American broadcast television network
Television channel
The
American Broadcasting Company
(
ABC
) is an American
commercial broadcast
television
and
radio network
that serves as the flagship property of the
Disney Entertainment
division of
the Walt Disney Company
. ABC is headquartered on Riverside Drive in
Burbank, California
, directly across the street from
Walt Disney Studios
and adjacent to the Team Disney ? Roy E. Disney Animation Building. The network maintains secondary offices at 77
West 66th Street
on the
Upper West Side
of
Manhattan
,
New York City
, which houses its broadcast center and the headquarters of its news division,
ABC News
.
Since 2007, when ABC Radio (also known as
Cumulus Media Networks
) was sold to
Citadel Broadcasting
, ABC has reduced its broadcasting operations almost exclusively to television. The youngest of the "
Big Three
" U.S. television networks, the network is sometimes referred to as the
Alphabet Network
, as its
initialism
also represents the first three letters of the
English alphabet
in order.
ABC launched as a radio network in 1943, as the successor to the
NBC Blue Network
, which had been purchased by
Edward J. Noble
. It extended its operations to television in 1948, following in the footsteps of established broadcast networks
CBS
and
NBC
, as well as the lesser-known
DuMont
. In the mid-1950s, ABC merged with
United Paramount Theatres
(UPT), a chain of movie theaters that formerly operated as a subsidiary of
Paramount Pictures
.
Leonard Goldenson
, who had been the head of UPT, made the then-new television network profitable by helping to develop and
green-light
many successful television series. In the 1980s, after purchasing an 80 percent interest in cable sports channel
ESPN
, the network's corporate parent, American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., merged with Capital Cities Communications, owner of several television and radio stations and print publications, to form
Capital Cities/ABC Inc.
, which in turn merged into Disney in 1996.
ABC has eight
owned-and-operated
and more than 230
affiliated
television stations throughout the United States and its territories. Some ABC-affiliated stations can also be seen in Canada via pay-television providers, and certain other affiliates can also be received over-the-air in areas near the
Canada?United States border
, although most of its prime time programming is subject to
simultaneous substitution
regulations for pay television providers imposed by the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
(CRTC) to protect rights held by domestically based networks.
ABC News
provides news and features content for select radio stations owned by
Cumulus Media
, as these stations are former ABC Radio properties.
History
[
edit
]
In 1927,
NBC
operated a radio network called the
NBC Blue Network
. It became an independent radio (and eventually television) network known as the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in 1943. ABC later joined United Paramount Theatres forming
American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres
(later American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.).
After its venture into radio and television throughout the 1960s and 1970s and the purchase of
ESPN
in 1982, the company was acquired and merged with Capital Cities, forming
Capital Cities/ABC
in 1986. The company was sold to
the Walt Disney Company
in 1995.
Programming
[
edit
]
The ABC television network provides 89 hours of regularly scheduled network programming each week.
[
when?
]
It also offers 22 hours of prime-time programming to affiliated stations from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday (Eastern and Pacific Time) and 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Sundays.
Daytime programming is also provided from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific weekdays (subtract 1 hour for all other time zones) (with a one-hour break at 12:00 p.m. Eastern/Pacific for stations to air newscasts, locally produced programming or syndicated programs) featuring the talk-lifestyle shows
The View
and
GMA3: What You Need to Know
, and the soap opera
General Hospital
. In addition, ABC News programming includes
Good Morning America
from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. weekdays and Saturdays (along with one-hour Sunday editions), nightly editions of
ABC World News Tonight
(whose weekend editions are occasionally subject to abbreviation or preemption due to sports telecasts overrunning into the program's timeslot), the
Sunday political talk show
This Week
, early morning news programs
World News Now
and
America This Morning
and the late-night newsmagazine
Nightline
. Late nights feature the weeknight talk show
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
.
The network's three-hour Weekend morning children's programming timeslot is programmed by syndication distributor
Litton Entertainment
, which produces
Litton's Weekend Adventure
under an arrangement in which the
programming block
is syndicated exclusively to ABC owned-and-operated and affiliated stations, rather than being leased out directly by the network to Litton.
Daytime
[
edit
]
ABC's daytime schedule currently features the talk show
The View
, news show
GMA3
, and the soap opera
General Hospital
. Originally premiering in 1963,
General Hospital
is ABC's longest-running entertainment program.
In addition to the long-running
All My Children
(1970?2011) and
One Life to Live
(1968?2012), notable past soap operas seen on the daytime lineup include
Ryan's Hope
,
Dark Shadows
,
Loving
,
The City
and
Port Charles
. ABC also aired the last nine years of the
Procter & Gamble
-produced soap
The Edge of Night
, following its cancellation by CBS in 1975. ABC Daytime has also aired a number of game shows, including
The Dating Game
,
The Newlywed Game
,
Let's Make a Deal
,
Password
,
Split Second
,
The $10,000/$20,000 Pyramid
,
Family Feud
,
The Better Sex
,
Trivia Trap
,
All-Star Blitz
and
Hot Streak
.
Sports
[
edit
]
Sports programming is provided on occasion, primarily on weekend afternoons and Saturday evenings. In 2006, the ABC Sports division was shut down, with all sports telecasts on ABC since then being produced in association with sister cable network
ESPN
under the branding
ESPN on ABC
. General industry trends and changes in rights have prompted reductions in sports on broadcast television, with Disney preferring to schedule the majority of its sports rights on the networks of ESPN (until 2020).
[1]
[2]
Since 2020 ESPN has prioritized ABC with airings of its sports telecasts with occasional simulcasts and exclusive games of ESPN
Monday Night Football
broadcasts on ABC.
[3]
Since 2006, ABC has at least aired ten weeks of primetime sports programming, and since 2020 has aired sports programming almost every week from September to May each year (with primetime encores and movies airing the remainder of the year).
ABC is the broadcast television rightsholder of the
National Basketball Association
(NBA), with its package (under the
NBA on ESPN
branding) traditionally beginning with its
Christmas Day games
, followed by a series of
Saturday night
and Sunday afternoon games through the remainder of the season, weekend
playoff
games, and all games of the
NBA Finals
. ABC is also the broadcast television rightsholder of the
National Hockey League
(NHL), with its package (under the
NHL on ESPN
branding). In this deal, ABC broadcasts at least 10 regular season games (mostly afternoon), the
NHL All-Star Game
, the
NHL Stadium Series
, and four
Stanley Cup Finals
. During
college football
season, ABC typically carries an afternoon doubleheader on Saturdays, along with the primetime
Saturday Night Football
. ABC also airs coverage of selected bowl games, ABC will also the secondary broadcast partner of
Major League Baseball
(MLB) with the network at least airing wild card series games since 2020 (except for 2021), and select
Sunday Night Baseball
games by sister network ESPN. Beginning in the
2015 NFL season
, ESPN agreed to begin simulcasting/exclusively airing NFL games on ABC.
[4]
The Saturday afternoon lineup outside of football season typically features airings of
ESPN Films
documentaries and other studio programs under the banner
ESPN Sports Saturday
, while Sunday afternoons usually feature either
brokered programming
, or encore and
burn-off
airings of ABC programs.
In 2015, ESPN's annual
ESPY Awards
presentation moved to ABC from ESPN. Bolstered by
Caitlyn Jenner
accepting the inaugural
Arthur Ashe Courage Award
during the ceremony, the
2015 ESPY Awards
' viewership was roughly tripled over the 2014 ceremony on ESPN.
[4]
[5]
After the NFL signed a new contract with
the Walt Disney Company
, ABC will air Super Bowl LXI in 2027 and Super Bowl LXV in 2031. The network has not aired a
Super Bowl
since
Super Bowl XL
in 2006.
Specials
[
edit
]
ABC currently holds the broadcast rights to the
Academy Awards
,
Primetime Emmy Awards
,
[b]
American Music Awards
, and the
Country Music Association Awards
.
[c]
[6]
ABC has also aired the
Miss America
competition from 1954 to 1956, 1997 to 2005, and 2011 to 2018.
[7]
From February 2001 to February 14, 2020, ABC held the television rights to most of the
Peanuts
television specials, having acquired the broadcast rights from CBS, which originated the specials in 1965 with the debut of
A Charlie Brown Christmas
(other
Peanuts
specials broadcast annually by ABC, in addition to
A Charlie Brown Christmas
, include
Charlie Brown's All Stars!
,
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
,
You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown
,
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
,
It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown
,
Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown
,
She's a Good Skate, Charlie Brown
,
Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!
,
The Mayflower Voyagers
,
A Charlie Brown Valentine
,
Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales
and
I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown
). ABC also broadcasts the annual
Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade
special on Christmas morning.
Since 1974, ABC has generally aired
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve
? a New Year's Eve special featuring music performances and coverage of festivities in New York's
Times Square
.
[d]
ABC is also among the broadcasters of the
Tournament of Roses Parade
(although as mentioned, the
Rose Bowl Game
now airs exclusively on ESPN as a College Football Playoff "
New Year's Six
" bowl).
Programming library
[
edit
]
ABC owns nearly all of its in-house television and theatrical productions made from the 1970s onward, with the exception of certain co-productions (for example,
The Commish
is now owned by the estate of its producer,
Stephen Cannell
). Worldwide video rights are currently owned by various companies, for example,
Kino Lorber
owns the North American home video rights to the ABC feature film library (along with some lesser known live action films from Disney's library, mostly from
Touchstone Pictures
,
Hollywood Pictures
and
20th Century Studios
).
When the FCC imposed its
Financial Interest and Syndication Rules
in 1970, ABC proactively created two companies: Worldvision Enterprises as a syndication distributor, and ABC Circle Films as a production company. However, between the publication and implementation of these regulations, the separation of the network's catalog was made in 1973. The broadcast rights to pre-1973 productions were transferred to Worldvision, which became independent in the same year. The company has been sold several times since
Paramount Television
acquired it in 1999, and has most recently been absorbed into
CBS Media Ventures
(formerly CBS Television Distribution), a unit of
Paramount Global
, which own the competitor
CBS
. Nonetheless, Worldvision sold portions of its catalog, including the
Ruby-Spears
and Hanna-Barbera libraries, to
Turner Broadcasting System
(now a part of
Warner Bros.
parent company
Warner Bros. Discovery
) in 1991. With Disney's 1996 purchase of ABC, ABC Circle Films was absorbed into Touchstone Television, a Disney subsidiary which in turn was renamed ABC Studios in 2007.
[8]
Also part of the library are most films in the
David O. Selznick
library, productions from their previous motion picture divisions
ABC Pictures International
,
Selmur Productions
, and
Palomar Pictures International
(before its takeover by Bristol-Myers-Squibb) released by
Cinerama Productions
(films produced by the company themselves are now under the control of
Pacific Theatres
), their later theatrical division
ABC Motion Pictures
, and the in-house productions it continues to produce (such as
America's Funniest Home Videos
,
General Hospital
, ABC News productions, and series from
Disney Television Studios
(
ABC Signature
and
20th Television
).
Disney?ABC Domestic Television
(formerly known as Buena Vista Television and 20th Television) handles domestic television distribution, while
Disney?ABC International Television
(formerly known as Buena Vista International Television) handles international television distribution.
Stations
[
edit
]
Since its inception, ABC has had over 300 television stations that have carried programming from the network at various times throughout its history, including its first two owned-and-operated and affiliated stations, founding O&O
WABC-TV
and inaugural affiliate
WPVI-TV
. As of 2020
[update]
, ABC has eight owned-and-operated stations, and current and pending affiliation agreements with 236 additional television stations encompassing 50 states, the District of Columbia, four U.S. possessions, Bermuda, and
Saba
.
[9]
[10]
This makes ABC the largest U.S. broadcast television network by total number of affiliates. The network has an estimated national reach of 97.72% of all households in the United States (or 305,347,338 Americans with at least one television set).
Currently,
New Jersey
,
Rhode Island
, and
Delaware
are the only U.S. states where ABC does not have a locally licensed affiliate (New Jersey is served by New York City O&O WABC-TV in the north half of the state and Philadelphia O&O WPVI-TV in the south,
[11]
Rhode Island is served by
New Bedford, Massachusetts
-licensed
WLNE
, though outside of the transmitter, all other operations for the station are based in
Providence
,
[12]
and Delaware is served by WPVI in the northern two thirds and
Salisbury, Maryland
, affiliate
WMDT
in the southern third of the state).
[13]
ABC maintains affiliations with low-power stations (broadcasting either in analog or digital) in a few markets, such as
Birmingham, Alabama
(
WBMA-LD
),
Lima, Ohio
(
WPNM-LD
) and
South Bend, Indiana
(
WBND-LD
). In some markets, including the former two mentioned, these stations also maintain digital simulcasts on a subchannel of a co-owned/co-managed full-power television station.
The network has the unusual distinction of having separately owned-and-operated affiliates which serve the same market in
Tampa, Florida
(
WFTS-TV
and
WWSB
),
Boston, Massachusetts
(
WCVB-TV
and
WMUR-TV
),
Lincoln, Nebraska
(
KLKN
and
KHGI-TV
), and
Grand Rapids, Michigan
(
WZZM
and
WOTV
), with an analogous situation arising in
Kansas City, Missouri
(
KMBC-TV
and
KQTV
). KQTV is licensed to
St. Joseph
, which
Nielsen
designates as a separate market from Kansas City, despite a mere 55-mile (89 km) distance between the two cities and the Kansas City-based stations (including KMBC) providing better
city-grade to Grade B
coverage to the area compared to the signals of the primary ABC affiliates in the other aforementioned dual-affiliate markets. (KQTV was St. Joseph's lone major network affiliate until 2011, when locally based
News-Press & Gazette Company
began establishing low-power affiliates of ABC's four English-language competitors and
Telemundo
on three low-power stations to end St. Joseph's dependence on Kansas City.) WWSB, KHGI and WOTV, meanwhile, serve areas that do not receive an adequate signal from their market's primary ABC affiliate. (Of note, ABC initially affiliated with WWSB to cover southern portions of the Tampa?St. Petersburg market?including WWSB's
city of license
,
Sarasota
?as the transmitters of
WTSP
, the market's former primary ABC affiliate from 1965 to 1994, and
Miami
affiliate
WPLG
had been short-spaced to avoid interference between their respective analog-VHF channel 10 signals, WWSB remained an ABC affiliate after its Tampa affiliation moved from WTSP to WFTS in December 1994, even though WFTS's signal reaches Sarasota and some surrounding areas.)
[
relevant?
]
[
citation needed
]
WCVB-TV is licensed to Boston while WMUR-TV is licensed to
Manchester, New Hampshire
(which is officially part of the Boston market). WCVB is easily receivable in Manchester with a good antenna as well as having its own news department that covers
New Hampshire
; it is the only station licensed to the state that does such. Both WCVB and WMUR are owned by
Hearst Television
.
The
Sinclair Broadcast Group
is the largest operator of ABC stations by numerical total, owning or providing services to 28 full, primary ABC affiliates and two subchannel-only affiliates. Sinclair owns the largest ABC subchannel affiliate by market size,
WABM-DT2
/
WDBB-DT2
in the Birmingham market, which serve as repeaters of WBMA-LD (which itself is also simulcast on a subchannel of former WBMA satellite
WGWW
, owned by Sinclair partner company
Howard Stirk Holdings
). The
E. W. Scripps Company
is the largest operator of ABC stations in terms of overall market reach, owning 15 ABC-affiliated stations (including affiliates in larger markets such as
Cleveland
,
Phoenix
,
Detroit
and
Denver
), and through its ownership of
Phoenix
affiliate KNXV,
Las Vegas
affiliate
KTNV-TV
and
Tucson
affiliate
KGUN-TV
, it is the only provider of ABC programming for the majority of
Arizona
(outside the
Yuma
-
El Centro
market) and
Southern Nevada
. Scripps also owns and operates several ABC stations in the Mountain and Pacific time zones, including in Denver,
San Diego
,
Bakersfield, California
, and
Boise, Idaho
, and when combined with
the ABC-owned stations
in
Los Angeles
,
Fresno
, and
San Francisco
, the affiliations from the News-Press & Gazette Company in
Santa Barbara
,
Palm Springs
,
Yuma-El Centro
, and
Colorado Springs-Pueblo
, and Sinclair's affiliations in
Seattle
and
Portland, Oregon
, these four entities control the access of ABC network programming in most of the Western United States, particularly in terms of audience reach.
Facilities and studios
[
edit
]
All of ABC's owned-and-operated stations and affiliates have had their own facilities and studios,
[
citation needed
]
but transverse entities have been created to produce national programming. As a result, television series were produced by ABC Circle Films beginning in 1962 and by Touchstone Television beginning in 1985, before Touchstone was reorganized as
ABC Studios
in February 2007 and later renamed to its current name
ABC Signature
in August 2020. Since the 1950s, ABC has had two main production facilities: the ABC Television Center (now
The Prospect Studios
) on
Prospect Avenue
in
Hollywood, California
, shared with the operations of KABC-TV until 1999, and the ABC Television Center, East, a set of studios located throughout New York City.
In addition to the headquarters building on Riverside Drive, other ABC facilities in Burbank include a building at 3800 West Alameda, known as 'Burbank Center', which is primarily associated with
Walt Disney Television
and functions as the headquarters and broadcast center for
Disney Channel
,
Disney Junior
,
Disney XD
,
Freeform
,
FX
,
National Geographic
, and
Radio Disney
. Additionally,
Disney Television Animation
has a facility on Empire Avenue near the
Hollywood Burbank Airport
. In nearby
Glendale
, Disney/ABC also maintains the
Grand Central Creative Campus
, which houses other company subsidiaries, including the studios of KABC-TV and the Los Angeles bureau of ABC News.
ABC owns several facilities in New York, grouped mainly on West 66th Street, with the main set of facilities on the corner of Columbus Avenue. These facilities occupy a combined 105,000 square feet (9,800 m
2
) across two blocks with a total area of 159,000 square feet (14,800 m
2
). This main set of buildings includes:
- 77 West 66th Street, a 22-story building built in 1988 on a 175-by-200-foot (53 m × 61 m) plot;
- A pair of buildings at 147?155 Columbus Avenue (ten and seven stories) connected by glass bays, constructed on a 150-by-200-foot (46 m × 61 m) plot;
- 30 West 67th Street, a 15-story building with a facade on 67th Street on a 100-by-100-foot (30 m × 30 m) plot;
- 56 West 66th Street, the former
First Battery Armory
of the New York National Guard, a five-story building on a 174-by-100-foot (53 m × 30 m) plot.
ABC also owns 7, 17 and 47 West 66th Street, three buildings on a 375-by-100-foot (114 m × 30 m) plot. The block of West 66th Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue, which houses the ABC News building, was renamed Peter Jennings Way in 2006 in honor of the then-recently deceased news anchor.
[14]
Disney formerly leased 70,000 sq ft (6,500 m
2
) at 157 Columbus Avenue, on the northern side of 67th Street.
[15]
ABC also owns the
Times Square Studios
at 1500 Broadway, on land owned by a development fund for the
42nd Street
Project. Opened in 1999,
Good Morning America
is broadcast from this facility. ABC News has premises on West 66th Street, in a six-story building occupying a 196-by-379-foot (60 m × 116 m) plot at 121?135
West End Avenue
.
On July 9, 2018, the Walt Disney Company announced that it was selling its two West 66th Street campuses (except for the National Guard Amory) to
Silverstein Properties
and purchasing one square block of property in lower Manhattan to build a new New York-based broadcast center.
[16]
Related services
[
edit
]
Video-on-demand services
[
edit
]
ABC maintains several
video-on-demand
(VOD) services for delayed viewing of the network's programming, including a traditional VOD service called ABC on Demand, which is carried on most traditional cable and
IPTV
providers. The Walt Disney Company is also a part-owner of
Hulu
, and has offered full-length episodes of most of ABC's programming through this
streaming
service since July 6, 2009.
[17]
In May 2013, ABC launched "WatchABC", a revamp of its traditional multi-platform streaming services encompassing the network's existing streaming portal at ABC.com and a
mobile app
for smartphones and tablet computers. This service provides full-length episodes of ABC programs and live streams of local affiliates in select markets (this was the first such offering by a U.S. broadcast network). Live streams are only available to
authenticated subscribers of participating pay television providers
. WABC-TV New York and WPVI-TV Philadelphia were the first stations to offer streams of their programming on the service, with the six remaining ABC O&Os offering streams by the start of the 2013?14 season.
Hearst Television
also reached a deal to offer streams of its ABC affiliates on the service, though as of 2016
[update]
these stations are only available for live-streaming for
DirecTV
subscribers.
[18]
[19]
In November 2015, it was reported that ABC had been developing a slate of original digital series for the WatchABC service, internally codenamed ABC3.
[20]
In July 2016, ABC re-launched its streaming platforms, dropping the WatchABC brand, adding a streaming library of 38 classic ABC series, and introducing 7 original short-form series under the blanket branding ABCd.
[21]
The most recent episodes of the network's shows are usually made available on the ABC app, Hulu and ABC on Demand the day after their original broadcast. In addition, ABC on Demand disallows
fast forwarding
of accessed content.
In 2021, ABC updated the app to allow app users to watch shows from ABC's sister networks like
Freeform
,
FX
, and
National Geographic
.
ABC HD
[
edit
]
Television channel
ABC HD
|
|
Language(s)
| English
|
---|
Picture format
| 720p
(
4:3
/
16:9
)
|
---|
|
Launched
| September 16, 2001
; 22 years ago
(
2001-09-16
)
|
---|
Closed
| March 24, 2017
; 7 years ago
(
2017-03-24
)
|
---|
ABC's master feed is transmitted in
720p
high-definition
, the native resolution format for the Walt Disney Company's American television properties. However, most of
Hearst Television
's ABC-affiliated stations and some of
Tegna
's ABC affiliates transmit the network's programming in
1080i
, while 11 other affiliates owned by various companies carry the network feed in
480i
standard definition
[9]
either due to technical considerations for affiliates of other major networks that carry ABC programming on a digital subchannel or because a primary feed ABC affiliate has not yet upgraded their transmission equipment to allow content to be presented in HD. Although ABC has not fully transitioned to
1080p
or
ultra HD
, some stations such as ABC affiliate station
KNXV-TV
in Phoenix, Arizona, transmit the network's programming at 1080p via an
ATSC 3.0
multiplex stations, such as
KASW
with KNXV-TV.
ABC began its conversion to high definition with the launch of its simulcast feed, ABC HD, on September 16, 2001, at the start of the
2001?02 season
, with its scripted prime-time series becoming the first shows to upgrade to the format, the simulcast feed was launched first on ABC's owned television stations that same date with many major affiliates following after that. Both new and returning scripted series were broadcast in high definition. In 2011,
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
was the last program on the network's schedule that was broadcast in
4:3
standard definition. All of the network's new programming has been presented in HD since January 2012. The affiliate-syndicated Saturday morning educational and informative (
E/I
) block
Litton's Weekend Adventure
was the first children's program block on U.S. network television to feature programs available in HD upon its September 2011 debut. The HD programming is broadcast in
5.1 surround sound
.
On September 1, 2016, ABC began to use
16:9
framing for its most graphical imaging (primarily the network's
bug
, in-program promotions and generic closing credit sequences as well as sports telecasts, where the BottomLine and scoreboard elements now extend outside the 4:3 frame), requiring its stations and pay television providers to display its programming in a compulsory widescreen format, either in high definition or standard definition. With this change, some programs also began positioning their main on-screen credits outside the 4:3 aspect ratio.
Visual identity
[
edit
]
The ABC logo has evolved many times since the network's creation in 1943. The network's first logo, introduced in 1946, consisted of a television screen containing the letters "T" and "V", with a vertical
ABC
microphone in the center,
[22]
referencing the network's roots in radio. When the ABC-UPT merger was finalized in 1953, the network introduced a new logo based on the FCC seal, with the letters "ABC" enclosed in a circular
shield
surmounted by a bald eagle.
[22]
In 1957, just before the television network began its first color broadcasts, the ABC logo consisted of a tiny lowercase "abc" in the center of a large lowercase letter
a
, a design known as the ABC Circle A.
[22]
In 1962, graphic designer Paul Rand redesigned the ABC logo into its current and best-known form, with the lowercase letters "abc" enclosed in a single black circle. The new logo debuted on-air on October 19 of the same year, but it was not until the following spring that it was fully adopted. The letters are strongly reminiscent of the
Bauhaus
typeface designed by
Herbert Bayer
in the 1920s,
but also share similarities with several other fonts, such as
ITC Avant Garde
and Horatio, and most closely resembling Chalet. The logo's simplicity made it easier to redesign and duplicate, which was beneficial before the advent of computer graphics. A color version of the logo was also developed around 1963, and animated as a brief 10-second intro to be shown before the then-small handful of network programs broadcast in color (similar to the NBC "Laramie" peacock intro used during that era). The "a" was rendered in red, the "b" in blue, and the "c" in green, against the same single black circle. A variant of this color logo, with the colored letters against a white circle, was also commonly used throughout the 1960s.
The 1970s and 1980s saw the emergence of many graphical imaging packages for the network which based the logo's setting mainly on special lighting effects then under development including white, blue, pink, rainbow neon, and glittering dotted lines. Among the ABC Circle logo's many variants was a 1977 ID sequence that featured a bubble on a black background representing the circle with glossy gold letters, and was the first ABC identification card to simulate a three-dimensional appearance.
[22]
In 1983, for the 40th anniversary of the network's founding, ID sequences had the logo appear in a gold
CGI
design on a blue background, accompanied by the slogan "That Special Feeling" in a script font.
[22]
Ten years later, in 1993, the "ABC Circle" logo reverted to its classic white-on-black color scheme, but with gloss effects on both the circle and the letters, and a bronze border surrounding the circle.
[22]
The ABC logo first appeared as an
on-screen bug
in the
1993?94 season
, appearing initially only for 60 seconds at the beginning of an act or segment, then appearing throughout programs beginning in the
1995?96 season
, the respective iterations of the translucent logo bug were also incorporated within program promotions until the 2011?12 season.
During the 1997?98 season, the network began using a minimalist graphical identity with a yellow and black motif, designed by Pittard Sullivan, featuring a small black-and-white "ABC Circle" logo on a yellow background (promotions during this time also featured a sequence of still photos of the stars of its programs during the timeslot card as well as the schedule sequence that began each night's prime time lineup).
[22]
A new four-note theme tune (composed by Mad Bus Music) was introduced alongside the package, based around the network's then-new "We Love TV" image campaign from the 1998?99 season, creating an
audio signature
in comparative parlance to the
NBC chimes
, CBS's various sound marks (including the current five-note version introduced in 2020) and the
Fox fanfare
(which was phased out by the Fox network in 2019). The four-note signature has been updated with every television season thereafter until 2020?21 season.
In 1999, ABC launched a web-based promotional campaign focused around its circle logo, also called 'the dot', in which comic book character
Little Dot
prompted visitors to "download the dot", a program which would cause the ABC logo to fly around the screen and settle in the bottom-right corner.
[24]
The network hired the Troika Design Group to design and produce its 2001?02 identity, which continued using the black-and-yellow coloring of the logo and featured dots and stripes in various promotional and identification spots.
[25]
On June 10, 2007, ABC began to phase in a new imaging campaign for the upcoming 2007?08 season, "Start Here", accompanied by a glassy version of the ABC logo. Also developed by Troika, marketing used a series of icons intended to emphasize the availability of ABC content across multiple platforms, and sought to "simplify and bring a lot more consistency and continuity to the visual representation of ABC." On-air, the logo was accompanied by animated water and ribbon effects. Red ribbons were used to represent the entertainment division, while blue ribbons were used for ABC News.
[26]
[27]
ABC introduced a revision to its logo and branding by Loyalkaspar for the 2013?14 season, the logo carried a simpler gloss design than the 2007 version, and had lettering closer-resembling Paul Rand's original version of the circle logo. A custom
typeface
inspired by the ABC logotype, ABC Modern, was also created for use in advertising and other promotional elements. The logo was used in various color schemes, with a gold version used primarily for ABC's entertainment divisions, a red version used primarily for ESPN on ABC, steel blue and dark grey versions used primarily by ABC News, and all four colors used interchangeably in promotions.
[28]
Upon a reimaging by The New Blank for the 2018?19 season, the blue, red, and yellow variants were dropped, with the dark grey version becoming ABC's main logo. Surrounding promotional elements adopted a circular "echo" motif and the new slogan "America's Network".
[29]
Another revision to the logo was introduced on August 9, 2021, ahead of the 2021?22 season. Designed by Trollback & Company, it is designed to adhere to
flat design
trends, and returns to a solid, two-dimensional design with smaller and bolder lettering. The main logo is rendered in a dark, blue-gray color, outlined and black-on-red variations are also used, such as for the on-screen bug and promotional usage respectively.
[30]
[31]
The 2021 rebrand also introduced a sonic logo that retains three out of the four notes of ABC's prior audio logo and was composed by YouTooCanWoo.
[32]
The
Circle 7 logo
, designed in 1962, is also commonly associated with ABC affiliates who broadcast on channel 7, including its flagship local stations WABC-TV (New York City), KABC-TV (Los Angeles), KGO-TV (San Francisco) and
WLS-TV
(Chicago). This logo was intended to be used somewhat interchangeably by these stations with the main circular network logo and has itself also become an iconic symbol of the ABC network. KGO was the first of the ABC-owned stations to use the Circle 7 logo, starting on August 27, 1962, by the end of the year, the other ABC-owned stations began using the logo, and have continued to do so since.
International development
[
edit
]
The first attempts to internationalize the ABC television network dates to the 1950s, when Goldenson tried to use the same strategies he had in expanding UPT's theater operation to the international market.
Goldenson said that ABC's first international activity was broadcasting the coronation of
Queen Elizabeth II
in June 1953, CBS and NBC were delayed in covering the coronation due to flight delays.
[35]
Goldenson tried international investing, having ABC invest in stations in the Latin American market, acquiring a 51% interest in a network covering Central America and in 1959 established program distributor
Worldvision Enterprises
.
Goldenson also cited interest in Japan in the early 1950s,
acquiring a 5% stake in two new domestic networks, the
Mainichi Broadcasting System
in 1951 and
TV Asahi
in 1957.
Goldenson also invested in broadcasting properties in
Beirut
in the mid-1960s.
The goal was to create a network of wholly and partially owned channels and affiliates to rebroadcast the network's programs. In 1959, this rerun activity was completed with program syndication, with ABC Films selling programs to networks not owned by ABC.
The arrival of satellite television ended the need for ABC to hold interests in other countries,
many governments also wanted to increase their independence and strengthen legislation to limit foreign ownership of broadcasting properties. As a result, ABC was forced to sell all of its interests in international networks, mainly in Japan and Latin America, in the 1970s; a partial stake in
ABS-CBN
in the Philippines was forcibly removed in 1974 with the declaration of
martial law under Ferdinand Marcos
.
The second period of international expansion is linked to that of the ESPN network in the 1990s, and policies enacted in the 2000s by Disney Media Networks. These policies included the expansion of several of the company's U.S.-based cable networks including Disney Channel and its spinoffs Toon Disney,
Playhouse Disney
and
Jetix
, although Disney also sold its 33% stake in European sports channel
Eurosport
for $155 million in June 2000.
[42]
In contrast to Disney's other channels, ABC broadcasts in the United States with programming syndicated in other countries. The policy regarding wholly owned international networks was revived and on September 27, 2004, ABC announced the launch of
ABC1
, a
free-to-air
channel in the United Kingdom owned by the ABC Group.
[43]
However, ABC1 could not attain sustainable viewership
[44]
and was shut down in October 2007.
[44]
Prior to the ABC1 closure, on October 10, 2006, Disney?ABC Television Group entered into an agreement with satellite provider
Dish TV
to carry its ABC News Now channel in India.
[45]
However, this operation was not put into effect.
Australia
[
edit
]
In Australia, the
Nine Network
maintained close ties with ABC and has used a majority of the U.S. network's image campaigns and slogans since the 1970s, in particular, "
Still the One
", ABC's slogan it adopted for the
1977?78 television season
and again for the
1979?80 television season
, was adopted by Nine for the 1978 Australian television season (before, Nine also used ABC's "Let Us Be the One" slogan), and lasted longer ever since it was re-adopted in 1980, it was Nine's main slogan until it was replaced in December 2006, only to be reintroduced in November 2021. ABC's other slogans were also adopted by Nine during the 1980?2006 period, as secondary slogans complementing the "Still the One" slogan.
[
citation needed
]
Canada
[
edit
]
Most
Canadians
have access to at least one U.S.-based ABC affiliate, either over-the-air (in areas located within proximity of the
Canada?United States border
) or through a cable, satellite or
IPTV
provider. Most ABC programs are subject to
simultaneous substitution
regulations imposed by the CRTC, which require television service providers to replace an American station's signal with the feed of a
Canadian broadcaster
carrying the same syndicated program to protect domestic programming rights and advertising revenue.
Mexico
[
edit
]
Like Canada, ABC programming is available in Mexico through free-to-air affiliates in markets located within proximity to the Mexico?United States border whose signals are readily receivable over-the-air in border areas of northern Mexico.
Film production
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
- ^
Downscaled to
480i
for the
SDTV
feed.
- ^
Broadcast rights to the Primetime Emmy Awards are rotated across all four major networks on a year-to-year basis
- ^
Along with two associated specials, the
CMA Music Festival
and
CMA Country Christmas
.
- ^
The only exception was in 1999, when ABC instead broadcast
ABC 2000 Today
, a day-long telecast produced by ABC News as part of the
2000 Today
consortium, which was hosted by
Peter Jennings
and covered festivities from around the world (Dick Clark co-hosted coverage from Times Square).
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Major sporting events are becoming even more dispersed across television"
.
Awful Announcing
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. Retrieved
December 29,
2018
.
- ^
Sandomir, Richard (January 4, 2011).
"As Bowls Migrate to Cable, Viewership Is Just a Number"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
December 29,
2018
.
- ^
Bucholtz, Andrew (December 16, 2020).
"It looks like ESPN/ABC might add Super Bowls and Monday Night Football flex scheduling in the next NFL TV deal"
.
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.
Archived
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2021
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.
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.
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.
Bloomberg, L.P
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"
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- ^
Barbarino, Al.
"Brodsky to Renovate 157 Columbus Avenue Following Disney Departure"
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.
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- ^
"Watch ABC app with live TV streaming comes to Kindle Fire, but not Google Play"
.
Engadget
. May 31, 2013
. Retrieved
June 1,
2013
.
- ^
Wallenstein, Andrew (November 12, 2015).
"ABC Lines Up Original Series for New Streaming Effort"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
August 1,
2016
.
- ^
Spangler, Todd.
"With 7 Short-Form Originals, Full Seasons of 38 Older Shows"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
August 1,
2016
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
"The Evolution of ABC"
. TV Network Extravaganza. Archived from
the original
on March 31, 2012
. Retrieved
November 20,
2013
.
- ^
Elliott, Stuart (October 2, 2000).
"ABC tries to bring its longtime 'dot' logo into prominence with a new campaign"
.
The New York Times
.
- ^
Lupton, Ellen
(March 1, 2003).
Inside design now: National Design Triennial
. Princeton Architectural Press. p. 180.
ISBN
9781568983950
.
- ^
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"
.
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. Retrieved
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.
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.
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on March 24, 2014
. Retrieved
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. loyalkaspar. Archived from
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. Retrieved
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.
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.
The New Blank
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.
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. Retrieved
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2021
.
- ^
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.
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.
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. Retrieved
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2021
.
- ^
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. Retrieved
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2023
.
- ^
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(PDF)
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. Retrieved
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- ^
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.
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- ^
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2022
.
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[
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]
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