In 1954, RCA revolutionized the home entertainment industry by introducing the first consumer color television. Although it took a decade for color TV to become widely adopted, this release cemented RCA’s reputation as a leader in media technology.
However, by 1985, RCA was facing financial difficulties and was eventually acquired by General Electric, marking the end of its 66-year reign as a dominant force in consumer electronics and communications. The downfall of RCA can be traced back to a risky $580 million investment called Selectavision.
In a recent video on Popular Science’s YouTube channel, host Kevin Lieber explores the failed launch of the Selectavision 400. To understand why this promising technology brought about the collapse of an entire electronics empire, Kevin put the technology to the test himself. However, he encountered problems almost immediately after acquiring a Selectavision player.
Kevin tried to fix a loud banging noise coming from his eBay-acquired player and delved into how RCA misjudged the potential success of a technology that was expected to generate $7.5 billion in revenue. The video also featured Back to the Future actress Lea Thompson in an interactive murder mystery scenario involving the Selectavision technology.
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