ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 25, 1997 TAG: 9702250068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
TYPE: NEWS OBIT
SOURCE: Associated Press
Robert Sarnoff, who helped usher in the era of color television as president of NBC from 1955 to 1965, died Saturday. He was 78.
The cause was cancer, said his spokesman, Joe Clark. Sarnoff had been ill for several months, he added.
Sarnoff dedicated the first all-color television station, Chicago's NBC-TV, in 1956, four months after he became NBC's president, Clark said.
``We are committed to color and intend to make the transition as fast as possible,'' Sarnoff said soon after taking the network's helm.
Born in 1918, Sarnoff was a scion of one of broadcasting's first families. His father, radio pioneer David Sarnoff, built the Radio Corporation of America into one of the country's great corporate monoliths.
Robert Sarnoff was chairman of the board at RCA from 1970 to 1975, after working as the company's president and chief executive officer.
He graduated from Harvard University in 1939. During World War II, as a Navy communications officer, he supervised the setup of radio links to many islands in the Pacific theater.
After the war, he worked briefly in newspapers and magazines before joining NBC in 1948. Five years later, he became the first president of the Radio and Television Executive Society and one of its governors.
He also served as chairman of the New York Stock Exchange and was a member of the New York Friars Club.
Sarnoff is survived by his wife, Anna Moffo, the opera singer.
LENGTH: Short : 39 linesby CNB