Robert Sarnoff, eldest son of broadcasting mogul David Sarnoff, followed in his father's professional footsteps through his career at the National Broadcast­ing Company (NBC) and the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). Contemporaries attributed the son's corporate promotions to nepotism and constantly drew comparisons between his executive performance and style and that of his father. During his years as com­ pany head, Robert Sarnoff practiced decision making by consensus, displayed an obsession with corporate efficiency, and constantly sought to implement modem management techniques. David Sarnoff's aggressive, imperial, dynamic manner of command often over­ shadowed his son's practical yet increasingly mercu­rial character.

After a short stint in the magazine business. Robert Sarnoff joined NBC as an accounts executive in 1948, at a time when David Sarnoff had recently assumed chairmanship of electronics giant RCA, the parent company of NBC. Robert Sarnoff served in a variety of positions over the next few years, working his way up the business ladder. As vice president of NBC's film unit, he oversaw the development of Project XX and Victory at Sea-the latter a pioneer in the documentary series format that traced the naval campaigns of World War II through compilation footage. Passing as educational programming, the series was well attuned to Cold War patriotism and earned Sarnoff a Distin­guished Public Service Award from the U.S. Navy.

NBC Television programming strategies during the first half of the 1950s were determined largely by the flamboyant Pat Weaver. RCA funded Weaver's extrav­ agant experiments in the medium since it wished to es­ tablish NBC's reputation as a "quality" network and was realizing a return on its investment through in­ creased sales of television receivers. By mid-decade, however, RCA policy was modified: NBC was now expected to achieve economic self-sufficiency and ad­vertising sales parity with the archival Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). Weaver was first pro­moted to the NBC chair in 1955 and then forced to re­ sign from the company several months later. In turn, Robert Sarnoff ascended to fill that vacant position.

Sarnoff assumed leadership of the network's finan­cial interests and general policy decisions. Robert Kintner, who had shown a propensity for budget­ conscious scheduling at the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). took over as head of NBC-TV pro­gramming and was elevated to the rank of NBC presi­dent in 1958. Together, the "Bob and Bob Show" (as it was known in the industry) stabilized network operations and routinized programming. Sarnoff established a clear chain of command by streamlining NBC's staff, increasing middle-management positions, and delegat­ing more operating responsibilities to department heads. In order to cut overhead expenses, in-house pro­duction was curtailed. and links with several depend­ able suppliers of filmed programming were created. Program development and series renewal became sub­ ject to ratings success and spot-advertising sales. To­ ward the end of the decade, westerns, action shows, sitcoms, and quiz shows were regular prime-time fea­tures. Gone, for the most part, were the costly "spec­taculars" and live dramas of the Weaver years. NBC profits improved steadily.

Sarnoff's most public phase came in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when he defended NBC program­ ming policies against critics in the press and in Congress. He argued that the public interest was best served by popular programming, and although he es­poused the benefits of a "well-rounded schedule," he clearly practiced a policy of programming to majority tastes. Sarnoff insisted that competition for advertis­ers, audiences, and affiliate clearance would ensure that the networks would remain receptive to the multiple demands of the market. Ratings were the economic lifeblood of the medium; "high-brow" in­terests would have to remain secondary to "mass­ appeal" shows in the NBC schedule. Critics who lamented the disappearance of "cultural" program­ ming were elitist, he claimed. Neither the Federal Communications Commission nor Congress should interfere in network operations or establish program guidelines, according to Sarnoff, since this govern­ ment oversight would encourage political maneuver­ ing and obstruct market forces. More effective industry self-regulation and self-promotion, spear­ headed by the networks, would ensure that recent broadcasting transgressions (symbolized by the quiz show scandals and debates over violence on televi­sion) would not reoccur.

Sarnoff's agenda did not dismiss "public service" programming entirely. Kintner had turned NBC's news department into a commercially viable operation, most notably with The Huntley-Brinkley Report. During these years, NBC undertook various educational proj­ ects, including Continental Classroom (the first net­ work program designed to provide classes for college credit) and several programs on art history (a particular passion of Sarnoff). Sarnoff extolled television's abil­ ity to enlighten through its capacity to channel and process the diverse fields of information, knowledge, and experience that characterized the modem age. He touted television's ability to generate greater viewer insight into the political process, and he is credited with bringing about the televised "Great Debates" be­ tween John Kennedy and Richard Nixon during the 1960 presidential campaign.

In general, NBC's public service record during the Sarnoff years was disappointing. NBC did, however, become a serious ratings and billings competitor to CBS. In marked contrast to the dismal results of the previous  decade,  NBC's  color  programming  in  the 1960s helped to dramatically boost color set sales and, consequently, RCA coffers.

On the first day of 1966, again thanks largely to his father's influence, Robert Sarnoff became president of RCA. Two years later, he assumed also the role of chief executive officer. David Sarnoff remained chair­ man of the board until 1970, when ill health forced him to relinquish that position to his son. At RCA, Robert Sarnoff inherited-and exacerbated-problem­atic developments that would result in his forced resig­ nation in 1975. The younger Sarnoff continued to diversify the corporation, but with some ill-chosen in­ vestments that yielded poor returns. Most significantly, he overcommitted company resources in an abortive attempt to achieve competitiveness in the mainframe computer market. During Sarnoff's tumultuous time at RCA, he continued to oversee operations at NBC. There he found little solace, as the network lost ground to CBS and ABC in the early 1970s. NBC's weakened performance contributed to declining RCA stock prices-a state of affairs that resulted in Robert Sarnoff's displacement from the company that had been synonymous with the Sarnoff name over the pre­vious half century.