The Birth Of Television IV

Six months later Farnsworth and AT&T had worked out the details. As "Business Week" reported in August of 1937, this deal gave Farnsworth the ability "to compete with RCA on more equal terms. The road is no longer blocked should Farnsworth decide to enter manufacturing." Until now, many companies were afraid to deal with Farnsworth because they feared reprisals from RCA. With the AT&T deal these companies were no longer hesitant. Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) bought Farnsworth's Dissector tubes. CBS began television experiments in New York's Chrysler Building. The RCA hopes were dashed when the patent search for their new Iconoscope revealed an existing Farnsworth patent. The only good news was that the name "Image Orthicon" was awarded to RCA. The Orthicon tube which became a part of the workings of television was invented by Farnsworth, but the name was owned by RCA. Sarnoff had spent $10 million on television. The Farnsworth company had spent $1 million. But there was nothing else to do. So in 1938 RCA lawyers began to draft a cross-license agreement with Farnsworth. In March of 1939 the contracts and notes were prepared which would finally launch the Farnsworth television business. The papers included the initial operating funds for the new corporation and they included funding for the purchase of a rustic 80 acre farm in Maine the Farnsworths had discovered during a fishing trip. It took several weeks for stock market conditions to improve, but the papers were signed and Philo T. Farnsworth received a check for $3 million. The new Farnsworth Radio & Television Corp was ready for business. The next day World War II began in Czechoslovakia. In April of 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first president of the United States to appear on television. The setting was the 1939 World's Fair in New York. The appearance was broadcast to a handful of TV sets in the New York area by RCA television cameras. These first TV sets used the standard proposed to the FCC by the Radio Manufacturers Association. The standard was 441 lines and 30 frames. Today the standard is 525 lines and 30 frames. At this time the F.C.C. had not formalized the signal standards and broadcasting licenses were still experimental. "Fortune Magazine" described television as David Sarnoff's thirteen million dollar WHAT IF. While Farnsworth held over 100 patents, Sarnoff still refused to pay the kind of ongoing royalty he and RCA had charged radio businesses. The Farnsworths moved to Indiana, the site of their new plant. Phil was named vice president and director of research. He became involved in engineering the assembly line operation and product design. In December of 1939 lawyers for RCA and Farnsworth met in a conference room in New York's Rockefeller Center. The result was a contract that required RCA to pay royalties for the first time in their history. World War II, however, slowed the development of domestic industries such as television. Farnsworth Television and Radio Corp. was one that did quite well fulfilling defense contracts. When the war ended, the factories which had produced electronic equipment for the military would be converted to produce television sets and other domestic products for an eager public. Farnsworth was dismayed to learn that the company bore his name had been poorly managed. When he returned to Fort Wayne, Indiana to try to resurrect the company, it was too late. Even though the demand for television sets was skyrocketing, the company was unable to get back on its feet. In 1949 it was sold to International Telephone & Telegraph. Farnsworth Television and Radio was no longer listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Phil stayed with ITT in Fort Wayne until 1967. Then he retired and moved back to Salt Lake City. As he saw what television had become he wondered if all his work had been worth it. Then in 1969 he and Pem watched a man walked on the moon and he knew his work had been worthwhile. Philo T. Farnsworth died in 1971.