 | |
| Formerly |
|
|---|---|
| Company type | Division |
| Industry | |
| Predecessor | Capital Cities/ABC |
| Founded | September 5, 1996; 29 years ago (1996-09-05) |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide, but mainly United States |
Key people | |
| Products | |
| Brands | |
| Services | Television production and distribution |
Number of employees | 7,000+ (2016) |
| Parent |
|
| Divisions | Disney Branded Television |
| Subsidiaries | |
| Website | Official website |
| Footnotes / references [2][3][4] | |
Disney Entertainment Television, formerlyABC Group,[5]Disney–ABC Television Group, the second incarnation ofWalt Disney Television[a] andDisney General Entertainment Content[b], is a division of theDisney Entertainment business segment ofthe Walt Disney Company that oversees its owned-and-operatedtelevision content, assets and sub-divisions.[6]
Founded on September 5, 1996, sub-divisions of DET include theAmerican Broadcasting Company,ABC News,Disney Branded Television,Disney Television Studios,Freeform,Hulu Original Content Teams,FX Networks andNational Geographic.
Media conglomerateCapital Cities/ABC Inc. merged and folded into the Walt Disney Company in 1996 and was initially re-branded asABC Group. Assets from CC/ABC at the time being merged and/or acquired include/included the ABC Television Network Group, CC/ABC Broadcasting Group (ABC Radio Network, laterCumulus Media Networks, 8 TV and 21 radio stations), ABC Cable and International Broadcast Group, CC/ABC Publishing Group and CC/ABC Multimedia Group to the fold. The Cable and International Broadcast Group contained ownership shares ofESPN Inc. (80%),A&E Television Networks (37.5%),DIC Productions, L.P. (Limited Partnership stake),Lifetime Television (50%) and its international investments. These investments included Telephone-München (nowLeonine Holding) (50%, Germany; included 20% ofRTL II), Hamster Productions. (33%, France) andScandinavian Broadcasting System (23%, Luxembourg). ESPN also had international holdings:Eurosport (33.3%, England), TV Sport (10%, France; Eurosport affiliate) and The Japan Sports Channel (20%). The Publishing Group includingFairchild Publications,Chilton Publications, multiple newspapers from a dozen dailies (including theFt. Worth Star-Telegram, TheKansas City Star) and more weeklies, and dozens more publications in the fields of farm, business and law trade journals plus LA Magazine toInstitutional Investor. ABC Group pursued businesses in new and emerging media technologies, including theinteractive television,pay-per-view,VOD,HDTV,video cassette,Optical disc, on-line services and location-based entertainment.[7]
In April 1996, due to the ongoing post Disney-CC/ABC merger realignment and retirement of its president, theWalt Disney Television and Telecommunications group's division was reassigned to other groups with Walt Disney Television International (includingDisney Channels International andBuena Vista Television domestic syndication and pay-TV divisions,GMTV andSuper RTL holdings) were transferred to Capital Cities/ABC.[8] In May due to the merger, ABC ended itsABC Productions division operations while keeping its boutique production companies:Victor Television,DIC Productions, L.P.,ABC/Kane Productions andGreengrass Productions.[9] The international operations of Disney TV International and ABC Cable and International Broadcast Group were merged in June asDisney/ABC International Television.[10]
Under Disney, ABC Group sold various publishing companies in 1997. Chilton was sold to Reed Elsevier for $447 million and received $142 million from Euromoney Publications for Institutional Investor. In April,Knight Ridder purchased four newspapers includingThe Kansas City Star andThe Fort Worth Star-Telegram for $1.65 billion. In August 1999, Fairchild Publications was sold toCondé Nast for $650 million.[11] In March 1998, ABC placed it shares ofScandinavian Broadcasting System up for sale.[12]
In late 1999, Walt Disney Television, along with other television units, were transferred again fromThe Walt Disney Studios to Disney–ABC Television Group and merged withABC's primetime division,ABC Entertainment, forming ABC Entertainment Group.[13][14][15]Robert A. Iger was promoted from president and chief operating officer in February 1999 to chairman of ABC Group and president of Walt Disney International.[16]
In March 2000, ABC formed the Disney Kids Network (DKN) advertising group via consolidation to sell ads for ABC's "TGIF" primetime programming,Disney's One Saturday Morning, theDisney's One Too syndicated programming block,Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,The Wonderful World of Disney,Mickey Mouse andWinnie the Pooh primetime specials. DKN was placed under senior vice president of sales at ABC, Dan Barnathan, and would also work on some ads withRadio Disney,Disney.com and theDisney Adventures magazine. DKN addedToon Disney when the channel started accepting ads in September 2000.[17][18]
Iger was named president and chief operating officer of The Walt Disney Company in January 2000.[19] In 2000, with an investment byBain Capital andChase Capital Partners, Heyward re-purchased DIC Entertainment, L.P. from Disney, making the company re-independent[20]
In September 2002, then-Disney Chairman/CEOMichael Eisner outlined a proposed realignment of the ABC broadcast network's daytime parts with the similar unit in its cable channels: ABC Saturday mornings withDisney Channel units (Toon Disney &Playhouse Disney), ABC daytime withSoapnet and ABC prime time with ABC Family.[21] In October 2003,ABC Family Worldwide was changed from a unit directly reporting to the Disney COO to a unit running within the ABC Cable Networks Group underAnne Sweeney.[22]
On April 21, 2004, Disney announced a restructuring of its Disney Media Networks division with Sweeney being named president of Disney–ABC Television Group,[23] and then-ESPN presidentGeorge Bodenheimer becoming co-CEO of the division with Sweeney, as well as president of ABC Sports. This move added ABC TV Network within Disney–ABC.[24]ABC1 channel initially launched in theUnited Kingdom onSeptember 27, 2004 as the first use of the ABC brand outside the US.[25] WhileABC News Now was launched that year in the US on digital subchannel of 70ABC owned & operated and affiliates.[26]
On June 12, 2007, Disney spun off itsABC Radio Networks and merged it into Citadel Communications withCitadel Broadcasting while retaining itsESPN Radio andRadio Disney networks and stations and a 10-year news provider licensing agreement with Citadel forABC News Radio and the networks.[27][28]
In February 2007, the previous iteration of Touchstone Television was renamedABC Television Studio as part of Disney's push to drop secondary brands like Buena Vista for Disney, ABC, ESPN, and most recently,A&E Networks.[29] ABC1 in the UK was shut down onSeptember 26, 2007.[30]
On January 22, 2009, Disney–ABC announced a merger ofABC Entertainment andABC Studios into ABC Entertainment Group.[31][32] That April, ABC Enterprises took an ownership stake inHulu in exchange for online distribution license and $25 million in the ABC network ad credits.[33] TheLive Well Network (LWN) was launched on April 27, 2009, byABC Owned Television Stations on the stations' subchannels.[34][35][36] Later that year,A+E Networks acquired Lifetime Entertainment Services with DATG ownership increasing to 42%.[37] In November, Disney-ABC sellsGMTV to ITV for $37 million.[38]
On March 24, 2012, following the dissolution of the ABC Daytime division,ABC Family Worldwide began taking operational control ofSoapnet until that network was slowly discontinued forDisney Junior; which would later rebrand toDisney Jr. on June 1, 2024.[39][40]
In July 2012,NBCUniversal confirmed plans to sell its 15.8% stake in A+E Networks to Disney for $3 billion (along with its previous ownerHearst Entertainment & Syndication, who became 50-50 partners in the joint venture).[41][42]
On August 21, 2013, Disney–ABC announced it will lay off 175 employees. The layoffs are expected to hit positions among technical operations as well as the unit's eight local stations.[43] On October 28, ABC News andUnivision Communications launchedFusion, a cable Hispanic news and satire channel.[44]
In August 2014, A+E took a 10% stake inVice Media for $250 million, then announced in April 2015 thatH2 would be rebranded into the Vice channel with an indicated early 2016 launch.[45] Disney also directly made two $200 investments in Vice Media in November 2015, then a week later in December, they directly invested in it again for 10% to assist in funding its programming.[46] ABC Family becameFreeform on January 12, 2016.[47]
On April 21, 2016, Disney–ABC sold its share inFusion to Univision.[48] In September 2016, the group's presidentBen Sherwood named Bruce Rosenblum, Television Academy chairman and former head of Warner Bros. TV Group, as president of business operations in s the newly created position, to reduce the number of direct reports from 17 to about 8. Roseblum would oversee ad sales in conjunction with channel heads, affiliate sales and marketing, engineering, digital media, global distribution, IT, research and strategy and business development. This allows Sherwood to focus on content and direct operating units that continue to directly report to him, ABC network units, cable channel units (Disney Channels Worldwide, and Freeform), ABC Studios and ABC TV Stations.[49]
With the March 14, 2018, Disney Company reorganization,in anticipation of integrating Fox assets from a proposed acquisition, all international channels including Disney Channels have been transferred toWalt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International, a new segment, with American channels remaining with Disney–ABC Television Group. All global sales units and distribution units have been transfer to the Disney Direct-to-Consumer segment.[50]
On October 8, 2018, Disney announced the division would be rebranded as the second incarnation ofWalt Disney Television following the completion ofits acquisition of21st Century Fox. The acquisition added20th Century Fox Television,FX Networks andFX Productions,Fox 21 Television Studios andNational Geographic Global Networks to the division. Fox television executivesPeter Rice, Dana Walden,John Landgraf andGary Knell joined The Walt Disney Company on March 20, 2019.[51]
On March 5, 2019, Craig Hunegs was named to lead the combined Disney Television Studios — ABC Studios, ABC Signature, 20th Century Fox Television and Fox 21 Television Studios. He would report to Walden.[3]
Following the completed acquisition of the 21st Century Fox assets in March 2019, Disney reorganized its television division to align various operations. On June 10, 2019, Disney announced that both Disney Television Studios andFX Entertainment would share the same casting division.[52] After assuming full control overHulu in May 2019, Disney reorganized Hulu's reporting structure in July 2019, placing Hulu's Scripted Originals team under Walt Disney Television. Under the new structure, Hulu's SVP of Original Scripted Content would report directly to the chairman of Disney Television Studios and ABC Entertainment.[53]
On August 10, 2020,Disney Television Studios rebranded all of its three studios as part of merger terms which required dropping the "Fox" name from assets acquired from 21st Century Fox, with 20th Century Fox Television becoming 20th Television; Fox 21 Television Studios became the second incarnation of Touchstone Television to avoid brand confusion withFox Corporation; and ABC Studios merged with the original incarnation of ABC Signature Studios to form the currentABC Signature. In addition, the original syndication arm of 20th Century Fox Television also called "20th Television" was folded intoDisney-ABC Domestic Television.[54]
On October 12, 2020, the division was rechristened asDisney General Entertainment Content.[55][56]
On December 1, 2020,Touchstone Television merged and was folded into20th Television.[57]
On February 3, 2021, Disney Television Studios established a new unit known as "Walt Disney Television Alternative", which will be headed by former senior vice president of alternative, specials and late-night series at ABC, Rob Mills, to oversee the development of non-scripted programming.[58]
In April 2023, the division was again rechristened asDisney Entertainment Television, according to a news article fromDeadline Hollywood.[59]
On October 1, 2024, ABC Signature was folded into 20th Television.[60]
As of July 2025[update], the following are the current units based on reporting structure:[61][60]
Transferred toDisney Media and Entertainment Distribution (DMED)
Re-organizational transfers 2018
These assets were transferred to Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International (thenDisney Media and Entertainment Distribution) in 2018, which include:[50]
Others
| Unit[7][8] | Transferred to[8] |
|---|---|
| KCAL-TV Los Angeles | Sold toYoung Broadcasting[66] |
| Walt Disney Television | Walt Disney Studios |
| Disney Television Animation | |
| Touchstone Television | |
| Disney Interactive | |
| Buena Vista Home Entertainment | |
| Walt Disney Film & Television Awards | |
| Walt Disney Television International | CC/ABC |
| Disney Channel International | |
| Buena Vista Television | |
| GMTV | |
| Super RTL | |
| Disney TeleVentures | Defunct as of 2000 |
Walt Disney Television and Telecommunications (WDTT) was a division ofThe Walt Disney Company. At the time Disney and Capital Cities/ABC merged, WDTT's divisions wereThe Disney Channel,KCAL-TV Los Angeles,Walt Disney Television,Touchstone Television,Buena Vista Home Entertainment, andDisney Interactive.[7]
On August 24, 1994, withJeffrey Katzenberg's resignation, a reorganization of Disney took place in whichRichard H. Frank became head of newly formed Walt Disney Television and Telecommunications, which was split from its filmed entertainment business,Walt Disney Studios.[67] On December 5, 1994, Walt Disney Computer Software was transferred within WDTT asDisney Interactive.[68] At the end of his contract on April 30, 1995, Frank left Disney.[69]Dennis Hightower, a marketing executive, was appointed by April 9 to succeed Frank.[70]
In April 1996, due to ongoing post-Disney-CC/ABC merger realignment and the retirement of Hightower as president, WDTT's divisions were reassigned to other groups, with most of them transferred to eitherThe Walt Disney Studios or CC/ABC.[8] KCAL was sold toYoung Broadcasting in May 1996 due to CC/ABC ownership ofKABC-TV.[66]
In appointing Mr. Iger as Disney's president and chief operating officer, Mr. Eisner sent a clear signal that he viewed the 48-year-old chairman of the Disney-owned ABC Group as a potential heir running the Disney empire.
Disney Channels Worldwide includes over 100 channels available in 34 languages and 166 countries/territories. Branded channels include Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Disney Cinemagic, Hungama and DLife.
