RCA (trademark)
Encyclopedia
Audiovox
Audiovox Corporation is an American consumer electronics company founded in 1965 and headquartered in Hauppauge, New York.Among the domestic brands now owned by Audiovox are: Acoustic Research, Advent, Code Alarm, Invision, Jensen, Prestige, RCA, and Terk. The international brands they own include...
, ON Corporation and Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
. RCA stood for Radio Corporation of America, a company which later became RCA Corporation which was taken over by General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
in 1986 and then split up.
Current users
At present, the RCA trademark is owned by Technicolor SA (known as Thomson SA until January 2010) through RCA Trademark Management S.A. Though it generally no longer uses the brand directly (either it or General ElectricGeneral Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
sold off virtually all the businesses that used it), Technicolor SA licenses the RCA name to other companies to use on products along seven different product lines:
- RCA RecordsRCA RecordsRCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
(including RCA Victor) - now licensed to Sony Music EntertainmentSony Music EntertainmentSony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
, which received both record labelRecord labelIn the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
s from BMGBMGBertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...
thru their former joint venture Sony BMG (2004-08). BMG purchased the labels directly from GE in 1986, together with a perpetual license to use RCA's brands (including RCA's interest in the His Master's Voice brand, better known in the Americas as NipperNipperNipper was a dog that served as the model for a painting titled His Late Master's Voice. This image was the basis for the dog and trumpet logo used by several audio recording and associated brands: His Master's Voice, HMV, RCA, Victor Talking Machine Company, RCA Victor and JVC.- Biography :Nipper...
) for both labels. As a perpetual license, it has survived both GE's sale of the brand to Thomson and BMG's transfer of the labels to Sony BMG and Sony Music. - RCA Telephones - Formerly manufactured by Thomson SA, sold in 2009 to Telefield North AmericaNorth AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
http://www.rca4business.com/products/pc/contact.asp http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL512581620081105 - RCA Audio/Video - Manufactured by Audiovox Produces RCA DVD playerDVD playerA DVD player is a device that plays discs produced under both the DVD-Video and DVD-Audio technical standards, two different and incompatible standards. These devices were invented in 1997 and continue to thrive...
s, video cassette recorders, direct broadcast satelliteDirect broadcast satelliteDirect broadcast satellite is a term used to refer to satellite television broadcasts intended for home reception.A designation broader than DBS would be direct-to-home signals, or DTH. This has initially distinguished the transmissions directly intended for home viewers from cable television...
decoders, camcorderCamcorderA camcorder is an electronic device that combines a video camera and a video recorder into one unit. Equipment manufacturers do not seem to have strict guidelines for the term usage...
s, and audio equipmentAudio equipmentA piece of audio equipment is any device designed principally to reproduce, record or process sound. This includes microphones, radio receivers, AV receivers, CD players, tape recorders, amplifiers, mixing consoles, effects units and loudspeakers....
. (link on Audiovox website) - RCA Accessories - Manufactured by Audiovox, Produces Audio and video connectorAudio and video connectorAudio connectors and video connectors are electrical connectors for carrying audio signal and video signal, of either analog or digital format. Analog A/V connectors often use Shielded cable to inhibit radio frequency interference and noise.- Audio only :Audio connectors are electrical...
s, remote controlRemote controlA remote control is a component of an electronics device, most commonly a television set, used for operating the television device wirelessly from a short line-of-sight distance.The remote control is usually contracted to remote...
s and television antennas. - RCA Televisions - Manufactured by ON Corporation
- RCA Car Stereo - Also known as RCA Mobile
- RCA Appliances - Produces RCA Microwaves marketed by Curtis International Ltd. (Canada)
BMG (for the record labels) and Thomson (for the remaining businesses) bought those assets from General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
, which took over the RCA conglomerate in 1986 and kept RCA's NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
broadcast television interests (GE sold off the NBC Radio Network and the NBC-owned radio stations). Initially, GE continued to control the RCA trademarks (including the rights to the His Master's Voice trademark and the dog Nipper
Nipper
Nipper was a dog that served as the model for a painting titled His Late Master's Voice. This image was the basis for the dog and trumpet logo used by several audio recording and associated brands: His Master's Voice, HMV, RCA, Victor Talking Machine Company, RCA Victor and JVC.- Biography :Nipper...
) which were then licensed to Thomson and Bertelsmann. Thomson eventually bought the RCA trademarks in 2003 subject to the perpetual license GE had issued to BMG.
In December 2006, Thomson SA agreed to sell its consumer electronics accessory business, including rights to use the RCA name for consumer electronic accessories, to Audiovox
On October 16, 2007, Thomson SA agreed to sell its consumer electronics audio video business outside Europe including the worldwide rights to the RCA Brand for consumer electronics audio video products
In April 2010, ON Corporation took over distribution of RCA branded TVs.
Bertelsmann AG was new to the RCA family (though the creation of Sony BMG is similar to that of EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
more than 70 years earlier). Sony took full ownership of Sony BMG in 2008 and the record company was renamed Sony Music. Thomson started as the French subsidiary of Thomson-Houston Electric
Thomson-Houston Electric Company
The Thomson-Houston Electric Company was a manufacturing company which was one of the precursors of the General Electric Company.The Thomson-Houston Electric Company was formed in 1883 in the United States when a group of Lynn, Massachusetts investors led by Charles A...
, a company which later evolved into General Electric.
Sponsorship
RCA sponsored the ArgentinianArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
football San Lorenzo de Almagro from 2005 until 2007, and the Argentinian
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
football club Estudiantes de La Plata
Estudiantes de La Plata
Club Estudiantes de La Plata , simply referred to as Estudiantes, is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's football team currently competes in the Primera División, where it has spent most of its history....
from 2008 to mid-2011.
In the mid 1990s, RCA bought the naming rights to the Hoosier Dome (the original home of the Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....
). The stadium became the RCA Dome
RCA Dome
RCA Dome was a domed stadium, located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the home of the Indianapolis Colts NFL franchise for 24 seasons ....
and was known as such until its implosion in late 2008.