American Broadcasting Company

American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is one of the four largest commercial broadcast television networks in the United States. Joined. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue Network, ABC is now owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Walt Disney Television. The first broadcast of this network on television was in 1948. As one of the "Big Three Television Networks" (Big Three Television Networks), the network has contributed to popular culture in the United States with its programming.

ABC's corporate headquarters is located in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, and the company's news operations are also centered in Manhattan, while its offices for entertainment programming are located in Burbank., California, adjacent to the Walt Disney Studios and the corporate headquarters of The Walt Disney Company.

The company's formal name is American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., and this name appears on the copyright notices of its internal productions and on all its official documents, including its paychecks and their contracts. A separate entity called ABC Inc., currently known as Walt Disney Television and formerly Capital Cities/ABC Inc., is the direct parent of this company, and that company in turn belongs to Disney. The chain is sometimes referred to as the "Alphabet Network" due to the fact that its current logo contains the letters "ABC," the first three letters of the Latin alphabet in their own order.

The company is made up of several units, including, among others, its television division (ABC's main network), a radio broadcasting division (ABC Radio), a news division (ABC News), a sports (ESPN on ABC), and an entertainment division (ABC Entertainment).

History

Creation of ABC

Since the organization of the first radio networks in the late 1920s, broadcasting in the United States was dominated by two companies: Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and National Broadcasting Company (NBC). Before forming NBC in 1926, Radio Corporation of America (RCA) had acquired WEAF, an AT&T station for New York City, which was later renamed WNBC and is currently WFAN. a station that belongs to CBS. With WEAF came a loosely organized system that fed programming to other stations in the northeastern US. RCA, prior to its acquisition of the WEAF group in mid-1926, had previously owned a second such group, with WJZ in New York as the main station (bought by RCA in 1923 from Westinghouse Electric). Consequently, RCA's two programming services, the NBC Red Network (Cadena Roja) and the NBC Blue Network (Cadena Azul), were founded. Legend has it that the color designations originated from the stud colors used by early engineers to designate affiliates of WEAF (with red studs) and WJZ (with blue studs).

In May 1940, after a three-year investigation, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a "report on network broadcasting." Finding that NBC Red, NBC Blue, CBS, and MBS dominated American broadcasting, this report proposed a "divorce" which required the sale by RCA of one of its networks. NBC Network was the largest radio network, carrying popular entertainment and music programs. Additionally, many NBC Red affiliates had high-powered stations, heard throughout the country. NBC Blue offered most of the company's news and cultural programs, many of them "sustaining" or without sponsorship. Among other findings, the FCC stated that RCA used NBC Blue to suppress competition against NBC Red. The FCC did not regulate or license networks directly, but could influence them by licensing individual stations. Consequently, the FCC issued a ruling that "a license shall not be issued to a standard broadcast station affiliated with a network that maintains more than one network." NBC argued that this indirect style of regulation was illegal, and petitioned the courts. However, the FCC won on appeal, and on January 8, 1942, NBC decided to separate the Red Network and the Blue Network with the intention of divesting itself of the latter.

The task of selling NBC Blue was given to Mark Woods; Throughout 1942 and 1943, NBC Red and NBC Blue divided their assets. A price of $8 million was put on the Blue group, and Woods shopped Blue around for potential buyers. One of them, the investment bank Dillon, Read & Co., made an offer of $7.5 million, but Woods and David Sarnoff (the head of RCA) held firm at $8 million. Blue's package contained leases on land lines and studio facilities in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Los Angeles; contracts with talent and with nearly sixty affiliates; the brand and "goodwill" associated with the name Blue; and licenses for three stations (WJZ in New York, KGO in San Francisco, and WENR in Chicago — really a half station, since WENR shared its time and a frequency with WLS, the station 'Prairie Farmer,'; with which it would later merge under full ownership of ABC in 1954).

RCA finally found a buyer in Edward John Noble, owner of Life Savers candy and the Rexall pharmacy chain. To complete the transfer of station licenses, Noble had to sell WMCA, his radio station in New York. Controversy continued at the FCC hearings over Noble's intention to keep Mark Woods as chairman, leading to the suggestion that Woods would continue to work with (and for) his former employers. This had the potential to derail the sale. During the hearings, Woods said the new network would not sell airtime to the American Federation of Labor. Noble evaded questions on similar points by hiding under the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) code. Frustrated, the president advised Noble to rethink the situation. He apparently did, and the sale closed on October 12, 1943. The new network, known as "The Blue Network," It was owned by the American Broadcasting System, a company Noble formed for the deal. It sold its airtime to organized labor.

In September 1944, Noble acquired the rights to the names "American Broadcasting Company" (from WOL-AM licensee), "American Broadcasting Corporation" (from WLAP licensee), and "American Network" (from a defunct group of FM broadcasters), clearing the way for the name change from American Broadcasting System to American Broadcasting Company, with the Blue group becoming &# 34;ABC." This triggered a wave of renamings; To avoid confusion, CBS changed the call letters of its parent station in New York, WABC-AM 880, to WCBS-AM in 1946. In 1953, WJZ in New York and its sister station on television adopted the abandoned call letters WABC-AM. and WABC-TV, respectively. (Westinghouse later claimed the WJZ callsign when it acquired a television station in Baltimore in 1959; this station, WJZ-TV in Baltimore, is currently owned by CBS, along with its sister station on radio.)

ABC Radio started slowly; with few hit series or older celebrities, he had to build an audience. Noble acquired more stations, including WXYZ in Detroit, an NBC Blue/ABC affiliate since 1935. WXYZ was the author of several daily series, including The Lone Ranger, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, and The Green Hornet (although these shows were not included in the sale). Noble also purchased KECA (now KABC) in Los Angeles, to give the network a production base in Hollywood. Counterprogramming became an ABC specialty, for example, placing the raucous game show Stop the Music! against more thoughtful programming on NBC and CBS. Industrial policy prohibited the use of pre-recorded programs; Adapting advanced tape recording brought from Germany after its conquest, ABC attracted some older celebrities who wanted freedom from rigid schedules, among them Bing Crosby. Although still ranked fourth, by the late 1940s ABC had begun to catch up with the more established networks.

1948: Leonard Goldenson and ABC's entry into television

Faced with the expenses of building a radio station, ABC was not in a position to assume the additional costs required by television. However, to secure a place at the table, in 1947 ABC filed applications for licenses in the five cities where it owned radio stations (which together accounted for 25 percent of the nationwide audience during that time). All five requests were that each station would broadcast on channel 7; Frank Marx, ABC's vice president of engineering, thought at the time that the low-band television channels (channels 2 through 6) would be reallocated for military use, causing these five radio stations on VHF channel 7 to be the lowest in the television sphere and therefore, the best channel positions. (Such a movement never occurred, although fortuitously, 60 years later, Channel 7's frequency would prove to be technically favorable for the transmission of digital television, a technology not planned at the beginning of television broadcasting.)

The ABC television network went on the air on April 19, 1948. The network picked up its first major affiliates, Philadelphia's WFIL-TV (now WPVI-TV) and Washington's WMAL-TV (now WJLA-TV) before that its flagship station, WJZ-TV in New York (now WABC-TV), signed on in August of that year. The rest of ABC's fleet of affiliate stations in major markets (in Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles) would sign on over the next 13 months, giving it parity with CBS and NBC in the important area of city presence. as well as a long-term advantage in guaranteed reach over its rival, DuMont Television Network, in the fall of 1949.

For the next few years, ABC was a television network primarily in its name. Except for the largest markets, most cities had only one or two stations. The FCC halted applications for new stations in 1948 while it tried to sort out the thousands of applicants and rethink the technology and allocation rules established between 1938 and 1946. What was intended to be a six-month hiatus lasted until mid-1952. Until that time, there were only 108 stations in the United States. Some large cities where television development was slow, such as Pittsburgh and St. Louis, had only one station on the air for an extended period, other large cities such as Boston only had two, and many sizable cities including Denver, Colorado and Portland, Oregon They did not have television service at all until the second half of 1952, after the interruption ended. For a laggard like ABC, this meant relegation to secondary status in many markets and a lack of broadcasting in some. ABC mandated little loyalty for affiliates, although unlike the DuMont network, it at least had a radio network on which it based its loyalty and revenue. It also had a full complement of five owned and operated stations, which included stations in the critical markets of Chicago (WENR-TV, now WLS-TV) and Los Angeles (KECA-TV, now KABC-TV). Even then, in 1951 the ABC was poorly extended and on the brink of bankruptcy. It had only nine full-time affiliates to augment its five owned and operated stations (WJZ, WENR, KECA, WXYZ-TV in Detroit, and KGO-TV in San Francisco).

Noble finally found a white knight in United Paramount Theaters. Divorced from Paramount Pictures in late 1949 by the decisionUnited States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.of the Supreme Court of the United States, UPT was rich in money and controlled much valuable real estate. The head of UPT, Leonard Goldenson, decided to look for investment opportunities. Barred from the film industry, Goldenson saw broadcasting as a possibility, and in 1951, he discussed with Noble the possibilities of purchasing ABC. Noble was being approached by other suitors, including CBS (which at the time was managed by William S. Paley), so he was in no hurry to accommodate Goldenson. After some difficult negotiations, the merger between ABC and UPT was finally agreed upon, and was announced in the spring of 1951. Because the transfer of station licenses was involved once again, the FCC hearings proved contentious.

The FCC deliberated on the divorce between Paramount Pictures and UPT for a year before finally approving UPT's purchase in a split decision on February 9, 1953. Speaking in favor of the agreement, one commissioner noted that UPT had the money to turn ABC into a viable and competitive network. The company obtained the corporate name American Broadcasting-Paramount Theaters, Inc. Edward Noble remained on the board of directors of the new ABC until his death in 1958; He and Goldenson disagreed at times about the direction ABC should now take. Robert Kintner, the president originally hired for the network by Noble, was forced to resign from his position in 1956 despite Noble's vigorous objections, because Goldenson and his executives finally took solid command.

Shortly after the merger between ABC and UPT, Goldenson approached DuMont with a merger offer. DuMont was in financial trouble for several reasons, including an FCC decision that prohibited its acquisition of two other stations due to two stations being owned by Paramount. However, DuMont's pioneering status in television and programming creativity was a step ahead of ABC, and for a time, it seemed that DuMont was on the verge of establishing itself as the third largest television network. This all changed with the merger between ABC and UPT, which effectively put DuMont in intensive care. Goldenson quickly reached an agreement with DuMont CEO Ted Bergmann. Under the proposed merger, the combined chain would have been called "ABC-Dumont" for a minimum of five years. DuMont would receive $5 million in cash and guaranteed advertising time for DuMont television receivers. In exchange, ABC promised to honor all of DuMont's network commitments. The combined network would have been a colossus rivaling CBS and NBC, with owned-and-operated stations in five of the six largest markets (all except Philadelphia, which would later become an owned-and-operated station). It would have had to sell WJZ-TV or WABD-TV (now WNYW), as well as two other stations (most likely WXYZ-TV and KGO-TV), to meet the five-station limit mandated by the FCC. The combined network would also have acquired the aforementioned monopoly in Pittsburgh with WDTV (now KDKA-TV, then owned by DuMont but ironically affiliated with CBS today) as part of the merger. However, Paramount vetoed the sale. A few months earlier, the FCC determined that Paramount controlled DuMont, and there were still lingering questions about whether the two companies were truly separate. By 1956, the DuMont chain had closed.

After its acquisition by UPT, ABC did not even have the means to offer a full-time television service on the scale of CBS and NBC. By mid-1953, Goldenson had begun a two-pronged campaign, asking his older colleagues at the Hollywood studios (he had been head of the Paramount theater chain since 1938) to convince them to get into television programming (within a few years, changed its television programming from shows predominantly broadcast live from New York to made-for-television films in Hollywood). He also began courting station owners to convince them that a renewal was on the horizon for ABC. He also convinced veteran NBC and CBS affiliates in several markets to move to ABC. His two-part campaign bore fruit when the 'new' ABC went on the air on October 27, 1954. Among the programs that brought record audiences was Disneyland, produced by and starring Walt Disney... the beginning of a relationship between the studio and the network that Finally, four decades later, it would transform both. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Bros., and Twentieth Century-Fox were also present in that first season. Within two years, Warner Bros. was producing ten hours of programming for ABC each week, generally detective series and westerns (including Cheyenne, Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip , Surfside 6, Bronco, Hawaiian Eye, and Colt.45). Finally, ABC had shows in the top 10 list. Other successful early ABC series during this period that helped establish the network included The Lone Ranger (the only ABC show in the top 10 before Disneyland).), The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (starring the Nelson family), Leave It to Beaver (which moved from CBS), The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor, and The Untouchables. However, he still had a long way to go. It was relegated to secondary status in many markets until the late 1960s and, in a few cases, until the 1980s.

In 1955, ABC established a recording division, the AmPar Record Corporation, which founded and operated the popular ABC-Paramount Records label (which became ABC Records in 1965) and the noted jazz label Impulse Records, created in 1961. ABC-Paramount later purchased more labels from Famous Music, a division of Gulf+Western – Dot, Steed, Acta, Blue Thumb, and Paramount Records, along with the legendary country and R&B label Duke/Peacock in 1974. The entire group was sold to MCA Records in 1979; As a result of subsequent acquisitions, the remnants of ABC's music group are now owned by Universal Music Group. After its merger with Disney, ABC became the sister company to a record label group once again, the Buena Vista Music Group (which includes such labels as Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records).

1961-1965: Growth and restructuring

While ABC-TV continues to languish in third place nationally, it frequently topped local ratings in larger markets. With the arrival of slickly produced series in Hollywood, ABC began to become popular with the young, urban viewers whom advertisers wanted to reach. At the same time, a series of FCC regulatory actions opened up the more desirable VHF band to other full-power stations in the sizable Eastern and Midwestern markets between 1958 and 1963, allowing ABC to acquire full station affiliation contracts. additional full coverage in key parts of the country. This would allow the network to build further audience growth across the country over the next decade. The network gained higher ratings, became an attractive property, and over the next few years ABC approached, or was approached by, General Electric, Howard Hughes, Litton Industries, General Telephone and Electronics, and the International Telephone & Telegraph Corporation. ABC and ITT agreed to a merger in late 1965, but this agreement was derailed by questions from the FCC and the United States Department of Justice about the influence of ITT's foreign ownership on ABC's autonomy and journalistic integrity. ITT management promised that ABC's autonomy would be preserved. Although he was able to convince the FCC, antitrust regulators at the Department of Justice refused to sign the deal. After numerous delays, the agreement was suspended on January 1, 1968. ABC would remain an independent company for almost two decades.

In 1960, the ABC Radio Network found that its audience was continuing to gravitate toward television. Radio stations that were owned by ABC were not enjoying a large audience either, with the exception of WXYZ in Detroit (currently known as WXYT-AM), which had reinvented itself as a contemporary hits station. years earlier under the direction of Harold L. Neal and found renewed success. Seeing that WXYZ was the only ABC radio station that made money at the time, and that there was a decline in listeners and programming for the other ABC stations, Neal, after moving to WABC-AM in New York to become the General manager of that station, he hired Mike Joseph (later known as the developer of the Hot Hits format) as his music consultant to program contemporary music for WABC. Neal also hired Dan Ingram to host afternoon programming, and Bruce "Cousin Brucie" Morrow to present late-night programming. The immediate success of WABC led to Neal's appointment as president of all 7 radio stations owned by ABC. Neal then extended popular music programming to WLS in Chicago and KQV in Pittsburgh and they reached a large audience. KABC in Los Angeles and KGO in San Francisco started news and talk shows, and became hits (WXYZ, WABC, WLS, and KQV would also later switch to news and talk programming a few years later). Rick Sklar was hired by Neal in 1963 to program the station, and introduced newscasts, commentary, and serials that remained in the ABC Radio Network schedule. The variety show The Breakfast Club, hosted by Don McNeill, was one of the offerings. Romper Room, a children's learning program, aired both in New York and on its ABC affiliates, featuring Nancy Terrell as "Miss Nancy."

On September 23, 1962, ABC began televising the animated series The Jetsons in color. Another animated series, The Flintstones, had been filmed in color since its debut in 1960 and was soon shown in color on the network. In the 1965-1966 season, ABC joined NBC and CBS in televising most of its programs in color.

In 1967 Ralph Beaudin, the general manager of WLS, was promoted to run ABC Radio. Beaudin took the bold step on January 1, 1968, when he split the ABC Radio Network into four new 'networks,' each with news specific to a single format, and features for stations oriented on pop music, news, or interviews. The fourth stations (Contemporary, Entertainment, Information, and FM) were later joined by two others (Direction and Rock), and during 1968, KXYZ and KXYZ-FM in Houston were acquired by ABC, giving the network the maximum of seven owned and operated stations permitted at that time.

In 1969, Neal and Beaudin hired Allen Shaw, a former programmer for WCFL in Chicago, to program the seven FM radio stations owned by ABC. Shaw pioneered the first album-oriented rock format on all seven stations and changed their signal callsigns to WPLJ (New York), WDAI (Chicago), WDVE (Pittsburgh), WRIF (Detroit), KAUM (Houston), KSFX (San Francisco), and KLOS (Los Angeles). In the mid-1970s, the ABC Radio Network and its AM and FM stations were the most successful radio operations in the United States in terms of audiences and profits. Leonard Goldenson frequently credited ABC Radio for assisting in financing the development of the ABC Television Network in those early years.

During the 1960s, ABC founded an in-house production unit, ABC Films, to create new material especially for the network. Shortly after the death of producer David O. Selznick, ABC acquired the rights to a considerable portion of Selznick's theatrical film library, including Rebecca and Portrait of Jennie (but not Gone with the Wind, which Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had absolutely acquired in the 1940s).

1965-1969: Success

Wide World of Sports debuted on April 29, 1961 and was the creation of Edgar J. Scherick through his company, Sports Programs, Inc. After Selling his company to the American Broadcasting Company, Scherick hired a young Roone Arledge to produce the show. Arledge would eventually go on to become the executive producer of ABC Sports (as well as the president of ABC News). Arledge helped ABC's fortunes with his innovations in sports programming, such as the multiple cameras used on Monday Night Football. In doing so, he helped transform the sports programming industry.

Despite its relatively small size, ABC found growing success with television programs aimed at the new culture of "baby boomers." It aired American Bandstand and Shindig!, two programs that offered new popular records and were aimed at the youth of that era.

The network aired science fiction programs, a genre that the networks considered too risky: The Outer Limits, The Invaders, The Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and Primetime: What Would You Do? It also aired two action series and suspense produced by Quinn Martin: The F.B.I and The Fugitive. In September 1964, the network would premiere a sitcom called Bewitched, which would take second place in the ratings for the 1964-1965 season and break ratings records for the network.

In January 1966, an American popular culture phenomenon would emerge in the form of Batman, with Adam West as the titular hero and Burt Ward as his youthful sidekick, Robin the Boy Wonder. The program helped establish ABC as a force in national television. Each week, a two-part Batman adventure aired on Wednesday and Thursday nights, mixing the exploits of the popular DC Comics hero with outrageous humor. This strange combination made the series an immediate hit with young people looking for thrills, and a favorite among students in high schools and universities. Special villains, such as The Joker (played by César Romero), The Penguin (played by Burgess Meredith), Catwoman (played by Julie Newmar and later by Eartha Kitt), and The Siren (played by Joan Collins), added to the mass of followers of the series. A two-part episode that featured Liberace in a dual role, as the great pianist Chandel and his criminal brother Harry, turned out to be the highest-rated tandem in the history of the series (which was canceled in March 1968)..

In 1968, the parent company changed its name from American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, Inc. to American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., formally retiring the Paramount name from the company and all subsidiaries that bore that name. The network would continue to have a partnership with Paramount Television into the 1970s; However, many of her television shows would come from Paramount, and most of the shows would bring her great success in the ratings.

1969-1985: Climb to the top

Continuing the network's rebound in the 1960s were high-rated sitcoms such as That Girl, Bewitched, The Courtship of Eddie&# 39;s Father, The Partridge Family, and The Brady Bunch, and such dramas as Room 222 and The Mod Squad. Edgar J. Scherick was Vice President of Programming for the network and responsible for much of the lineup during this era.

ABC's daytime programming lineup was strong during the 1970s and 1980s with the series General Hospital, The Edge of Night (which had moved to the ABC from CBS in late 1975), All My Children, and Ryan's Hope, as well as the game shows The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, Let's Make a Deal, Split Second, The $25,000 Pyramid, and Family Feud.

In the early 1970s, ABC had formed its first theatrical division, ABC Pictures, later called ABC Motion Pictures. He produced some profitable films, such as Cabaret by Bob Fosse, Take the Money and Run by Woody Allen, and They Shoot Horses, Don't They? by Sydney Pollack, while other films, such as Song of Norway and Candy, received disastrous reviews upon their releases despite both being heavily promoted while in production. production. The company's later films included Silkwood, The Flamingo Kid, and SpaceCamp (which was the last film produced by ABC for the cinema).. He also began an innovation in television, the concept of The ABC Movie of the Week. This series of made-for-TV movies aired once a week, on Tuesday nights. Three years later, Wednesday nights were added as well. Palomar Pictures International, the production company created by Scherick after his departure from ABC, produced several films called "Movies of the Week."

The network itself, for its part, showed signs of overtaking CBS and NBC. Broadcasting in color since the 1960s, ABC began using the new science of demographics to modify its programming and advertising sales. ABC invested heavily in its programming with broad appeal, especially in such sitcoms as Happy Days, Barney Miller, Three's Company, Taxi, and Soap. Programming chief Fred Silverman was credited with turning around the network's fortunes, creating spinoffs such asLaverne & Shirleyand Mork & Mindy. He also commissioned Aaron Spelling series such as Charlie's Angels, Starsky & Hutch, S.W.A.T., Hart to Hart, The Love Boat, Family, Vega $, and Dynasty. Additionally, in 1974 ABC acquired the television rights to the annual Oscars ceremony, which is now contractually planned to be broadcast by the network until 2014. By 1977, ABC had become the most-watched network in the nation. Meanwhile, CBS and NBC trailed for some time, and because NBC was third in the ratings, ABC sought stronger affiliates by purchasing former NBC affiliates.

ABC also offered miniseries with big budgets and extended runs, including QB VII and Rich Man, Poor Man. The most successful, Roots, based on the novel by Alex Haley, became one of the biggest hits in television history. Combined with the ratings of its regular weekly series, Roots propelled ABC to a climb to first place in the national Nielsen ratings for the 1976-1977 season — a milestone in the network's history up to that point. moment. In 1983, via its revived theatrical division, ABC Motion Pictures, Silkwood was released to theaters, and The Day After (once more produced internally by its then newly renamed television unit, ABC Circle Films) was seen on television by 100 million people, sparking discussions about nuclear activities that were occurring at the time. Another ABC television movie, Battlestar Galactica, which spawned the 1978 television series of the same name, was watched by 64 million people and at the time was the most popular television movie. expensive in history.

ABC-TV began its transition from coaxial cable–microwave distribution to satellite distribution via AT&T's Telstar 301 system. The ABC maintained a feeder network for the West Coast on Telstar 302, and in 1991, merged the feeds from the two satellites with the Leitch system. Currently, with the Leitch system abandoned, the ABC operates digital channels on Intelsat Galaxy 16 and Intelsat Galaxy 3C. ABC Radio began using the SEDAT satellite distribution system in the 1980s, switching to Starguide in the 2000s.

In 1984, ABC acquired majority control of ESPN, a cable television sports channel.

1985-1996: Lower Capital Cities

ABC's dominance continued into the 1980s. But by 1985, such veteran shows as The Love Boat and Benson were over, as were such hits like Three's Company and Laverne & Shirley. While NBC was making a resurgence in the ratings, ABC shifted its focus to such sitcoms as Webster, Mr. Belvedere, Growing Pains, and Perfect Strangers. During this period, while the network enjoyed huge ratings with series such as Dynasty, Moonlighting, MacGyver, Who's the Boss?, The Wonder Years, Hotel, and Thirtysomething, ABC seemed to have lost the momentum that propelled it through the decade 1970s, there was little offered that was innovative and attractive. Highly publicized shows featuring such stars as Lucille Ball and Dolly Parton were critical and commercial failures in the mid-to-late 1980s. As was the case with his CBS counterpart, William S. Paley, Goldenson had retired from the hot seat. ABC's ratings and revenues thus generated reflected his loss of momentum. Under these circumstances, ABC was a perfect acquisition target. However, no one expected that the buyer was a media company only one-tenth the size of ABC, Capital Cities Communications.

ABC was acquired by Capital Cities in 1986 for $3.5 billion, changing its corporate name to Capital Cities/ABC. The acquisition was led by two Capital Cities executives, Thomas S. Murphy and Daniel Burke. Burke became the president and CEO of ABC, running the network's daytime operations until his retirement in 1994. Murphy focused on the network's long-term goals and strategies. Murphy and Burke are credited with streamlining ABC's operations and growing its profits.

In the early 1990s, one might conclude that the company was more conservative than at other times in its history. The miniseries and cartoons were eliminated; However, the network had acquired the television division of Orion Pictures in the wake of the studio's bankruptcy (after a brief attempt to acquire the same studio), later merging it with its internal division, ABC Circle Films, to create ABC Productions. Programs produced during this era included My So-Called Life, The Commish, and American Detective (which was co-produced through Orion before the bankruptcy of the studio). In an attempt to gain viewers on Friday nights, the TGIF programming block was created. Top shows during this time included Full House, Family Ties, and Step by Step. These shows were family-oriented, but other shows like Roseanne were less traditional in their views on the world, but were very successful in the ratings. Home Improvement also strengthened ABC's ratings, because it was consistently rated higher on the Nielsen ratings chart until its end in 1999.

1996-2003: Purchase by Disney

In 1996, The Walt Disney Company acquired Capital Cities/ABC, and renamed the broadcasting group ABC, Inc., although the network also continues to use the name American Broadcasting Companies, as in the television productions that they own.

The relationship between ABC and Disney dates back to 1953, when Leonard Goldenson promised enough money for the "Disneyland" could be completed. ABC continued to hold notes and shares of Disney until 1960, and also had the first call on the television series Disneyland in 1954. With this new relationship came an attempt at cross-promotion, with attractions based on Disney shows. ABC in the Disney parks and an annual festival at Walt Disney World. (Previous ABC, Inc. chairman Robert Iger now heads Disney.) In 1997, ABC aired a Saturday morning block called One Saturday Morning, which was renamed < b>ABC Kids in 2002. Presented a lineup of children's programs, mainly cartoons, for 5 hours (4 hours as of 2005). Originally this block was targeted at children ages 5–12, but after 2005, it targeted children in the 10–16 range.

Despite intense micro-management by Disney management, ABC's flagship television network was slow to turn around. In 1999, the network was able to experience a brief boost in its ratings with the hit game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. A new national phenomenon, Survivor on CBS, persuaded ABC programmers to change the schedule of Millionaire to kill Survivor before it was able to obtain successful grades. Early results were promising for CBS, which lost by just a few points in the ratings. ABC tried an unprecedented strategy for Millionaire by airing the show four times a week during the season next fall, in the process overexposing the show, because it appeared on the network five or six nights during one week.. ABC's ratings fell dramatically when its competitors introduced their own game shows and audiences tired of the format. Alex Wallau assumed the presidency in 2000. Despite the repeated exposure of Millionaire and its entry into syndication, ABC continued to find success in such dramas as The Practice (which spawned a successful spin-off, Boston Legal, in 2004), Alias, and Once and Again. ABC also had some moderately successful comedies, such as The Drew Carey Show, Spin City, Dharma & Greg, According to Jim, My Wife and Kids, 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, and The George Lopez Show.

For the 2001-2002 television season, ABC began broadcasting newer programming in high definition, and in addition, the network also converted all of its current comedies and dramas to high definition, becoming the first American television network which produced its entire slate of scripted programming in that format. CBS became the first television network to produce programs in high definition the previous year.

In 2002, ABC committed more than $35 million to build an automated "Network Release" (NR) in New York to distribute programming to its affiliates. This facility, however, was designed to handle only standard definition broadcasts, not modern high definition technology, so it was obsolete before construction began. NR's biggest mistake, to date, has been the loss of several minutes from a results episode of Dancing with the Stars broadcast live on March 27, 2007 on 104 affiliates. Previously, the network's biggest mistake was airing A Charlie Brown Christmas in December 2006 with several acts in the wrong order. In 2008, the ABC committed $70 million to build a new facility for high-definition broadcasts. NR's standard definition operations closed in the week before the revised transition to digital television, commissioned by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on June 12 of the same year. ABC only has 5 control rooms that were large enough for high-definition television, and two of them are dual editing/control suites. The fifth studio, HD-5, was commissioned in August 2009.

Despite all of this, one of the assets ABC was missing in the 2000s that most other networks had was popularity in reality television. Several ABC reality shows, such as Are You Hot? and the first American version of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, turned out to be Shame on the chain. At the end of the 2003-2004 television season, ABC fell to fourth place, becoming the first of the "Big Three Television Networks" to fall to that classification.

2004-2007: Resurgence

Determined to retain its prominence in television, ABC was able to find success in the ratings beginning in 2004. Under its new president of entertainment, Stephen McPherson, in the fall of that same year ABC premiered two highly anticipated series: Desperate Housewives and Lost. Immediately, the network's ratings rose to unprecedented levels, thanks in part to critical praise, high advertising, and strong marketing of the series during the summer. It continued its prosperity with the premieres of Grey's Anatomy in 2005, and the comedy-drama Ugly Betty (based on the internationally popular soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea) in 2006. All of these programs were very popular among their viewers and acclaimed by critics.

ABC found additional prosperity with two reality television shows, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in 2003 and Dancing with the Stars in 2005. Despite these recent successes, ABC continues to puzzle over creating new reality series. Especially during the summer months, ABC has repeatedly attempted to premiere new unscripted shows, such as Shaq's Big Challenge, Fat March, and Brat Camp. A notable program in ABC's attempt to expand its brand in the reality television genre was The One: Making a Music Star, which refuted the hugely popular series American Idol that aired. by the Fox Broadcasting Company in which it tried to combine a talent show with the traditional mechanics of a reality show. The show came in response to five years of American Idol's stranglehold on even ABC's most popular shows. However, The One received unanimously negative reviews, garnered some of the lowest ratings in television history, and was canceled after just two weeks.

In the early 2000s, the ABC Sports division merged its operations with ESPN. ESPN, which was airing its own Sunday night game package beginning in 1987, took over the Monday Night Football franchise in 2006. (NBC began showing its own Sunday night game series.) Sunday in ESPN's old time slot.) Starting that fall, all sports broadcasts on ABC will be presented under the name "ESPN on ABC," with ESPN graphics and announcers (including the logos of both ESPN and ABC appearing on the screen, with ESPN's in the presentation graphics and ABC's in the corner of the screen).

ABC aired the miniseries The Path to 9/11 in September 2006 on the fifth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. The docudrama was widely criticized, especially by the political left, for its alleged inaccuracies.

Borrowing a proven formula from Disney, attempts have been made to expand the ABC brand. In 2004, ABC launched a news channel called ABC News, which aims to provide news through digital television, cable, the Internet, and mobile phone.

With the Disney merger, Touchstone Television began producing most of the primetime series on ABC. This culminated in the studio's name change to ABC Studios in 2007, as part of a strategy by Disney to focus on the three 'core brands': ABC, Disney, and ESPN. Buena Vista Television, its syndication division, also changed its name, to Disney-ABC Domestic Television. Also in 2007, ABC introduced a brighter logo, along with its new image campaign, around the slogan "ABC: Start Here" ("ABC: Start Here"), which means news content and entertainment programming on the network being accessible through not only television, but also the Internet, portable media devices, podcasting, and mobile-specific content. However, despite all this, and other hits likeBrothers & Sisters, Private Practice (a spin-off of Grey's Anatomy), and the hit game show Wipeout!, The resurgence did not last, as ABC would fall from second to third place in 2007.

2007-present: The writers' strike and a loss of steam

The Hollywood writers' strike of 2007-2008 stopped ABC in time that season along with other networks, and would be especially serious in the majority of its new pilots, in which many of them (Dirty Sexy Money, Pushing Daisies, and Samantha Who?, among others) would not live to see a third season, after the 2008-2009 season. One of the shows that was commissioned by the network during the strike was Duel, which premiered in December 2007. The show was a minor triumph for its initial run of six episodes, which allowed the network to order a regular season of the show. Unfortunately, Duel had low ratings during its regular broadcast and was canceled after a total of 11 episodes; The remaining 5 episodes of the show (which had 16 episodes) aired in the summer of 2008.

The writers' strike continued to affect the network in the 2008-2009 season (to a lesser extent, however) when more series, such as Boston Legal and the US version of Life on Mars, suffered from low ratings, even though the former was previously a hugely popular show on the network.

In early 2009, Disney–ABC Television Group merged ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios into a new division called ABC Entertainment Group, which would be responsible for production and broadcasting. Disney–ABC Television Group planned to reduce its staff by 5% during this reorganization.

The 2009-2010 season would be a season of contrasts for ABC. The network notably made its Wednesday nights for this season consist entirely of new programming; among the five shows that premiered, three of them, Cougar Town, The Middle, and the most successful and critically acclaimed of them, Modern Family, would be renewed for a second season, these half-hour comedies formed a new ABC block, called "Comedy Wednesday" (marked "Laugh On"). However, all of that season's new dramas except for one, V, would eventually be canceled at the end of the season, even though Castle i>, one of ABC's successful procedurals to date, was also renewed. NBC would nearly tie ABC (with help from the 2010 Winter Olympics) for third place that year in viewers.^{[citation needed]}

In March 2010, Disney considered spinning off ABC into an independent broadcasting company, adding that it "doesn't add a ton of value to Disney's other divisions." It has entered into advanced negotiations with two private equity firms to sell ABC; However, the sale was canceled on May 26 of the same year, because Disney executives tried to sell the chain to the FBI.

In 2010, Lost finally ended after six seasons. The previous hit Ugly Betty collapsed dramatically in the ratings due to the show's move to a Friday night time slot, and after a failed attempt to increase ratings by moving the show to Wednesday nights, the show was eventually canceled, which resulted in negative reactions from the public, especially fans of the show. With the hit shows from previous seasons already cancelled, the network's first two veteran shows, Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy, and another hit, Brothers & Sistershave recorded their lowest ratings of all time, a mark that still stands in their current times in the 2010-2011 television schedule. Likewise, new dramas for the 2010-2011 period have continued to flop, with only Body of Proof renewed for a second season. The network also struggled to establish new comedies to accompany its debuts from the previous year., with only Happy Endings, which premiered late in the season, earning a second season. Meanwhile, the new lows reached by Brothers & Sisters led to its cancellation, and the previous year's only drama renewal, V, also failed to gain another season after a low mid-season rating. Despite Of this notable decline in ratings, ABC would manage to surpass NBC's ratings for third place by a larger margin than the previous year.

With relatively few rumors surrounding his pilots for the 2010-2011 season, and a sexual harassment lawsuit against Stephen McPherson, he resigned as president of ABC Entertainment Group on July 27, 2010. His replacement, Paul Lee, was announced the same day.

With the cancellation of Supernanny in 2011, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was the last primetime series to air in standard definition on ABC, until cancellation of the last show in 2012. On April 14, 2011, ABC canceled the successful soap operas All My Children and One Life to Live after accumulating a combined total of for 84 years on the air. To replace these broadcasts, the network launched a variety and interview program called The Revolution, a program that failed and had to be canceled. Subsequently, in the 2011-12 season, the ABC network saw it fall to fourth place in audience in the 18 to 49 age group, despite renewing several of its programs to broadcast a second season.

In 2012, the Spanish-language network Univision and ABC News announced an alliance to launch an English-language news channel, aimed primarily at the Hispanic audience. In February 2013 it was revealed that the new television network would be called Fusión, which would launch in 2013.

The 2012-13 season fell in audience levels compared to the previous year. It had only one drama series on air, Nashville; and a comedy, The Neighbors, series that were renewed for a second season.

In May 2013, ABC launched Watch ABC, an application that allows viewers to access the channel's live broadcasts using a mobile device. ABC was the first US television network to offer this service.

Since the debut of ABC's current bright logo in September 2008, the network has suggested its affiliates integrate the ABC logo framework into their individual logos, with ABC owned and operated stations being the first to achieve. This is to allow both simpler common branding between the network and its affiliates, and ABC's branding of its video players on ABC.com and Hulu with each local station's logo as the "bug" on the screen, which is determined by the ZIP code and IP address, along with the local affiliate's logo after a network commercial break. WPVI-TV in Philadelphia was the last station to refrain from obvious or non-standard dialing until December 2010 (instead using a two-tone red ball with the name "ABC" to accompany its coloring. graphics), when the station placed its veteran logo "6" from a blue circle reminiscent of Circle 7, with the bright ABC logo at the bottom right. Some ABC affiliates use their ABC logo forms only to promote ABC programming, with unbranded logos used for the remainder of the broadcast day.

ABC is also unique in the industry to brand its programs as "ABC's [show name]" in promotional advertising, in line with Disney and Pixar's advance marking in their films and television programs, and for productions by ABC Studios having the words "An ABC Studios Production" placed in the opening credits of a program, after the intertitle but before the list of actors.

Programming list

News and information

• 20/20 (1978-present)
• Good Morning America (1975-present)
• ABC World News (1953-present)
• Nightline (1979–present)
• This Week (1981–present)
• America This Morning (1982–present)
• Primetime (1989–present)
• World News Now (1992–present)

Dramas and science fiction

• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013-2020)
• American Crime (2015-2017)
• Big Shots (2007-2008)
• Body of Proof (2011-2013)
• Boston Legal (2004-2008)
• Brothers and Sisters (2006-2011)
• Castle (2009-2016)
• The Catch (2016-present)
• Commander in Chief (2005-2006)
• Conviction (2016-present)
• Deception (2018)
• Defying Gravity (2009)
• Designated Survivor (2016-2019)
• Wake up Housewives (2004-2012)
• Dirty Sexy Money (2007-2009)
• Eastwick (2009)
• FlashForward (2009-2010)
• The Forgotten (2009-2010)
• The Gates (2010)
• Grey's Anatomy (2005-present)
• How to Get Away with Murder (2014-2020)
• In Justice (2006)
• Invasion (2005-2006)
• Life on Mars (2008-2009)
• Lost (2004-2010)
• Mistresses (2012-2016)
• Men in Trees (2006-2008)
• My Generation (2010)
• The Nine (2006-2007)
• No Ordinary Family (2010-2011)
• Notorious (2016-2017)
• Nashville (2012-2016)
• Of Kings and Prophets (2016)
• Off The Map (2011)
• Once Upon a Time (2011-2018)
• Private Practice (2007-2013)
• Quantico (2015-2017)
• Rookie Blue (2010-2015)
• Scandal (2012-2018)
• Secret and Lies (2015-present)
• Six Degrees (2006-2007)
• Traveler (2007)
• The Unusuals (2009)
• V (2009-2011)
• What About Brian (2006-2007)
• The Whole Truth (2010)
• Women's Murder Club (2007-2008)
• ABC Television Players (1949)
• The Good Doctor (2017-present)

Soap operas

• Avenida Brasil (2013)

Comedies

• According to Jim (2001-2008)
• American Housewife (2016-2021)
• Better Off (2009-2010)
• Better with You (2010-2011)
• Big Day (2006-2007)
• Black-ish (2014-present)
• Carpoolers (2007-2008)
• Cavemen (2007)
• Cougar Town (2009-2015)
• Crumbs (2006)
• Cupid (2009)
• Dr. Ken (2015-2017)
• Eli Stone (2008-2009)
• Emily's Reasons Why Not (2006)
• Freddie. (2005-2006)
• Fresh Off the Boat (2015-2020)
• The George Lopez Show (2002-2007)
• The Goldbergs (2013-present)
• Hank. (2009)
• Happy Endings (2011-2013)
• Help Me Help You (2006)
• Hope " Faith (2003-2006)
• In Case of Emergency (2007)
• In the Motherhood (2009)
• Jake in Progress (2005-2006)
• Last man standing (2011-2017)
• The Neighbors (2012-2014)
• Trophy Wife (2013-2014)
• The Middle (2009-2018)
• Miss Guided (2008)
• Modern Family (2009-2020)
• Notes from the Underbelly (2007-2008)
• The Proud Family (2002-2006)
• Pushing Daisies (2007-2009)
• The Real O'Neals (2016-2017)
• Rodney (2004-2006)
• Romantically Challenged (2010)
• Samantha Who? (2007-2009)
• Scrubs (2001-2008 in NBC, then 2009-2010 in ABC)
• Sons and Daughters (2006)
• Speechless (2016-2019)
• Surviving Suburbia (2009)
• Ugly Betty (2006-2010)

Reality shows and unscripted programs

• 101 Ways to Leave a Game Show (2011)
• 500 Questions (2015-present)
• America's Funniest Home Videos (1990-present)
• American Inventor (2006-2007)
• The Bachelor (2002-present)
• The Bachelorette (2003-2005, 2008-present)
• Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann (2008)
• Dancing with the Stars (2005-present)
• Dating in the Dark (2009-2010)
• Downfall (2010)
• The Ex-Wives Club (2007)
• Impossible Expedition (2011)
• Extreme Makeover (2002-2007)
• Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (2003-2012)
• Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race (2007)
• Fat March (2007)
• The Great American Dream Vote (2007)
• Here Come the Newlyweds (2008-2009)
• Homeland Security USA (2009)
• Just for Laughs (2007-2009)
• Karaoke Battle U.S.A. (2011)
• Master of Champions (2006)
• The Next Best Thing (2007)
• The One: Making a Music Star (2006; cancelled after four episodes)
• One Ocean View (2006)
• Oprah's Big Give (2008)
• Rising Star (2014)
• Secret Millionaire (2011)
• Shaq's Big Challenge (2007)
• Supernanny (2005-2011)
• Take the Money and Run (2011)
• True (2009-2010)
• Wife Swap (2004-present)
• Wipeout! (2008-2015; pause)

Soap operas and daytime serials

• All My Children (1970-2011)
• General Hospital (1963-present)
• One Life to Live (1968-2012)

Variety shows

• Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003-present)

Talk shows

• The View (1997-present)

Game Shows

• I Survived a Japanese Game Show (2008-2009)
• National Bingo Night (2007)
• Opportunity Knocks (2008)
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (1999-2002, 2004, 2009)

Award ceremonies

• Academy Awards (1976-present)
• American Music Awards (1973–present)
• Billboard Music Awards (2011-present)
• Country Music Association Awards (2006–present)

Sports events

Wide World of Sports was a sports program broadcast from 1961 to 1998. Each episode showed different sports disciplines.

ABC broadcast college football games in 1950. Since 1966 it has broadcast college football again, highlighting the classics Texas-Oklahoma and Michigan-Ohio State, the Sugar Bowl (1969-2006), the Rose Bowl (1989-2010), the Bowl Championship Series (1998-2005) and the Citrus Bowl (1987-2010 and 2013-present).

The network broadcast American football games from the American Football League, from 1960 to 1964, and the National Football League from 1970 to 2005 (Monday Night Football). After ten years, starting in 2015 it broadcasts a postseason wildcard game.

ABC broadcast NBA basketball games from 1964 to 1973, and then from 2002 onwards. It has also broadcast WNBA games since 2003, notably the WNBA All-Star Game. It also aired college basketball in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as from 1987 to 2014.

In baseball, ABC has aired the Little League World Series since 1965. It previously aired Major League Baseball games from 1953 to 1965, from 1976 to 1989, and from 1994 to 1995. It has also aired the National Hockey League since 1992. until 1994 and from 1999 to 2004.

In soccer, ABC aired North American Soccer League matches from 1979 to 1981, and Major League Soccer from 1996 to 2008. It also aired the 1970, 1982, and 1994-2014 FIFA World Cup, as well as the 1999 and 2003 Women's Soccer World Cup.

In golf, ABC aired the British Open from 1962 to 2009, the United States Open from 1966 to 1994, the PGA Championship from 1966 to 1990, and the LPGA Championship from 1991 to 2005. It also aired Monday Night Golf from 1999 to 2005, in which Tiger Woods faced other prominent golfers.

In terms of motorsports, ABC has broadcast the Indianapolis 500 on a delayed basis from 1965 to 1985, and live from 1986 to 2018. It also broadcast CART races from 1983 to 2001, as well as in 2007, as well as of the IndyCar Series from 1996 to 2018. In addition, it broadcast NASCAR Cup races from 1969 to 1979, from 1989 to 2000, and from 2007 to 2014, as well as the International Race of Champions from 1974 to 1980 and from 1987 to 2003.

In horse racing, ABC aired the Kentucky Derby from 1975 to 2000, the Preakness Stakes from 1977 to 2000, the Belmont Stakes from 1986 to 2000 and 2006 to 2010, and the Breeders' Stakes. Cup from 2008 to 2011.

On the other hand, ABC broadcast the 1968, 1972, 1976 and 1984 Summer Olympic Games, as well as the 1964, 1968, 1976, 1980, 1984 and 1988 Winter Olympic Games.

In 1982, ABC bought 10% of the shares of the pay network ESPN, and ABC's sports division was integrated into ESPN in the following years. For this reason, ABC has broadcast the X Games and the ESPY Awards among other ESPN events. In 2006 the ABC Sports brand was discontinued.

Children's programming

For the majority of its existence, with respect to children's programming, ABC has primarily aired programming from Walt Disney Television Animation or other producers (most notably, Hanna-Barbera and DiC Entertainment). Since its sale to Disney, the network has increased the amount of children's programming produced by its own owners, including both animated programs and live-action programs.

ABC.com Full Episode Player

ABC.com was the first network television website to offer full-length episodes online, in May and June 2006. Beginning with the 2006-2007 television season, ABC.com has regularly begun airing episodes full-length versions of most of its popular and new programs on its website the day after their original broadcasts on ABC, with a few advertisements (although fewer than on television broadcasts). This is assumed to be a response to the popularity of original recording devices, as well as the piracy issues that major television broadcasters face. In April 2007, the "Full Episode Player" started full screen visit as well as a "mini-screen" smaller size that users are able to place anywhere on their desks, in addition to the original two size options. In July 2007, ABC.com began presenting its content in high definition. Initially launching as a beta test in early July, the "Full Episode Player" It has a limited amount of high definition content, which comes from such series as Lost, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, General Hospital, and Ugly Betty. In conjunction with the premiere of the new season in September, a more robust lineup of high-definition programming was offered. That fall, the "Full Episode Player" on ABC.com was expanded further to include national newscasts and local content, as well as primetime entertainment programming. This new interaction is geotargeting, offering the ability for local ads and content that are relevant to each individual user. ABC has been the subject of some criticism for not supporting Linux-based operating systems.

ABC on Demand

On November 20, 2006, ABC and Comcast entered into an agreement to offer hit shows, such as Lost and Desperate Housewives, via video on demand.

On February 25, 2008, ABC said it would release such hit shows as Lost and Desperate Housewives for free through video-on-demand services, including Comcast.; but this time, viewers who watch the programs on demand would not be able to quickly advance beyond supported advertisements.

ABC on Demand is also available on DirecTV, on channel 1007. All ABC programs are available for download through the free DirecTV On Demand service, free of charge.

ABC on Demand will also arrive on TalkTalk TV in the UK, via Channel 6 (previously the home of C1) from December 2011. C1 closed on 31 October 2011, to clear space for ABC.

History with Disney

In 1954, Walt Disney's television anthology debuted, featuring not only programs made for television by the Disney studio, but also edited versions of some of the studio's theatrical films, such as Alice in the Dark. wonderland. Occasionally, a full-length movie would be shown, such as Treasure Island, but those would be divided into two episodes, each one hour long. The program was released under the title Disneyland, to coincide with the imminent opening of the theme park of the same name, but in 1958, it changed its name to Walt Disney Presents.

For a long time, Walt Disney wanted ABC to show his program in color, but the network resisted the idea due to the high cost of color television. In 1961, Disney reached an agreement with NBC to move the show to that network. At the time, NBC was owned by RCA, which was promoting color television at the time to sell its own color televisions. The show moved in the fall of 1961, and was renamed Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color to allow Disney the ability to broadcast its show in color, still including the episodes that had been released. previously aired in black and white on ABC. It had one of the longest runs for a television series of all time. The program was revived by ABC twice, in 1986 and 1997. In 1995, The Walt Disney Company purchased 100 percent of the shares of ABC, remaining its owner to this day. In 1998 Disney began broadcasting ABC in the North of Mexico when the aforementioned country began to use cable television.

Sale of ABC Radio

Through the 1980s and 1990s, as radio music programming audiences continued to shift to FM, many AM stations in ABC's estate—the core properties on which the company was founded, such like WABC in New York and WLS in Chicago—moved from music programs to talk shows. While many of ABC's radio stations and programs maintained strong-earning producers, the growth of the radio industry began to slow considerably after the Internet boom of the 2000s and the consolidation that followed the " Telecommunications Act of 1996." In 2005, Disney CEO Bob Iger tried to sell ABC's radio division, which he declared "a non-core asset." On February 6, 2006, Disney announced that all ABC Radio properties (excluding Radio Disney and ESPN Radio) will be separated and merged into Citadel Broadcasting Corporation. In March 2007, the Federal Communications Commission approved the transfer of ABC's 24 radio station licenses to Citadel; the merger closed on June 12, 2007. ABC News — a unit of the ABC television network — continues to produce ABC News Radio, which Citadel has agreed to distribute for a minimum of ten years.

With the sale of ABC Radio, ABC becomes the second major US television network to sell its original radio properties. NBC sold its radio network to Westwood One in 1987, and its stations to different companies throughout 1988. CBS is now the only television network with its original radio connection, although both Fox News and Fox Sports (via Clear Channel Communications) and CNN (through Westwood One) have a significant presence on radio.

As of June 2010, Citadel is now owned by Cumulus Media, an American AM and FM broadcast owner and operator that owns the Cumulus Media Networks.

ABC1

Launched on 27 September 2004, ABC1 was a digital network in the United Kingdom, which was available on the services of Freeview (digital terrestrial), Sky Digital (satellite), and Virgin Media (cable), all owned and operated by ABC Inc. Its schedule was a selection of American programs from the past and present, almost all produced by ABC Studios, and was offered 24 hours a day on digital satellite and digital cable platforms, and from 06:00 until 6:00 p.m. on the Freeview platform. Since the launch of ABC1, it had aired the blockbuster soap General Hospital, making it the only US daytime soap to have aired new episodes in the UK; However, in late 2005, it was taken off the air due to low ratings. It was announced in September 2007 that the channel would close in October due to a 24-hour slot on the digital terrestrial platform could not be acquired, and a corporate decision to focus on the Disney company brand in the United Kingdom. ABC1 It closed on September 26 at 12:00, which was earlier than the original closing date of October 1.

ABC Library

Currently, ABC owns almost all of its television and theater productions from the 1970s onwards, with the exception of certain co-productions with producers (for example, The Commish is now owned from the estate of its producer, the late Stephen J. Cannell).

Another part of the library is the aforementioned Selznick's library, the theatrical library of Cinerama Releasing and Palomar, and the Selmur Productions catalog that the network acquired a few years ago, and the in-house productions it continues to produce (such as America's Funniest Home Videos, General Hospital, and ABC News productions), despite Disney-ABC Domestic Television (formerly known as Buena Vista Television) ordering distribution for national television, while Disney-ABC International Television (formerly known as Buena Vista International Television) commissions distribution for international television.

Worldwide rights for video distribution are currently held by several companies; for example, MGM Home Entertainment, through 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, owns the US video rights to many of ABC's films.

Ownership of the majority of ABC's in-house programs produced before 1973 is now the responsibility of CBS Television Distribution (through the acquisition of Worldvision Enterprises by CTD's predecessor company, Paramount Television Network, in 1999).