Radio, television, and film division Because the Depression was particularly hard on manufacturing, The General Tire & Rubber Company bought several Ohio radio stations on which it advertised. In 1943, it diversified the core business strategy, purchasing the
Yankee Network and the radio stations it owned from
Boston's Shepard Stores, Inc.
Thomas F. O'Neil, son of the founder William F. O'Neil, served as
New York Yankees chairman with Shepard's
John Shepard III serving as president. The company continued its move into broadcasting by acquiring the
Don Lee Broadcasting System, a wellrespected regional radio network on the West Coast, in 1950. Among other stations, it added
KHJ-AMFM in
Los Angeles, California, and
KFRC-AM-FM in
San Francisco, California, to its stable from the New York Yankees acquisition. In 1952, it bought
WOR/
WOR-FM/
WOR-TV in
New York City and merged its broadcasting interests into a new division,
General Teleradio (purchased from
R. H. Macy & Company alongside WOR & Bamberger Broadcasting; named as a result of The General Tire & Rubber Company's increased investment in WOR). RKO/General also added Canadian 50,000 watt power house CKLW in
Windsor to the family. The "Big 8" was No. 1 in the
Detroit market. The company's final move into entertainment was the acquisition of
RKO Radio Pictures from
Howard Hughes in 1955 for $25 million. The General Tire & Rubber Company was interested mainly in using the RKO film library to program its television stations, so it sold the RKO lot at Sunset and Gower in
Hollywood, California, to
Lucille Ball and
Desi Arnaz's
Desilu Productions in 1956 for $6 million. The remaining assets of RKO were merged with General Teleradio, and the new company became known initially as
RKO Teleradio Pictures, then
RKO Teleradio, before eventually becoming
RKO General. The radio stations became some of the leading broadcasters in the world, but the division was dragged down by unethical conduct at its television stations. This culminated in the
longest licensing dispute in television history, eventually forcing RKO General out of the broadcasting business by 1991.
Rocketry and aeronautics division In the late 1930s, the
United States Army became interested in rockets. A group of
California Institute of Technology engineers won a contract to produce rocket engines to speed airplane liftoff, and formed a company named
Aerojet. The group succeeded with liquidfuel rockets, but needed additional materials science and manufacturing expertise to create more sophisticated solidfuel rockets. Aerojet went into partnership with The General Tire & Rubber Company, using their capitalization, expertise with rubber binders, and chemical manufacturing facilities. The partnership was renamed Aerojet General. ==Reincorporation and sale to Continental AG==