New Jersey Inventor's Hall of Fame Citation

Isaac S. "Ike" Blonder
Ben H. Tongue
Blonder Tongue Laboratories Inc, Old Bridge

Ike Blonder and Ben Tongue are innovative television equipment pioneers whose names have been part of the electronics lexicon for half a century. Once engineers for an electronics equipment manufacturer, they joined forces in 1950 to design and produce a comprehensive line of electronics and systems equipment, later focusing on the franchised and private-cable television industries. They gained prominence in television's early days when they answered the need to improve fringe-area reception to homes by introducing the first commercially successful, fixed-tuned broadband booster amplifier.

Tongue's patented fixed-tuned circuit utilized four vacuum tubes in an amplifier that provided 17 decibels of low-noise amplification over the entire76 MHz Very-High Frequency band, more than any other booster amplifier then in production. Blonder invented an inexpensive thermal relay that connected the booster to the television so both could be controlled from the same power source, an unusual convenience for the time.

The inventor-entrepreneurs later expanded their business to design products for master antenna systems for schools and hotels and to invent Ultra-High Frequency converters, outdoor home antennas, microwave products, satellite receivers, test equipment, signal-distribution products, and a host of other inventions that earned 39 patents for Blonder and 34 for Tongue. They even launched their own UHF television stations. WBTB of Newark became the nation's first successful subscription television outlet and Paterson's WXTV was the first successful Spanish-speaking station in the 50 states.

Over the years, Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc. employed thousands in several locations, including Newark and Westfield, before taking root in Old Bridge where it continues to operate. Blonder, who earned a masters degree in physics from Cornell University and Tongue, who holds a master's in electrical engineering from Polytechnic University, sold their stakes in 1989. Semi-retired, each remains active in the electronics field.