Zenith Electronics Corporation

Zenith Electronics Corporation is focused on the digital future, building on a proud heritage of leadership in entertainment products for the home and professional markets for more than eight decades. Beginning with the advent of radio, the Zenith name has been synonymous with quality and innovation. A pioneer in electronics technology, Zenith has invented countless industry-leading developments, including the first wireless TV remote controls, the first portable and push-button radios, and the first HDTV system using digital technology.

The Early Zenith Years

Zenith got its start in 1918 when two wireless-radio enthusiasts set up a "factory" on a kitchen table in Chicago and began making radio equipment for other amateurs.

By the early 1920s, the infant radio industry began to grow as did the business, which sold radios under the name "Z-Nith." (This was the origin of the Zenith Trademark, derived from the call letters of the founders´ amateur radio station, 9ZN.) Zenith Radio Corporation was incorporated in 1923.

The young company´s early accomplishments included the world´s first portable radio (1924), the first home radio receivers to operate on household current (1926), and the first automatic push-button radio tuning (1927). Zenith´s famous slogan, "The Quality Goes In Before The Name Goes On," was first used in 1927.

Founded on radio engineering, Zenith soon became a leader in other consumer electronics developments, such as the first all-electric TV station (1939), the first FM radio station in the Midwest (1940) and the world´s first subscription TV system (1947).

Zenith pioneered AM and FM radio broadcasting - including the invention of the stereo FM radio broadcast system, authorized by the Federal Communications Commission in 1961 and still in use worldwide - and played a key role in developing broadcast standards for black-and-white and color television.

From Zenith Radio to Zenith Electronics

Mounting competitive pressures in its core consumer electronics business led Zenith to use its broad engineering and marketing expertise to diversify, as the company entered the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) components and cable television products businesses in the late 1970s.

In 1979, Zenith acquired the Heath Company, the world´s largest manufacturer of build-it-yourself electronic kit products for hobbyists. Capitalizing on Heath´s entry into personal computers, Zenith formed Zenith Data Systems in 1980. Zenith´s management built the computer business into a billion-plus-dollar operation by the late 1980s and sold the business in 1989.

By the mid-1980s, Zenith Cable Products (later known as Zenith Network Systems) was a leading supplier of set-top boxes to the cable industry and a pioneer in cable modem technologies. The 1990s saw this business evolve into a supplier of digital set-top boxes for wired and wireless networks. Zenith sold the network systems division in 2000.

The company marketed its last radio in 1982 and changed its name from "Zenith Radio Corporation" to "Zenith Electronics Corporation" in 1984. Zenith remained committed to audio engineering related to television; Zenith engineers co-developed the multichannel television sound (MTS) transmission system adopted by the industry for stereo TV broadcasts (1984), and received an Emmy for pioneering work on development of MTS stereo TV (1986).

A major Zenith advance of the 1980s was the patented "flat tension mask" technology for high-resolution color video displays with perfectly flat screens, glare-free viewing and superior performance. Other noteworthy Zenith television innovations include TV receivers with "Sound by Bose" (1986) and "Dolby Surround Sound" (1988), as well as the first TVs with built-in closed caption decoders (1991), the first TVs with an electronic program guide (1994), and the first TVs with a track-ball operated remote control (1995).