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The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network owned by The Walt Disney Company through its subsidiary, Disney Entertainment. Along with NBC and CBS, ABC is one of the traditional "Big Three" American television networks. ABC was founded as a radio network in 1943 as the successor to the NBC Blue Network. It extended its operations to television in 1948, following in the footsteps of established broadcast networks CBS, NBC, and 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. 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 print publications, television, and radio stations. Most of Capital Cities/ABC's assets were purchased by Disney in 1996. Blue Network (1927–1945) In the 1930s, radio in the United States was dominated by three companies: the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), the Mutual Broadcasting System, and the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). The last was owned by electronics manufacturer Radio Corporation of America (RCA), which owned two radio networks that each ran different varieties of programming, NBC Blue and NBC Red. The NBC Blue Network was created in 1927 for the primary purpose of testing new programs on markets of lesser importance than those served by NBC Red, which served the major cities, and to test drama series. In 1934, Mutual filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding its difficulties in establishing new stations in a radio market that was already being saturated by NBC and CBS. In 1938, the FCC began a series of investigations into the practices of radio networks and published its report on the broadcasting of network radio programs in 1940. The report recommended that RCA give up control of either NBC Red or NBC Blue. At that time, the NBC Red Network was the principal radio network in the United States and, according to the FCC, RCA was using NBC Blue to eliminate any hint of competition. Having no power over the networks themselves, the FCC established a regulation forbidding licenses to be issued for radio stations if they were affiliated with a network which already owned multiple networks that provided content of public interest. Once Mutual's appeals against the FCC were rejected, RCA decided to sell NBC Blue in 1941, and gave the mandate to do so to Mark Woods. RCA converted the NBC Blue Network into an independent subsidiary, formally divorcing the operations of NBC Red and NBC Blue on January 8, 1942, with the Blue Network being referred to on-air as either "Blue" or "Blue Network". The newly separated NBC Red and NBC Blue divided their respective corporate assets. Between 1942 and 1943, Woods offered to sell the entire NBC Blue Network, a package that included leases on landlines, three pending television licenses (WJZ-TV in New York City, KGO-TV in San Francisco, and WENR-TV in Chicago), 60 affiliates, four operations facilities (in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.), contracts with actors, and the brand associated with the Blue Network. Investment firm Dillon, Read & Co. offered $7.5 million to purchase the network, but the offer was rejected by Woods and RCA president David Sarnoff. Edward J. Noble, the owner of Life Savers candy, drugstore chain Rexall, and New York City radio station WMCA, purchased the network for $8 million. According to FCC ownership rules, the transaction, which was to include the purchase of three RCA stations by Noble, would require him to resell WMCA with the FCC's approval. The Commission authorized the transaction on October 12, 1943. Soon afterward, the Blue Network was purchased by the new company Noble founded, the American Broadcasting System. Noble subsequently acquired the rights to the American Broadcasting Company name from George B. Storer in 1944; its parent company adopted the corporate name American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. Woods retained his position as president and CEO of ABC until December 1949, and was subsequently promoted to vice chairman of the board before leaving ABC altogether on June 30, 1951. Meanwhile, in August 1944, the West Coast division of the Blue Network, which owned San Francisco radio station KGO, bought Los Angeles station KECA from Earle C. Anthony for $800,000. Both stations were then managed by Don Searle, the vice-president of the Blue Network's West Coast division. Entry into television (1945–1949) The ABC Radio Network created its audience slowly. In 1946 it acquired Detroit radio station WXYZ from KingTrendle Broadcasting for a little less than $3 million (the station remained under ABC ownership until 1984). ABC became an aggressive competitor to NBC and CBS when continuing NBC Blue's traditions of public service. It aired symphony performances conducted by Paul Whiteman, performances from the Metropolitan Opera, and jazz concerts aired as part of its broadcast of The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street announced by Milton Cross. The network also became known for such suspenseful dramas as Sherlock Holmes, Gang Busters and Counterspy, as well as several mid-afternoon youth-oriented programs. However, ABC made a name for itself by using the practice of counterprogramming, with which it often placed shows of its own against the offerings of NBC and CBS, pre-recording its programming with the use of the Magnetophon tape recorder, technology acquired by the United States from post-WWII Germany. With the help of the Magnetophon, ABC was able to provide its stars with greater freedom in terms of time, and also attract several big names, such as Bing Crosby, at a time when NBC and CBS did not allow pre-taped shows. While its radio network was undergoing reconstruction, ABC found it difficult to avoid falling behind in the new medium of television. To ensure itself a place, ABC submitted five applications for television station licenses in 1947, one for each market where it owned and operated a radio station (New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and Detroit). These applications all requested for the stations to broadcast on VHF channel 7, as Frank Marx, then ABC's vice-president of engineering, thought that the low-band VHF frequencies (corresponding to channels 2 through 6) would be requisitioned from broadcasting use and reallocated for the U.S. Army. The ABC television network was launched on April 19, 1948, and picked up its first primary affiliate, WFIL-TV in Philadelphia, which would later become WPVI-TV. The first program ever broadcast on the network was On the Corner, featuring satirist Henry Morgan. Other stations carrying the original broadcast were WMAR-TV in Baltimore, WMAL-TV in Wash.... Discover the Brandon Hagstrom Robert Turner popular books. 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