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RCA and the Roaring Twenties

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The government took control of most civilian radio stations during World War I, and after the war, Marconi Wireless was transformed into the Radio Corporation of America which was 65% owned by General Electric, Westinghouse, AT&T, and the United Fruit Co.The four companies profited from their investment until the Department of Justice brought antitrust charges against the companies in 1930 and forced them to divest their holdings in RCA in 1932. Sarnoff, the head of NBC and RCA, decided this method was legally and ethically wrong and he ended up losing most of his biggest stars.Among the stars who switched from NBC to CBS were Amos and Andy, Jack Benny, Red Skelton, Edgar Bergen, Burns and Allen, Ed Wynn, Fred Waring, Al Jolson, Groucho Marx and Frank Sinatra.CBS established itself as the dominant network in both the radio and television industries for the next two decades. RCA began experimental television broadcasting in New York on April 30, 1939, but World War II and technical problems prevented TV from becoming a consumer good until the late 1940s.

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