Thank David Sarnoff for “Must See TV.†An early innovator and investor in commercial radio and television, Sarnoff knew that to sell radios, you need programming. He arranged the first-of-its-kind broadcast of the Jack Dempsey-Georges Carpentier prizefight in 1921, and soon radio took off as the newest form of entertainment. Like any ambitious entrepreneur, Sarnoff was not satisfied with his one feat and applied the same programming principle to television. As general manager of Radio Corporation of America (RCA), he created national broadcasts by stringing together hundreds of individual stations, and the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) was born. Sarnoff is an important historical figure in the 20th century not for an invention, but an innovation that made possible communication and entertainment as we know them today.
Quote: "The will to persevere is often the difference between failure and success."
