ABC Radio/Radio Disney | Principles & Practices

                        by Lindsay Dworman

HISTORY

In 1943, ABC Radio was born. It all began when RCA, the Radio Corporation of America, sold “The Blue Network” to Edward J. Noble. Noble then changed the name of “The Blue Network” to the “American Broadcast Company”. Ten years later, in 1953, ABC merged with United Paramount Theaters. The merger was brought on in order to build up ABC and create a more powerful company that could become a stronger competitor in the Broadcast market. In 1996, The Walt Disney Company acquired ABC Radio. In 2005, most of ABC Radio was sold to Citadel. Twenty-two stations were sold to Citadel and the only remaining radio broadcast channels under The Walt Disney Company were Radio Disney and ESPN. Everything else the was previously ABC Radio went to Citadel. In 2011, Citadel dissolved as a company due to financial problems and was bought by Cumulus Media Group. Presently, Disney owns Radio Disney and ESPN Radio, and Cumulus Media owns all of ABC Radio’s other holdings. [1]

CUMULUS MEDIA GROUP

Cumulus Media Group owns and operates two different divisions of radio. Their first radio subdivision is Cumulus Radio. Cumulus radio is home to 525 radio stations, making them the second largest local radio company in the United States. Cumulus’ mission is:

“Cumulus Radio strives to create the next generation radio broadcasting enterprise. By leveraging great people and technological excellence, we provide high quality local programming choices for our listeners; targeted audiences with disposable income for our advertisers; and rewarding career environments for our employees. [3]

Cumulus Media Group also has another subdivision, Cumulus Media Networks. Cumulus Media Networks is the network division of Cumulus and it is home to more than 4,500 affiliate radio stations and 31 national networks. Cumulus Media Networks prides itself on “developing and syndicating big brands that connect with listeners”. They host a variety of shows including: CBS Sports Radio, ABC News Radio, The Mike Huckabee Show, The Mark Levin Show, and many more. According to their website, the benefits of network radio are as follows:

“Network radio allows advertisers to combine national coverage with pinpoint targeting of virtually every desirable demographic and lifestyle. From an economic perspective, this channel delivers significant efficiencies to national advertisers – leveraging their budgets with unsurpassed media reach and frequency.” [4]

THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY

The Walt Disney Company has many divisions and sub-divisions. All of ABC Radio’s assets that were acquired by Disney fall under the Media Network’s division of The Walt Disney Company. Radio Disney Falls under the Disney/ABC Television Group subdivision of Media Networks, ESPN Radio falls under the ESPN subdivision, and ABC News Radio falls under the ABC News subdivision. ABC News Radio is also a station in partnership with Cumulus Media Networks. [5]

HOLDINGS

One of ABC Radio’s holdings that wa acquired by Disney is “Radio Disney”. Radio Disney is the premiere radio station for young children. The station is 24-hours a day and hosts pop/contemporary music. Artists featured on Radio Disney include young pop artists as well as artists that are linked to Disney Channel. Other than purely playing music, Radio Disney also features many other components. An example of this was the talent competition they hosted , Disney’s “Next BIG Thing”. Radio Disney also has a CD selling franchise that is operated through Walt Disney Records. [6][7]

ESPN Radio is the premiere sports news radio station in the United States. Not only does ESPN Radio feature radio but also podcasts, an interactive website, and a spanish version of the station, ESPN Deportes. ESPN features talk shows as well as streaming MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAAF, NCAAM, Nascar, Soccer, and many other games live. ESPN “is the leading multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company featuring the broadest portfolio of multimedia sports assets with over 50 business entities”, according to the bio on Disney’s corporate website. [8]

ABC News Radio is the other major station of ABC Radio. It is currently owned and operated by Cumulus Media. The station reports on national news, world news, politics, business, entertainment, and health. ABC News Radio prides itself on providing its listeners with “the latest information and analysis of major events to bring viewers a big picture understanding of the world.” [9]

FINANCIALS

Radio Disney and ESPN, are owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. The following is information from Disney’s latest annual finance report for their shareholders [10]:

Revenue: $40,893,000,000
Net Income: $4,807,000,000
Income from Continuing Operations: $5,258,000,000
Total Assets: $72,124,000,000
Disney Shareholders Equity: $37,385,000,000

In terms of narrowing down how much of this is attributed to ABC Radio, Disney’s Media Networks division’s revenue was $18,714,000,000 alone, and an operating income of $6,146,000,000.

The following is the financial information for Cumulus Media as of December 31, 2012 [11]:

Total Revenue: $1,076,600,000
Gross Profit: $415,100,000
Operating Income: $211,900,000

KEY PEOPLE

Lewis W. Dickey, Jr. – Chairman, President, and CEO of Cumulus Media
Jonathan G. Pinch – EVP and COO of Cumulus Media
John W. Dickey – EVP and Co-COO of Cumulus Media
Anne Sweeney – Co-Chair of Disney Media Networks, President of Disney/ABC Television Group

Ben Sherwood – President, ABC News

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW?

Many new things are happening in regards to Radio Disney, ABC News Radio, and ESPN Radio.

Recently, ABC News Radio has been updating the content they cover. To start, they have begun updating listeners on the latest in technology and mobile devices. Also, the station has recently begun a segment on “going green”. ABC News Radio now gives environmental news as well as partners with companies that take initiative and promote “going green”. [9]

Radio Disney has been doing many new things in order to be interactive with their audiences. To start, Radio Disney has started a competition called Radio Disney’s Next BIG Thing, also referred to as “N.B.T”. The premise of this programming is a talent competition in which the station’s listeners vote for one artists out of a select few to become the “Next BIG Thing”. Another venture the station hosts is its own music award show. Listeners can go online vote for the artists, albums, and songs they want to win on the Radio Disney website. [12]

Radio-Disney-Next-Big-Thing

WORKS CITED