Zenith began as two radio amateurs and a call sign — 9ZN — and grew into one of the most inventive names in American electronics. This is the timeline of how it happened.
In 1918, Chicago Radio Laboratory was founded by ham-radio operators Ralph Mathews and Karl Hassel. The name "Zenith" came from their station call sign, 9ZN. In 1921 the explorer and entrepreneur Commander Eugene F. McDonald joined, and Zenith Radio Corporation was incorporated in 1923.
McDonald set the standard that still defines the brand: don't sell on the name, sell on what's inside it. The quality goes in before the name goes on.
Chicago Radio Laboratory is founded. The "Zenith" name is born from the founders' amateur call sign, 9ZN.
Zenith introduces the first portable radio, untethering sound from the parlor and taking it on the road.
Push-button tuning arrives — and the slogan that would define a century debuts: "The quality goes in before the name goes on."
The post-war Trans-Oceanic shortwave portable — the "royalty of radios" — pulls in signals from across the globe with legendary sensitivity.
Engineer Eugene Polley creates the Flash-Matic, the first wireless TV remote — a beam of light aimed at photo cells in the set's corners.
Dr. Robert Adler perfects the idea with ultrasonics. The Space Command — no batteries, no cords, just a click — becomes the first practical wireless remote and a household icon.
The FCC adopts the Zenith-engineered stereo FM broadcast system — the same standard radios worldwide still transmit on today.
Zenith's VSB transmission system is adopted as the heart of the ATSC digital TV standard. In 1997, Zenith shares a technical Emmy for its HDTV work — and another for the remote.
Zenith becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of LG. The Lincolnshire, Illinois R&D lab becomes LG's U.S. research subsidiary for consumer electronics, hospitality, healthcare, and broadcast standards.
Zenith invents Pro:Idiom, the digital-rights-management system that secures premium HD content for hotels and hospitals. Today it protects an installed base of more than three million devices.
The Zenith-developed MPH transmission system is adopted by the ATSC as the core of the A/153 Mobile DTV standard — broadcast television built to reach devices on the move.
M-EAS is adopted as a U.S. broadcast standard — rich-media emergency alerts delivered over the air, and the foundation for the AWARN advanced warning network.
Zenith, LG, and GatesAir technologies fill the majority of the ATSC 3.0 physical layer — at least 10 of its 15 building blocks — ushering in 4K, mobile reception, and hybrid broadcast/broadband.
LG debuts Pro:Centric+, turning the in-room TV into an AI-driven business platform — energy management, location services, and smartphone provisioning. Zenith's Web Management Interface (WMI) replaces remote-and-menu setup, letting installers configure commercial TVs wirelessly and cut deployment time from hours to minutes.
The radios, remotes, and televisions that carried the lightning bolt into American homes.
We didn't follow the dial.
We replaced it.
Every milestone has an engineering story behind it. Explore the breakthroughs that earned Zenith its place in the history of electronics.
