ABC

ABC’s predecessor was NBC’s “Blue” network. Less than two months after NBC’s first broadcast on November 15, 1926, NBC split its programming into two networks, the “Red” and the “Blue,” to give listeners a choice of program formats: the Blue network offered mostly cultural programs such as music, drama and commentary, while the Red featured comedy and other entertainment. By 1941 the two networks blanketed the country, with 103 Blue subscribing stations and 76 Red.⁠[1][1][1][1][1]

The Federal Communications Commission began investigating national network operations in March 1938 and in 1941 adopted a rule that no license would be issued to a station affiliated with an organization operating more than one network (Regulation 3.107, “Dual network operation”). The rule in effect required NBC to sell one of its two networks. NBC and CBS sued, and on May 10, 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the FCC’s rules in National Broadcasting Co. v. United States.⁠[2][2][3][2][2][2]

In 1943 NBC sold the less profitable Blue network to Edward J. Noble, who had made his fortune with the Life Savers candy company, and Noble named it the American Broadcasting Company. ABC was at first only a radio network; NBC and CBS had by then been involved in experimental television production and transmission for more than a decade, and ABC found the transition to television difficult, a reputation that followed it for years.⁠[3][3][3]

In 1951 Leonard Goldenson, president of the theater chain United Paramount Theatres, persuaded his board to pay $25 million to buy ABC from Noble. ABC then had only 14 affiliated television stations and reached about 33% of U.S. households, compared with about 85% each for CBS and NBC; the price was considered more than twice what the business was worth. United Paramount Theatres had been the theater arm of Paramount Pictures and was split off under antitrust rules.⁠[4][4][4][3]

Citing antitrust concerns, the FCC took 18 months to approve the merger. In February 1953 the new company, American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres (AB-PT), began operating with Goldenson as president; it owned 708 movie theaters, a radio network with 355 affiliates, a television network with 14 affiliates, and television and radio stations in five major cities. The merger brought ABC cash, and it then began developing into a third national television network.⁠[4][3][3]

In 1954 Walt Disney agreed to produce a regular television series for ABC on condition that ABC invest in the Disneyland park he was planning; ABC put in $500,000 and guaranteed a further $4.5 million in loans, becoming a one-third owner of the park. The series Disneyland began that fall and helped Disney promote the park in Anaheim, California; it was also the first time a movie company produced a show for a television network. That year AB-PT also broadcast 186 hours of the hearings between the U.S. Army and Senator Joseph McCarthy, airing them live without interrupting its own programs because it did not yet have a regular daytime schedule.⁠[5][5][5][3][3][3]

On July 17, 1955, ABC broadcast the opening of Disneyland live, the largest live television broadcast to that date. That year Goldenson also persuaded Warner Bros. chief Jack Warner to produce original programming for ABC, and ABC launched three series under the “Warner Bros. Presents” banner; one of them, the Western Cheyenne starring Clint Walker, became a big hit and prompted other studios to produce television Westerns. By the end of the 1950s, four out of five prime-time programs were being produced in Hollywood.⁠[5][4][4][4]

In 1960 ABC won the television rights to NCAA college football and basketball, entering sports broadcasting. ABC Sports was founded in 1961, and that Thanksgiving, during its broadcast of the Texas–Texas A&M football game, it offered viewers their first “instant replay.” From 1964, when it presented the Winter Games from Innsbruck, ABC began a long association with the Olympics. Although ABC ranked third overall, it was number one in sports broadcasting from early on.⁠[3][3][3][3]

In 1960 Disney bought back ABC’s investment in Disneyland for $7.5 million; Disney’s programs remained on ABC until 1961.⁠[5]

In 1965 the company announced a merger with the financially powerful International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT), and that year shortened its name to American Broadcasting Companies. The FCC approved the merger, but the Justice Department’s antitrust division appealed, delaying the deal so long that ITT eventually exercised its right to withdraw; ITT still lent ABC $25 million to convert to color broadcasting, and within a year the entire prime-time schedule was in color.⁠[3][3][3][3]

After the ITT deal collapsed, billionaire Howard Hughes made a tender offer for 43% of ABC’s stock in an attempt to gain control; management fought him vigorously, and he dropped the bid two weeks later. In 1968 ABC divided programming for the television network into three divisions, entertainment, news and sports, and the other two networks later followed. The television network lost more than $120 million between 1961 and 1971 and was sustained mainly by revenue from its theaters, its record company and its owned television stations.⁠[3][3][3][3][3]

In 1971 the FCC limited the number of prime-time hours a network could schedule, which actually helped ABC, which had been unable to fill its schedule; in 1972 the network became profitable for the first time in a decade, with revenues of more than $800 million and net earnings of over $35 million. That year the Justice Department filed an antitrust suit against all three networks, charging them with monopolizing prime-time entertainment programming and seeking to bar them from carrying network-produced entertainment programs and feature films.⁠[3][3][3][3]

ABC argued that documents from the White House, the Justice Department and the Watergate prosecution would show that the suit was intended to suppress the three networks in retaliation for the press’s “harassment” of the president. The suit was dismissed without prejudice in November 1974 but was not fully resolved until six years later, when ABC agreed to a consent decree limiting the number of shows it produced in-house for its own network and giving actors, producers and writers on its prime-time schedule greater freedom to move to other networks.⁠[3][3][3][3]

In 1975 ABC lured programming executive Fred Silverman from CBS with a $300,000 salary, a $1 million life insurance policy, stock options and homes on both coasts. Under his direction ABC introduced hits such as Laverne and Shirley and The Love Boat and expanded its soap operas to an hour, greatly boosting its daytime ratings; within a year ABC was first in prime-time ratings. ABC led the ratings for three years in the late 1970s, helped by the 1977 miniseries Roots. Silverman was lured away by NBC in 1978; during his tenure ABC’s broadcasting profits rose from $82 million to $311 million.⁠[3][3][3][4][3][3]

In 1976 ABC hired Barbara Walters, co-host of NBC’s Today, with a $5 million contract to co-anchor ABC Evening News; she became the first full-time female anchor on a U.S. network, but the program was poorly received. Roone Arledge, the former head of ABC Sports who now ran ABC News, revamped the program, renaming it ABC World News Tonight and using three anchors in London, Washington and Chicago linked by satellite.⁠[3][3][3][3]

During the Iran hostage crisis in 1979, ABC aired daily special reports on the hostages’ condition; the reports were so popular that after the crisis ended ABC continued a special news program in the same time slot, which became Nightline.⁠[3][3]

In January 1984 ABC Video Enterprises, a wholly owned ABC subsidiary, announced the purchase of a 15% interest in ESPN from Getty Oil, completing it on February 1; in June it completed the acquisition of ESPN from Texaco, which had acquired Getty Oil; and on October 1 it sold a 20% minority interest in ESPN to Nabisco Brands.⁠[6][6][6][6][6]

In 1985 Goldenson, who had run ABC for 32 years, agreed to sell the company for $3.5 billion to Capital Cities Communications, a company with about one-quarter of ABC’s sales; it was then the biggest non-oil merger in history. The combined company was renamed Capital Cities/ABC Inc., and Goldenson remained chairman of the executive committee for about a decade. The takeover became official on January 3, 1986.⁠[4][3][4][7]

At the time of the merger Capital Cities owned seven television stations and 12 radio stations, with annual sales of slightly less than $1 billion. The merged company was led by chairman Thomas S. Murphy and president Daniel B. Burke. In January 1986 ABC chairman Frederick S. Pierce resigned after nearly 30 years with ABC and was succeeded by John B. Sias of Capital Cities, who took responsibility for the ABC Television network and its news, entertainment and sports divisions.⁠[3][7][7][7][7]

As cable television and VCRs drew viewers away, ABC finished last among the three networks in 1986 and recorded a substantial loss. The company cut non-programming expenses, reduced its payments to affiliates for carrying its programs by about 4%, and said it would no longer pay clearance fees for special events such as miniseries and the Academy Awards, sparking conflict with its affiliates. In 1987 ABC passed CBS to take second place but still trailed NBC by a wide margin; its 1988 Olympic coverage boosted ratings but lost $65 million. At the time ABC held an 80% interest in ESPN and smaller interests in the Lifetime and A&E cable channels.⁠[3][3][3][3][3][3]

On July 31, 1995, The Walt Disney Company and Capital Cities/ABC announced a $19 billion merger. Disney chairman and chief executive Michael Eisner had worked at ABC for ten years early in his career and said the deal was “like buying a house from a cousin.” Shareholders approved the merger on January 4, 1996, and the deal closed on February 9: a wholly owned Disney subsidiary merged into Capital Cities/ABC, which became a wholly owned Disney subsidiary, and shareholders could elect to receive one share of the new Disney plus $65 in cash, among other options; the company’s stock ceased trading on the New York and Pacific stock exchanges that day.⁠[5][8][8][8][9][9][9][9]

Through the deal Disney acquired 9 VHF and 1 UHF television stations, 11 AM and 10 FM radio stations, stakes in cable channels including ESPN, A&E and Lifetime, and a publishing group including 85 trade journals and 7 daily newspapers; much of the publishing business was later sold.⁠[5][5][5]

In 2006 Disney sold ABC’s radio stations.⁠[5]

ABC and other networks and program copyright holders sued the online television service Aereo, alleging that by letting subscribers watch broadcast television over the internet almost simultaneously it infringed their public performance right. The district court and the Second Circuit both declined to issue a preliminary injunction. On June 25, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 that Aereo’s service publicly performed the works under the Copyright Act’s Transmit Clause, reversing the Second Circuit and remanding the case; Justice Breyer wrote the majority opinion, and Justice Scalia, joined by Justices Thomas and Alito, dissented.⁠[10][10][10][10][10][10]

On March 10, 2024, ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos, interviewing Representative Nancy Mace on This Week, said Trump had been “found liable for rape”; in E. Jean Carroll’s two civil cases against Trump, juries found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, but neither verdict involved a finding of rape as defined under New York law. Trump then sued ABC and Stephanopoulos for defamation in federal court in Miami.⁠[11][11][11][11]

Under a settlement made public on December 14, 2024, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million to a nonprofit organization connected with Trump’s presidential library, plus $1 million in legal fees, and to post an editor’s note on its website expressing regret over Stephanopoulos’s statements. The agreement was signed the same day a Florida federal judge had ordered Trump and Stephanopoulos to sit for depositions. An ABC News spokesperson said the network was pleased the parties had reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing; a Trump spokesperson declined to comment.⁠[12][11][11][11][11][11][11]

In September 2025 Jimmy Kimmel, host of the late-night program Jimmy Kimmel Live!Jimmy Kimmel LiveJimmy Kimmel Live! is a late-night talk show aired by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), hosted and executive produced by comedian Jimmy Kimmel, which premiered in 2003. In September 2025, after a monologue Kimmel delivered on the show about the killing of Charlie Kirk drew controversy, ABC suspended the show, resuming it six days later.Open the full entry, commented on the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and his remarks were criticized as suggesting the alleged killer was a MAGA supporter. On September 17 FCC chairman Brendan Carr called the remarks “sick” and threatened action, including against the licenses of ABC affiliates that aired the show; Nexstar, the largest U.S. station group, then said it would preempt the show on its ABC affiliates, and ABC announced it was taking the show off the air indefinitely. Anna Gomez, the FCC’s only Democratic commissioner, criticized the government for using its power to suppress lawful expression.⁠[13][13][13][13][13][13]

On September 22 Disney said in a statement that it had suspended the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for the country, because some of the comments were ill-timed and insensitive; after conversations with Kimmel, the show returned on September 23. Sinclair said its ABC affiliates would continue to preempt the show, while Gomez welcomed its return.⁠[14][14][14][14][14]

In April 2026, as part of its investigation into the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies of Disney and the ABC-owned stations, the FCC ordered eight ABC-owned stations to file license renewal applications years ahead of schedule. About 95% of the 153,318 public comments filed in the proceeding supported the renewals. An FCC spokesperson said all broadcasters have a legal obligation to operate in the public interest, “even Disney.”⁠[15][16][15][15]

On August 18 ABC sued the FCC and its chairman Carr in federal district court in Washington, D.C. (Case No. 26-cv-2902) and sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, arguing that the government was using its regulatory power to retaliate against its editorial decisions and news coverage in violation of the First Amendment. Carr called it a meritless case based on a “campaign of disinformation” and said the commission had made no decision. Judge Loren L. AliKhan declined ABC’s request for an early hearing and set one for the week of October 5.⁠[15][15][16][17][17][18]

At the October 6 hearing, ABC lawyer Beth Wilkinson said the early review was already chilling ABC’s editorial decisions; the Justice Department lawyer argued that the case belonged in a different court and that ABC had shown neither a likelihood of success nor irreparable harm, since its eight licenses remained valid. Judge AliKhan did not rule from the bench and asked the government and ABC to file additional arguments by October 9 and October 14 respectively, with a ruling not expected before mid-October. As of October 14, 2026, the case had not been decided.⁠[16][16][16][16][16][16][16]

ABC, CBS, CNNCNNCNN (Cable News Network) is an Atlanta-based news organization founded by Ted Turner on June 1, 1980, as the world’s first 24-hour television news channel. It has been owned in turn by Turner Broadcasting System, Time Warner, AT&T and Warner Bros. Discovery, became part of Skydance Corporation along with Warner Bros. Discovery in October 2026, and is one of the five networks that rotate in the White House television pool.Open the full entry, FOX News and NBC make up the White House television pool, rotating daily responsibility for filming the president with a three-person crew of a camera operator, an audio technician and a producer or reporter, and sharing the footage with other news organizations; CNN joined the pool after suing the Reagan administration and ABC, CBS and NBC in 1981. On September 18, 2026, Trump announced that he was banning CNN, MS NOWMS NOWMS NOW (My Source for News, Opinion and the World) is an American cable channel for political news and commentary. It was formerly MSNBC, launched in July 1996 as a joint venture of NBC and Microsoft, adopted its current name on November 15, 2025, as its business was spun off from Comcast, and since January 2026 has belonged to the independent public company Versant Media Group. It is known for its liberal-leaning commentary programs.Open the full entry and Politico from the White House over what he called “fake news” reporting. CNN was scheduled to take its pool turn on September 21, but the White House schedule listed no network as the primary television pool.⁠[19][20][20][21][20][20]

That day ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC issued a rare joint statement: “The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.” Bryan Boughton, Fox News’ Washington bureau chief and the pool chair at the time, announced that the TV pool would not cover events designated as presidential pool coverage and that no replacement pool would be put in place. The suspension lasted about four days and coincided with the White House visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, so there was much less video coverage of the related ceremonies and events. On September 24 a judge ordered the White House to restore the three outlets’ credentials, though the order did not directly address the pool; the five networks resumed the pool on September 25.⁠[20][20][22][22][23][24][25][26]

In October 2026 the U.S. Justice Department’s Antitrust Division opened an investigation into whether ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News violated antitrust law by suspending the White House television pool. Justice Department spokesperson Emily Covington said: “Members of the television press pool have boycotted covering White House events. Group boycotts among commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act. The Antitrust Division is simply investigating to determine whether these news organizations have violated the antitrust laws.” A Justice Department official said the department had sent civil investigative demands on Friday, October 9. ABC News said it had not received any notification from the Justice Department but expected to; the five networks made no further comment.⁠[23][24][23][23][27][27][28]

Bruce Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said the investigation appeared to be a pretext for seeking records about how the networks covered the White House during a media ban the president himself had imposed; Cory Booker, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, said the Antitrust Division should pursue the companies driving up prices rather than investigate newsrooms. Several antitrust scholars, including former Federal Trade Commission chairman William Kovacic, said such a case would have a “very remote prospect of success,” because a non-commercial boycott is typically protected by the First Amendment. As of October 14, 2026, the Justice Department had announced no findings.⁠[23][23][23][29][29][29]

As of fiscal 2025, the ABC Television Network is part of the linear networks business of The Walt Disney Company’s Entertainment segment. It distributes programming to about 245 local affiliated stations and eight owned television stations, together reaching almost all U.S. television households, including unscripted programming, prime-time specials, news and daytime programming; the sports daypart is programmed by ESPN and branded ESPN on ABC.⁠[30][30][30][30]

ABC: Official website: https://abc.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[31][32]

X: Public account: https://x.com/ABCNetwork (opens in a new window)⁠[31]