In 1954, RCA revolutionized home entertainment with the launch of the first consumer color television. Although it took another decade for color television to become widespread, the release cemented RCA as a pioneer at the forefront of media technology.
In 1985, a damaged and devalued RCA was acquired by General Electric, and 66 years of dominance in consumer electronics and communications was effectively over. So what happened? A $580 million gamble called Selectavision.
In the latest video from our YouTube channel: Popular science Host Kevin Lieber breaks down the ill-fated launch of the Selectavision 400. But to understand why this ambitious technology destroyed an entire electronics company empire, Kevin first had to get his hands on a Selectavision and see what it could do. That's where the problems started.
Can Kevin silence the loud thumping in his eBay-bought player? How did RCA botch a $7.5 billion revenue forecast? Why is Back to the future's Lea Thompson in an interactive murder mystery? And how did it all work? There were a lot of questions, but this is it Popular scienceso you know we found the answers.
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