In 1948, Howard Hughes took over RKO and this lead to a time of decline. Then in 1955, it was bought by the General Tire and Rubber Company. RKO stopped making new movies in 1957, and mostly shut down two years later. In 1959, the assets of RKO moved to a new company called RKO General. In 1981, RKO was revived under the name RKO Pictures Inc. In 1989, it was sold to new owners. They run it using the name RKO Pictures LLC.