ABC began in 1943 as theNBC Blue Network, aradio network that wasspun off fromNBC, as ordered by theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1942.[1] The reason for the order was to expand competition in radio broadcasting in theUnited States, specifically news and political broadcasting, and broaden the projectedpoints of view. Only a few companies, such as NBC andCBS, dominated the radio market. NBC conducted the split voluntarily in case its appeal of the ruling was denied, and it was forced to split its two networks into separate companies.
Regulartelevision news broadcasts on ABC began soon after the network signed on its initialowned-and-operated television station (WJZ-TV, nowWABC-TV) and production center inNew York City in August 1948. Broadcasts continued as the ABC network expanded nationwide. Until the early 1970s, ABC News programs and ABC in general consistently ranked third in viewership behindCBS andNBC news programs. ABC had feweraffiliate stations and a weaker prime-time programming slate to support the network's news operations compared to the two larger networks, each of which had established their radio news operations during the 1930s.
By the 1970s, the network had effectively turned around, with its prime-time entertainment programs achieving more substantial ratings and drawing in higher advertising revenue and profits for ABC overall. With the appointment of the president ofABC Sports,Roone Arledge as president of ABC News in 1977, ABC invested the resources to make it a significant source of news content. Arledge, known for experimenting with the broadcast "model", created many of ABC News' most popular and enduring programs, including20/20,World News Tonight,This Week,Nightline, andPrimetime Live.[2] ABC News' longtime slogan, "More Americans get their news from ABC News than from any other source." (introduced in the late 1980s), was a claim referring to the number of people who watch, listen to and read ABC News content on television, radio and (eventually) the Internet, and not necessarily to the telecasts alone.[3]
In June 1998, ABC News (which owned an 80% stake in the service),Nine Network andITN sold their respective interests in Worldwide Television News to theAssociated Press.[citation needed] Additionally, ABC News signed a multi-year content deal with AP for its affiliate video service,Associated Press Television News (APTV), while providing material from ABC's news video service, ABC News One, to APTV.[4]
Scandal erupted on October 7, 1985, over a decision by Arledge, president of ABC News and Sports, to kill a 13-minute report aboutMarilyn Monroe, possibly due to his close ties toEthel Kennedy.20/20 drew criticism from the program's co-anchors, Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters, and the executive producer, Av Westin. Arledge said that he had killed the piece because it was "gossip-column stuff" and "does not live up to its billing." Downs, however, took issue with Arledge's judgment. "I am upset about the way it was handled," he said in an interview. "I honestly believe that this is more carefully documented than anything any network did during Watergate. I lament the fact that the decision reflects badly on people I respect and it reflects badly on me and the broadcast."[5] Additionally, Westin said: "I don't anticipate not putting it on the air. The journalism is solid. Everything in there has two sources. We are documenting that there was a relationship between Bobby and Marilyn and Jack and Marilyn. A variety of eyewitnesses attest to that on camera." Two other aspects of the unaired report, according to an ABC staff member who has seen it, are eyewitness accounts of wiretapping of Monroe's home byJimmy Hoffa, the teamster leader, that reveal meetings between her and the Kennedy brothers, and accounts of a visit to Monroe byRobert F. Kennedy on the day of her death. Fred Otash, a detective who said he was the chief wiretapper, is interviewed on camera, and ABC staff members said three other wiretappers corroborated his account. In addition, several people not in the book say on camera that Monroe kept diaries with references to meetings with the Kennedy brothers, according to a staff member who has seen the report. "It set out to be a piece which would demonstrate that because of alleged relations between Robert Kennedy andJohn F. Kennedy and Monroe, the presidency was compromised because organized crime was involved," he said. "Based on what has been uncovered so far, there was no evidence."[5] Arledge's decision to kill the broadcast resulted in the subsequent decision ofGeraldo Rivera to leave ABC entirely. Rivera was a20/20 correspondent but did not work on that story. He had been publicly critical of Arledge's decision. Arledge, a champion and defender of Rivera, said he thought the story needed more work. The story probed purported affairs between actress Marilyn Monroe, President John F. Kennedy, and his brother Robert F. Kennedy.[6]
On August 7, 2014, ABC announced that it would relaunch its radio network division,ABC Radio, on January 1, 2015. The change occurred following the announcement that Cumulus would replace its ABC News radio service withWestwood One News (viaCNN).[7] On September 20, 2019, ABC Radio was renamed as ABC Audio as the network has evolved to offer apodcast portfolio and other forms of on-demand and linear content.[8]
In April 2018, it was announced thatFiveThirtyEight would be transferred to ABC News fromESPN, Inc., majority owned byThe Walt Disney Company.[9] On September 10, 2018, ABC News launched a second attempt to extend itsGood Morning America brand into the afternoon withGMA3: What You Need to Know. In May 2019,ABC News Live, a news focused streaming channel, was launched on Roku.[10] Following a reorganization of ABC's parent company, The Walt Disney Company which created the Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International segment in March 2018, ABC News Digital and Live Streaming, includingABC News Live andFiveThirtyEight, were transferred to the new segment.[11]
In an October 2018Simmons Research survey of 38 news organizations, ABC News was ranked the second most trusted news organization by Americans, behindThe Wall Street Journal.[12]
In December 2024, ABC's owner, theWalt Disney Company, settled a defamation lawsuit brought byDonald Trump against ABC News, by agreeing to donate $15 million to Trump's future presidential library foundation and paying $1 million in Trump's legal fees. Disney also agreed to ABC and anchorGeorge Stephanopoulos publishing a statement saying they regretted that Stephanopoulos, in an interview, had repeatedly said that Trump had been found liable for rapingE. Jean Carroll.[13][14][15]
ABC News Radio is the radio service ofABC Audio, a division of the ABC News. Formerly known asABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds through Skyview Networks with newscasts on the hour to its affiliates. ABC News Radio is the largest commercial radio news organization in the US.[19]
ABCNews.com launched on May 15, 1997, by ABC News Internet Ventures, ajoint venture betweenStarwave and ABC formed in April 1997.[20][21] Starwave had owned and operated ESPNet SportsZone (later known asESPN.com) since 1995, which licensed the ESPN brand and video clips from ABC's corporate sister ESPN Inc. Disney wanted more control of their Internet properties, which meant ABCNews.com was operated as a joint venture with ABC News having editorial control.[22] Disney had also bought a minority stake in Starwave before the launch of ABCNews.com and would later buy the company outright.[23]
The website initially had a dedicated staff of about 30.[24] In addition to articles, it featured short video clips and audio from the start, delivered usingRealAudio andRealVideo technology.[25] Some content was also available viaAmerica Online. In 2011, ABC News and Yahoo News announced a strategic partnership to share ABC's online reporting on Yahoo's website; the deal expanded in 2015 to include the Disney/ABC Television Group.[26] In 2018, ABC News, and Good Morning America specifically, ended the hosting partnership with Yahoo, instead opting to continue separate web presences.[27] Although Disney retired theGo.com branding in 2013, ABC News' website has the Go.com branding, with its URL readingABCNews.Go.com.
ABC News Live First, a daily four hour live morning show anchored byDiane Macedo from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)
ABC News Live, a daily three hour afternoon show anchored byKyra Phillips from 1:00–4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)
ABC News Live Reports, a daily two hour afternoon show anchored by Kayna Whitworth from 5:00–7:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) (September 2023–)[31]
ABC News Live Prime, a nightly 90 minute news programmed anchored byLinsey Davis starting at 7:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) (February 2020–)[28]
GMA: The Third Hour, a weekday, hour-long daytime news program on ABC. It premiered in March 2020 asPandemic: What You Need To Know, as a temporary replacement for its talk showStrahan, Sara and Keke to cover the onset of theCoronavirus pandemic in the United States. It has since replaced indefinitely.[32] The program is currently anchored by various ABC News personalities following a major overhaul.[33]
Satellite News Channel was a joint venture between ABC News andGroup W that launched on June 21, 1982, as a satellite-delivered cable television network. SNC used footage from ABC News and sevenWashington, D.C.–based crews and stories from other overseas networks to provide a rotating newscast every 20 minutes. However, this channel had difficulty getting clearance from cable systems, so ABC News and Group W decided to sell it to its competitor,CNN (a subsidiary ofTime Warner'sTurner Broadcasting System). CNN ceased Satellite News Channel's operations on October 27, 1983. SNC was either replaced by CNN orCNN2 on most cable systems.
ABC News Now was a24-hourcablenewsnetwork that launched on July 26, 2004, as adigital subchannel by ABC News, being the company's second attempt in the 24-hour cable news world afterSatellite News Channel. It was offered viadigital television,broadband andstreaming video at ABCNews.com[34] and onmobile phones. It deliveredbreaking news, headline news each half hour, and a wide range ofentertainment andlifestyleprogramming. The channel was available in theUnited States andEurope. Its Talk Back feature allowed viewers to voice their input by submitting videos and personal thoughts on controversial issues and current topics. It was shut down as a digital subchannel after its experimental phase ended with the Presidential inauguration in 2005. ABC News Now was replaced on cable providers withFusion on October 28, 2013.[35]
Fusion was adigital cable andsatellite network owned and operated byFusion Media Group, LLC, which was a joint venture between ABC News andUnivision Communications. ABC and Univision formally announced their launch on May 2, 2012. Launched on October 28, 2013,[35] Fusion features a mix of traditional news and investigative programs along with satirical content aimed at English-speakingHispanic and Latino American adults between the ages of 18 and 34.[36][37] The network replacedABC News Now, a mainly streaming service of ABC News content. In December 2015, it was reported that Disney was in talks to sell its stake in Fusion to Univision.[38] The split was complete on April 21, 2016;[39] Univision alone would continue to operate Fusion until December 31, 2021, when it shut down the network.[40]
In Australia,Sky News Australia airs daily broadcasts ofABC World News Tonight (at 10:30 a.m.) andNightline (at 1:30 a.m.) as well as weekly airings of20/20 (on Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m., with an extended version at 2:00 p.m. on Sundays) and occasionallyPrimetime (at 1:30 p.m. on Thursdays, with extended edition at 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays). Coincidentally, that country'spublic broadcasting, theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation, operates its unrelated news division that is also namedABC News. The U.S. ABC News maintains a content-sharing agreement with theNine Network, which also broadcastsGMA domestically in the early morning before its ownbreakfast program.
InNew Zealand,ABC World News was broadcast daily at 5:10 p.m. and again at 11:35 p.m. As with the BBC in the U.K.,TVNZ 7 (owned byTelevision New Zealand) aired the program commercial-free until the channel ceased operations on June 30, 2012.
