+thomas+nbc+west+coast+president&pg=PA35 |title=Billboard |date=1961-12-18 |publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc. |language=en}}</ref>

Sarnoff was the maternal [[uncle]] of [[screenwriter]] [[Richard Baer (writer)|Richard Baer]].<ref name="lat">{{cite news |first=Valerie J.|last=Nelson|title=Richard Baer, 79; wrote for many popular sitcoms|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-feb-26-me-baer26-story.html |work= [[Los Angeles Times]] |date=2008-02-26 |access-date=2008-03-22}}</ref> Sarnoff was credited with sparking Baer's interest in television.<ref name=lat/> According to Baer's 2005 [[autobiography]], Sarnoff called a [[vice president]] at [[NBC]] at 6 A.M. and ordered him to find Baer "a job by 9 o'clock" that same morning.<ref name=lat/> The NBC vice president complied with Sarnoff's request.

David Sarnoff was initiated to the [[Scottish Rite]] Freemasonry<ref>{{cite web | url = https://pub.acgl.eu/index.php/freemasonry/information | title = Famous men members of Masonic Lodges | website = American Canadian Grand Lodge ACGL | language = en | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181117142833/https://pub.acgl.eu/index.php/freemasonry/information | archive-date = November 17, 2018 | url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.bavarialodge.org/freemasonry | title = Famous members of Masonic Lodges | language = en | website = Bavaria Lodge No. 935 A.F. & A. M. | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181013211059/https://www.bavarialodge.org/freemasonry | archive-date = October 13, 2018 | url-status = live}}</ref> in the Renovation Lodge No. 97, Albion, NY.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://freemasonry.bcy.ca/textfiles/famous.html | title = List of famous freemasons | access-date = Sep 30, 2018 | language = en | website = Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20011004153632/http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/textfiles/famous.html | archive-date = October 4, 2001 | url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.scottishritecolsga.com/information/famous-mason-s/ | title = Information about famous members of Freemasonry | website = Scottish Rite Center (Columbus, Orient of Georgia) | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140930212346/http://scottishritecolsga.com/information/famous-mason-s/ | archive-date = September 30, 2014 | url-status = live}}</ref>

==Honors==
* In 1938, he received an honorary degree Doctor of Commercial Science from [[Oglethorpe University]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Honorary Degrees Awarded by Oglethorpe University |publisher=Oglethorpe University |url=http://www.oglethorpe.edu/about_us/history/honorary_degrees.asp |access-date=2015-03-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319104000/http://www.oglethorpe.edu/about_us/history/honorary_degrees.asp |archive-date=2015-03-19 }}</ref>
* He was an honorary member of [[Omicron Alpha Tau]]<ref>[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Station-Albums/Radio-Personalities-1935.pdf Radio Personalities 1935 – p142]</ref>
* Knight of the Cross of Lorraine (France), 1951.<ref name="nyt1974"/>
* Companion of the Resistance (France), 1951.<ref name="nyt1974"/>
* [[Legion of Merit]] from the United States Army, 1944.<ref name="New York Times. October 12, 1944"/>
* Sarnoff was inducted into the [[Junior Achievement]] US Business Hall of Fame in 1975.
* Sarnoff was the winner of the [[National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame]] Distinguished Service Award in 1953.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nab.org/events/awards/pastAwardWinners.asp?id=1930|title=NAB Winners: Distinguished Service Award|publisher=National Association of Broadcasters|access-date=August 4, 2014}}</ref>
* Sarnoff was posthumously inducted into the [[Television Hall of Fame]] in 1984.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.televisionacademy.com/awards/hall-of-fame/honorees|title=Television Hall of Fame Honorees: Complete List}}</ref>
* Sarnoff was posthumously inducted into the [[Radio Hall of Fame]] in 1989.<ref name="radiohof"/>
* Sarnoff was posthumously inducted into the [[New Jersey Hall of Fame]] in 2014.

==Sarnoff museum==
The David Sarnoff Library, a library and museum open to the public containing many historical items from David Sarnoff's life was in [[Princeton Junction, New Jersey|Princeton Junction]], NJ. The David Sarnoff Library now exists as a virtual museum online. When the Library was operating, The David Sarnoff Radio Club composed of local [[amateur radio operator]]s used to meet there, as did the New Jersey Antique Radio Club and other community organizations. The exhibits are now on display in Roscoe L. West Hall at [[The College of New Jersey]].

==Sarnoff's Law==
In 1999, computer scientist [[David P. Reed]] coined Sarnoff's Law, which states that "the value of a network grows in proportion to the number of viewers."<ref name="reed">{{cite web |author=[[David P. Reed]] |url=http://www.contextmag.com/magazine/setMagazineMain.asp |title=Weapon of Math Destruction |access-date=2023-03-19 |archive-date=1999-04-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990429093518/http://www.contextmag.com/magazine/setMagazineMain.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref> Sarnoff's Law, [[Metcalfe's Law]] and [[Reed's Law]] are frequently used in tandem in discussions of the value of networks.

==See also==
* ''[[Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio]]''
* [[Sarnoff Corporation]], the eponymous successor organization to [[RCA]] Laboratories following the 1986 acquisition of RCA by General Electric.
* [[Metcalfe's law]]: the value of a communication network is proportional to the square of the number of users.  By comparison, Sarnoff's law is linear.

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
* [[Hans Camenzind|Camenzind, Hans]] "Much ado about almost nothing" He bequeathed it to us at his passing. http://www.historyofelectronics.com/Much-Ado-About-Almost-Nothing.pdf ''Note chapter 8, Armstrong- The real inventor of radio vs. a charlatan and a ruthless promoter, & Chapter 9, Farnsworth- A 15 year old Idaho farm boy invents television and battles the same ruthless promoter. RIP Hans Camenzind- he designed the 555 Timer chip.''
* [[Kenneth W. Bilby|Bilby, Kenneth]]. (1986). ''The General: David Sarnoff and the Rise of the Communications Industry.'' New York: [[Harper & Row]]. {{ISBN|978-0-06-015568-1}} (cloth) – ''The best biography available, by a retired RCA vice president of public affairs.''
* Dreher, Carl Dreher. (1977). ''Sarnoff: An American Success,'' New York: [[New York Times Book Company]]. {{ISBN|0-8129-0672-1}} (cloth) – ''A thoughtful biography by an early associate of Sarnoff's.''
* Lewis, Tom. (1991). ''Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio.'' New York: [[HarperCollins]] {{ISBN|978-0-06-018215-1}} (cloth) {{ISBN|978-0-06-098119-8}} – ''Profiles Sarnoff's life along with those of Edwin Armstrong and Lee De Forest, drawing on archival sources.''
* [[Eugene Lyons|Lyons, Eugene]]. (1966). ''David Sarnoff: A Biography.'' New York: [[Harper & Row]]. {{ISBN|978-600-150-791-5}} (cloth) – ''A cousin's sympathetic but insightful biography approved by Sarnoff.''
* Sarnoff, David. (1968). ''Looking Ahead: The Papers of David Sarnoff.'' New York: McGraw Hill. – ''A useful one-volume compendium of Sarnoff's writings, covering his views on innovation, broadcasting, monopoly rights and responsibilities, freedom, and future electronic innovations.''
* [[Evan Schwartz (author)|Schwartz, Evan I]]. (2002). ''The Last Lone Inventor: A Tale of Genius, Deceit, and the Birth of Television.'' New York: HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-0-06-621069-8}} (cloth)
* [[Robert Sobel|Sobel, Robert]]. (1984). ''RCA''. New York: Stein and Day. {{ISBN|978-0-8128-3084-2}} (cloth) – ''The most authoritative history on the company by a prolific business historian, with a thorough bibliography but no footnotes.''
* Gutterman, Leon. (1968). The Wisdom Society for the Advancement of Knowledge, Learning and Research in Education (1968) The Wisdom of Sarnoff and The World of RCA
* [[Scott Woolley|Woolley, Scott]]. (2016). ''The Network: The Battle for the Airwaves and the Birth of the Communications Age'' New York: HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-0-06-224275-4}}

==Further reading==
* [https://www.nytimes.com/1971/12/13/archives/david-sarnoff-of-rca-is-dead-visionary-broadcast-pioneer-david.html?sq=david+sarnoff+&scp=2&st=p "David Sarnoff of RCA Is Dead; Visionary Broadcast Pioneer; David Sarnoff of RCA, the Visionary Broadcasting Pioneer, Is Dead Here at 80,"] ''New York Times.'' December 13, 1971.
* [[Marshall McLuhan|McLuhan, Marshall]]. (1964). ''[[Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man]].'' New York: [[McGraw Hill]].

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* [http://monitorbeacon.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Monitor-1971-Lowe-12-12.mp3 NBC Radio broadcast tribute to David Sarnoff upon his death (Dec. 12, 1971)]
* [https://ethw.org/David_Sarnoff David Sarnoff - ETHW]
* [https://cheappaperwriting.com/davidsarnoff/ RCA Corporation Heritage Impact - CheapPaperWriting.com]
* {{The Interviews about|david-sarnoff}}
* [https://www.c-span.org/video/?170335-1/boy-genius-mogul ''Booknotes'' interview with Daniel Stashower on ''The Boy Genius and the Mogul: The Untold Story of Television'', July 21, 2002.]

{{IEEE Founders Medal}}
{{1984 Television Hall of Fame}}
{{Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century}}
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