David Sarnoff

AP

David Sarnoff

Executive
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David Sarnoff

Executive

February 27

Uzlyany, Belarus

December 12, 1971

David Sarnoff was an American businessman and pioneer of American radio and television. Throughout most of his career he led the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in various capacities from shortly after its founding in 1919 until his retirement in 1970.

He ruled over an ever-growing telecommunications and media empire that included both RCA and NBC, and became one of the largest companies in the world. Named a Reserve Brigadier General of the Signal Corps in 1945, Sarnoff thereafter was widely known as "The General."

Sarnoff is credited with Sarnoff's Law, which states that the value of a broadcast network is proportional to the number of viewers.

David Sarnoff was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1984.

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