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This article is fairly well done, but there's an issue in the description of what happened to WNAC that I haven't figured out how to rephrase. Until rules changes in the 1980s, the FCC's rules allowed for new license applications mutually exclusive with the renewal of an existing license. (Today, there is a presumption of renewal.) Emboldened by lingering doubts about RKO's billing practices at KHJ, and by the FCC's decision in the Herald Traveler case, two different groups applied for the channel 7 license.
The actual wrongdoing which caused WNAC-TV to lose its license did not tale place until the mid-1970s! It was a tribute, of sorts, to the other two applicants that they managed to drag out the competitive hearings long enough for RKO General to trip. The two competing applicants would later merge to form New England Television Corp., which was eventually granted a new license for WNEV-TV. (The article implies that the license was somehow transferred ffrom RKO to NE-TV; this is not so. WNEV was a new license.)
In the late 1970s, when things started to turn against them, GTR executives appeared before the FCC and offered to sell RKO General to an unrelated third party; the FCC replied that one cannot sell a license one does not have. The only license they actually lost was the WNAC-TV license; RKO was ultimately able to sell all of the other stations (including WRKO and WROR(FM) in Boston), and they were able to sell the facilities and intellectual property of WNAC-TV to the new licensee. (NE-TV was controlled by David Mugar, heir to the Star supermarket fortune.) The Boston radio stations went to a company called Atlantic Ventures, later American Radio Systems, and now part of Viacom's Infinity Broadcasting unit. --Garrett Wollman, editor, The Archives @ BostonRadio.org. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 18.24.0.120 ( talk) 17:58, 19 January 2004 (UTC)
I have added this to the defunct companies category because it sounds like the "resurrected" entity renamed RKO Pictures does not share continuity or the character of the famous original, which is the defunct company referred to. -- Gary D 07:10, 15 Jul 2004 (UTC)
I found a good citation for the KirchMedia/German rights statement. Do you have one for the RAI/Italian rights? It's okay if it's in Italian--we can add it to the footnote I've created after the relevant sentence.
Also, we obviously don't have to specify the rights situation in every country on Earth, but it would be nice to know who controls them in France, one of the largest markets in the world for old American movies. I haven't been able to track it down. Any clues? Best, Dan— DCGeist 21:23, 17 August 2006 (UTC)
Thank you for your good work on the RKO article, Dan. This might be a lead for you regarding the French rights. RKO movies are distributed on DVD by a company called Éditions Montparnasse:
http://www.editionsmontparnasse.fr/fr/S97/R89/video_a_la_demande/rko.html
Hope this helps a little.
-Jim Jmurphy56 22:45, 17 August 2006 (UTC)
Hi DCGeist, I found the information about the RKO's italian rights in a italian cinema encyclopedia, the only web page reference I found ( [1]) is a brief dossier about the satellite TV written by Luigi Mattucci, president of RAI-SAT the satellite TV subsidiary of "RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana". He states .........."Perché, per parlare di RAISat, se intendessi fare una rassegna dei film americani della RKO, dovrei rimettermi all’imperscrutabile giudizio di chi ne possiede in perpetuo i diritti (nel caso specifico la Fininvest, alla quale va comunque riconosciuta la lungimiranza di averli acquistati, pensate un po’, dalla RAI)?".......... The paragraph sounds more or less: .........."Why, speaking about RAISat, if I would like to make a retrospective of the american movies of RKO I have to recover to the imperscrutabile judgment of who possesses some in perpetual the rights (in the event specific the Fininvest, to which goes however recognized the farsightedness to have it acquires them "guess a little" yes from RAI)?..........
Fininvest is the parent company of Mediaset (the TV network of Berlusconi)
I can tell you Mediaset never broadcasts the RKO movies, instead, RAI still continuously broadcasts many RKO movies and, in particular RAITRE (the third channel of RAI) regularly broadcasts two or more RKO movies on Saturday or Sunday late night. I think RAI still possesses those RKO rights.
about Leo Kirch and KirchMedia you may use ketupa.net [2]. This web site also contains some quite good pages about RKO but with some negligible error, and an RKO chronology [3]. GPM
"Editions Montparnasse" does not have any rights, it only has the mandate for the exploitation of the movies in DVD and VHS format. ref DOSSIER EM - Interview : Dans la tête des Editions Montparnasse Par Giuseppe Salza. I have a french DVD and the copyright statement for the film (not for the DVD) is "© RKO/ARIES" ciao GPM
I correct the year, [RAI] acquired the RKO library rights in 1981.
There is an error in the company name of "Film Booking Office of America" the right name is: "Film Booking Offices of America". for references you can see:
I wrote the same thing in the FBO article discussion, I'm not able to make the necessary change.(GPM)-- 151.29.129.12 00:30, 11 August 2006 (UTC)
You're absolutely right. I've created a new article with the proper spelling; linked to it; and detailed how to verify it. An administrator can eliminate the old, improperly headed article. DCGeist 01:15, 11 August 2006 (UTC)
I would like to disclose a "law case" I found. It's very interesting and important about the RKO rights (it's a gold mine of true informations). but the technical language is a little bit difficoult for me because I'm not very familiar with english. I'm sure there's someone will read the law case and will use it to improve the RKO article. Here it is the law case and the link: SALTZMAN v CIR U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals Argued: October 3, 1997 Decided: December 11, 1997 http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=2nd&navby=case&no=964195 Ciao GPM from Italy - 15:18, 23 July 2006 (UTC)
The published sources I have checked describe both of these acquistions as occurring later than the article currently states.
For KAO: I have found no published source that describes Kennedy and FBO having anything to do with the KAO theater chain before RCA became involved in 1928, and two sources that directly contradict an earlier date.
The Hollywood Story, by Joel W. Finler (New York: Crown, 1988): "RCA...was looking for a means of exploiting its sound patents and expertise and purchased the FBO studio in 1928. Later that year a merger with the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theatre chain was the final step in the creation of...RKO" (p.168).
The RKO Story, by Richard B. Jewell (New York: Arlington House/Crown, 1982): After RCA's acquisition of a "substantial interest" in FBO in January 1928 (p. 9), "FBO now had the economic muscle of RCA backing it up, [but] the studio remained vulnerable.... The obvious problem was its lack of theatres. Sarnoff and Kennedy discovered the solution in an affiliation between FBO and the Keith-Albee-Orpheum circuit of vaudeville houses.... In October 1928...RCA, through an equitable exchange of stock, gained control of both Keith-Albee-Orpheum and FBO, resulting in the birth of a giant $300 million corporation" (p. 10).
For Pathé: Similarly, no sources indicating its control by Kennedy, FBO, Sarnoff, RCA, or RKO before 1930 at the earliest.
The Hollywood Story: "Late in 1930 RKO had over extended itself by taking over the Pathé studio and exchange" (p. 168); "1931: The Pathé studio and exchange takeover is completed in January" (p. 170).
The RKO Story: "On 29 January, 1931, RKO assimilated the Pathé Exchange—its Culver City studio and its contract stars... The idea was to operate RKO Pathé as an autonomous unit within the corporate structure" (p. 32). -- DCGeist 20:23, 14 July 2006 (UTC)
In order to vanish your doubts, please read the book "RKO the biggest little major of them all" written by Betty Lasky in 1984 and published by Prentice-Hall. This book is one of the best resouce about RKO Radio-Keith-Orpheum, KAO Keith-Albee-Orpheum, Pathè Exchange, RCA Radio Corporation of America and all people involved in the RKO formation. GPM from Italy - 08:40, 15 July 2006 (UTC)
Hi, GPM. The book you mention is out of print and, amazingly, the New York Public Library owns no copy. However, I have read enough highly reliable published sources now to appreciate the cause of confusion and to understand the facts--the basics of which are now reported properly in the article. In addition to The RKO Story, an official history of the studio, my cited sources are The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys by Doris Kearns Goodwin, one of the most respected historians in the United States, and Technology and Culture—The Film Reader by Andrew Utterson, a recent (2005), exhaustively detailed, and well sourced text.-- DCGeist 23:39, 15 July 2006 (UTC)
Hi, DCGeist I'm italian and I easily found "RKO the biggest little major of them all" used at powells.com I also have "The RKO Story", "The RKO Gals" and "The RKO Features" among others and I can teel You the book of Betty Lasky is very accurate and full of unknow details about the RKO Radio Pictures history. I think you will be able to find it fastly and easily. Ciao! GPM 09:346, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
Oh, I intend to get it from an online source myself. I just know that will be a matter of a week or two and I wanted to get the basic facts in now so the dispute template could be removed. I look forward to reading her book. Thanks for directing me (and whoever else has been following this) to it.-- DCGeist 15:29, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
For Demiurge, you removed www.generaltire.com and www.gencorp.com links but those links were added because the two companies were involved in the RKO story. I have a huge interest in all things regarding RKO. It wasn't spam, it was only for educational and informative purposes. I think the two links can remain in the article. GPM from Italy
I don't know where this would go, but Samuel Goldwyn Productions-produced films from the 1940's and 1950's that were merely distributed by RKO (such as The Pride of the Yankees, The Best Years of Our Lives, and The Bishop's Wife) are today owned by Goldwyn's successor company, MGM. Ranma9617 05:23, 19 September 2005 (UTC)
Excellent discussion of a topic that is continually misunderstood. Made a few changes, such as including the hostile takeover bid for GenCorp as an incentive for RKO General to agree to settle the FCC matter by divesting its broadcast properties (the proxies from the time,and the responses to the hostile takeover attempt of 1987, revealed the company strategy of ending the license proceedings by selling the stations and raising cash, essentially to pay the Greenmail extorted by the interests who launched the hostile takeover. GenCorp also sold off its tire business, regaining its position in technology companies. Also, the WOR legislation did not specifically name New Jersey, but was clearly aimed at New Jersey by requiring a preference for license renewal to states without VHF service. Minor quibbles on a very well-presented treatment of an article which tackles an often misunderstood situation (wish I had a nickel for every time I have seen it written that all the RKO properties had licenses 'revoked')
You know what? I think RKO Pictures should be sold to Sony Pictures Entertainment so RKO can get back into theaters. King Shadeed 16:56, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
I agree with you! RKO Pictures needs to be under a big multimedia company in order to come back in theaters, but I don't think Sony Pictures Entertainment is the best choice, because Sony controls yet many pictures company or pictures brands (Columbia, MGM, United Artists, TriStar, Orion, Sony Pictures, etcetera etcetera.....) there is no space for another glorious brand. I think a very good deal should be with Paramount (who owns the old RKO Radio Pictures studio lot in Hollywood at Gower 780). Or Warner bros. (who controls the bulk of RKO Radio Pictures movies productions).
Hey, I thought this wasn't a chat place. And although I'd love to get into this topic, Shadeed, Wikipedia just doesn't allow Wikichat. So, I just thought I'd tell you that. 71.111.215.224 21:26, 17 May 2006 (UTC)
Shadeed, don't you remember me? I'm MegaMan. I had to leave the International Jingle Collection because of my parents. 71.111.232.40 16:22, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
RKO Radio Pictures plays a relatively prmonent role in the movie, and, I guess, in the musical, the Rocky Horror Show, as the final numbers are performed in front of a fullscreen RKO backdrop. RKO is also mentioned in the opening song, Science Fiction Double Feature. Could anyone suggest how this could be worked in to the RKO article?
Science fiction double feature
Doctor X will build a creature
See androids fighting Brad and Janet
Anne Francis stars in Forbidden Planet
Wo oh oh oh oh oh
At the late night, double feature, picture show
I wanna go
To the late night, double feature, picture show
By R.K.O.
To the late night, double feature, picture show
In the back row
To the late night, double feature, picture show
samwaltz 21:52, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
Oh, good call. I really don't see it as being appropriate to the main text of the article, but at one of the spots where there's a discussion of RKO's emphasis on B-pictures, I'll place a callout to a narrative note describing just what you've detailed here. Thanks, Sam. --Best, Dan/ DCGeist 21:59, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
As posted on editor AlbertSM's Talk page ( DCGeist 23:24, 22 October 2006 (UTC)):
This page was becoming pretty long, in part due to the stuff on RKO General. There really is enough info on it that I split it off into a separate article. Blueboy96 21:27, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
My browser told me this article is 562KB. That's quite large for a WP article. Perhaps there could be a seperate article for "The Films of RKO"? A lot of that 562KB is probably movie posters. Whyaduck 05:24, 22 January 2007 (UTC)
Apparently, DCGeist thinks he owns this page. I am trying to add information about an important and significant film, The Runaround (1931) but instead of giving a rational reason for his refusal to allow someone besides himself to edit this page DCGeist refuses to budge on anything he doesn't approve. Apparently he thinks he owns this article. I am therefore adding a POV tag according to wikipedia policy. Zosimus Comes 23:30, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
This article has far too many nonfree images to meet WP:NFCC#3: "As few non-free content uses as possible are included in each article and in Wikipedia as a whole. Multiple items are not used if one will suffice; one is used only if necessary."
The images of movie posters and movie stills do little to illustrate the production company - these belong on the articles about the movies, not here. They don't increase the reader's understanding of the topic of this article - the production company - in a way that text cannot. The images on the articles about the movies themselves illustrate the appearance of the movies; there is no need to repeat that illustration here, and doing so does not minimize the use of nonfree images in Wikipedia as a whole. — Carl ( CBM · talk) 20:14, 12 September 2007 (UTC)
This is an excellent article, but just one negative comment: I dont think there ever was a "Radio Pictures Inc.". On the early pictures, the copyright is to the RKO Distributing Corporation, then RKO Productions,Inc., and finally, in 1930 to RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. The presentation credit was originally "RKO Productions, Inc.", then "Radio Pictures" until 1937 when it became "RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.". I think Radio Pictures was never a legal entity and was merely a trade name. The Radio Keith Orpheum Corp. ad in my 1930 Year Book of Motion Pictures states "Radio Pictures produced and distributed by RKO Productions, Inc.". By the way, the same source shows around 97 theaters as owned by the RKO theater circuit as of 1929, which corresponds with your suspicion about inflated numbers of theaters in some sources. The earliest print reference to "RKO Radio Picture" I've seen is for 1931's "Are These Our Children". —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rkolian ( talk • contribs) 16:10, 19 October 2007 (UTC)
It's been three years and I'm still unconvinced there was ever a "Radio Pictures, Inc.". Radio Keith Orpehum was a holding company; the picture production division was first RKO Productions, Inc., then RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. There is no copyright to Radio Pictures, Inc. or any indication, in any source I've read about RKO, that this was anything but a trade name. Please correct this because I keep seeing it come up on the internet as fact, and I don't think it is.
Note, among other things that the presentation credit always shows "Radio Pictures presents", no "Inc." and in fact the last few RKO Radio Pictures, after "RKO Radio Pictures, Inc." had been renamed "RKO Teleradio Pictures, Inc." show "RKO Radio Pictures presents" (no "Inc."). So, if it had been Radio Pictures, Inc., I think it would have been stated as such on the presentation credit. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rkolian ( talk • contribs) 05:35, 20 July 2010 (UTC)
Editors should always be hesitant to change stable style without a compelling reason and clear support from WP:MOS. A personal opinion about what constitutes "pedantic" style is not a compelling reason. And our Manual of Style may be interpreted to support either position on whether a year at the beginning of the sentence should be spelled out or expressed as a numeral. So let's go to the real world. The Chicago Manual of Style is clear on this matter: if a sentence begins with a year, it should be spelled out. The practice of the leading American newspapers—the New York Times and Washington Post—is precisely the same: sentences are routinely cast so that they begin with years, and those years are invariably spelled out.
The latest "improvement"—"The year 1952"—is redundant and clumsy and will be reverted in good time.— DCGeist ( talk) 19:26, 23 June 2008 (UTC)
I quote from WP:MOSNUM: The numerical elements of dates and times are not normally spelled out, the exception being noteworthy historical and cultural references, like Fourth of July. But this could readily be resolved by repunctuating. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 19:56, 24 June 2008 (UTC)
"I mean, you're not so blitheringly stupid as to mouth off about style matters without even possessing a copy of the leading style manual of American English, right?" Another comment like that and I'm taking this to a higher authority. -- Golbez ( talk) 18:35, 25 June 2008 (UTC)
DCGeist, I added a perfectly legitimate post on the main article about RKO adopting the first 4 notes of Beethoven's 5th Symphony during the opening logo during the war years. Three dots and a dash being morse code for V for victory. You've twice removed this VALID post asking me for citations. If you want tangible sources, try every single RKO movie made between 1941 & 1945. This is a fact that anyone who knows anything about RKO is aware of already, (including yourself, and if you didn't, then maybe you're not the high and mighty authority on RKO that you consider yourself to be and should stop interfering). Stop being a nazi and let others have their additions. It seems a lot of what people have said about you on this page is true. BTW, I have readded my valid addition once more. Please see that it stays. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.192.47.25 ( talk) 04:08, 17 December 2009 (UTC)
The anonymous editor who keeps adding this claim needs to learn something: the threshold for inclusion of material on Wikipedia is not "truth", but verifiability. If not a single authoritative source has seen fit to mention this supposed "fact" within the past six-and-a-half decades, it is hardly worthy of mention in this encyclopedia. If you have a source that meets our standards of verifiability, please cite it, otherwise your claim about "every single RKO movie made between 1941 & 1945" is unacceptable original research. DocKino ( talk) 01:42, 18 December 2009 (UTC)
Please show me evidence that Radio Pictures, Inc. existed. The films are copyrighted to RKO Distributing Corp. and RKO Productions trhough 1930, then RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. from 1931. Jewell, Lasky, Balio nor any other reference I have mentions Radio Pictures Inc., and in fact Jewell states RKO Productions, Inc. was the initial production unit, and the films were "trade named" Radio Pictures. I believe the production subsidiary prior to RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. was RKO Productions, Inc. This is also stated in the Year Book of Motion Pictures, Film Daily, 1930. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rkolian ( talk • contribs) 06:31, 19 April 2011 (UTC)
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Shouldn't RKO General's formation of a new RKO Pictures film studio in 1978 be at least considered the successor to the RKO Pictures film studio that was shut down in 1959? After all, it was RKO General that shut down RKO Pictures in 1959. So, wouldn't that possibly mean they probably re-used the RKO branding/IP to launch the new RKO studio in 1978? In fact, if the new RKO claimed ownership of films produced by the RKO that was shut down in 1959, then I see no reason why the RKO launched in 1978 shouldn't be viewed as the successor to the one closed down in 1959. 2600:1700:C960:2270:3CCD:7292:4DF1:A919 ( talk) 05:17, 19 September 2019 (UTC)
It appears that the RKO-produced Zane Grey film adaptations are now controlled by his estate and managed by the Peter Rodgers Organization which has licensed video rights to Lionsgate as evidenced by a DVD copy of Wild Horse Mesa. Ranma9617 ( talk) 05:35, 28 February 2022 (UTC)
The "Transmitter" ident video keeps getting removed from this article by an IP editor. To my mind, we have a video file which illustrates the RKO branding much more effectively than a still image. This is an interactive medium, not a book - why waste its potential? Cnbrb ( talk) 17:35, 7 November 2022 (UTC)
"The Jazz Singer" was not "the first feature-length talking picture". The movie was primarily a silent film, and only contained a few lines ad-libbed by Al Jolson. "Lights of New York" is the first feature length talking picture. It still makes sense to reference "The Jazz Singer" for the technology and cultural significance, but some rephrasing is needed. 72.241.9.29 ( talk) 01:41, 2 December 2023 (UTC)
This page makes no mention of the 1940's movie "Song Of The South", even though the movie intro says RKO Radio Pictures. I think perhaps that's an important movie to add to the list of this studio's production. 92.35.225.225 ( talk) 22:27, 27 December 2023 (UTC)