Disney/ABC– (TV broadcast & cable properties only)

Posted on December 1, 2014 by htfergus

[1] Disney/ABC Television Group Logo

by Alex Alomar

ABOUT DISNEY/ABC TELEVISION GROUP

Disney/ABC Television Group, through its many businesses is involved in the production and distribution of entertainment and news to the public. It is a premier entertainment media company. Disney/ABC regulates all of The Walt Disney television properties. [2] This includes properties such as ABC Television Network, ABC Entertainment Group, Disney Channels Worldwide, ABC Family, ABC News and more. [3]

Television Properties

[4] ABC Family Logo

Disney/ABC Television provides the world with a diverse composition of entertainment. One of its properties is ABC Family., which is one of the cable’s top 10 networks. [6] The network’s programming includes original series and movies. Pretty Little Liars (the No. 1 scripted show for females between the age of 12-34 in the year 2012) and Melissa & Joey (cable’s No. 1 program at 8 P.M. on Wednesdays) are both original ABC Family programs that contribute to its great success. ABC Family has a long list of original movies including Labor Pains, which features American actress and recording singer Lindsay Lohan.[6]

[5] Disney XD Logo

Another popular property that lies under Disney/ABC Television group is Disney XD. The cable channel was created by Disney for a rare outcome that had been yet to be distributed to cable. It provides a flashy series that include both animated and live-action original programming, including movies and series. It reaches an audience of those who are 6-14 and more specifically, boys in that age range (females still included). Disney XD programming pushes children on their chase for sports (Disney, adventure and humor.) [7] To achieve their goals, Disney XD joined ESPN in creating an original series titles Disney XD ESPN Sport Science. The program features two hosts who talk about myths in sports. The program has guest appearances from both celebrities and professional sports athletes. [8]

These are only two of many properties that are owned by fall under Disney/ABC Television Group. All programming from Disney/ABC Television Group properties reach a different fragment of the general audience. The company is able to attract the views from crowds that are female or male, young or old etc.

KEY EXECUTIVES

[9] Anne Sweeney

[10] Ben Sherwood

Anne Sweeney is the current President of Disney/ABC Television Group as well as the Co-Chair of Disney Media Networks. She has been involved with the company since 1996. Sweeney is in charge of managing Disney’s entertainment and news television properties. [11]

Ben Sherwood became the President of ABC News in December 2010. [12] Sherwood has been named to succeed Anne Sweeney as President of Disney/ABC Television Group. He will become active as President on Feb 1st, 2015, but is currently involved in all decision making that involves Disney/ABC Television Group as a co-president. [13]

FINANCIALS

The Walt Disney Company, in its third quarterly report of the year, revealed that it has a revenue of $12.16 billion, and increase for its second quarterly report of $11.65 billion. [14] Disney’s cable businesses ended its fourth quarter with a 5% increase in revenue, ending with a total of $5.2 billion. [15] A big contributor in the increase of revenue was ABC’s broadcasting of the FIFA World Cup, which concluded in a boost of advertisement revenue. [16]

DISNEY/ABC TELEVISION GROUP NEWS

New Deal with Streaming Company Shomi

[18] Shomi Logo

Disney/ABC Television has signed a deal with Shomi. Shomi is a Canadian company that provides an online streaming service, much like Netflix and Hulu. It is a new company that was founded this past August and officially launched on November 4th. [17] The deal includes family and kid friendly content from Disney. Well known films such as 102 Dalmatians and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, will now be available to Shomi users. A big part of the deal is the programming Shomi is obtaining from ABC programming. Shame will be streaming shows from ABC, ABC Family as well as ABC Studios. This includes two of ABC’s extremely successful TV series, Scandal and Revenge. [19]

Relaunch of WATCH Applications

[20] WATCH Applications

Disney/ABC Television Group has announced that it is relaunching its WATCH applications. The WATCH applications include an a different application for multiple properties. There is an application for ABC, ABC Family, Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior. The new features for the ABC application include allowing the user to to post on Facebook or Twitter about the current show they are watching without having to close and leave the application. [20] Disney/ABC Television Group created Disney Junior en Español, which will now allow users to watch and experience the application in Spanish. You can now also access the WATCH applications on Android and Kindle Fire Devices. The last addition to the application was being able to listen to Radio Disney live. [21]

New Fall 2014 Series: How To Get Away with Murder

[22] How to Get Away with Murder

ABC’s new original series How To Get Away with Murder, premiered this past fall on September 25th. The TV series is a drama produced by Shonda Rhimes, who is known for her with Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal. The show as been nothing but success for ABC. The show had the biggest new series premier of the Fall 2014 season. [23] It received 14.3 million views and a demo rating of 3.9. Although the number of viewers of the show has dropped, it is still pulling a strong audience. The show’s fall finale had 9.8 million viewers. [24]

SOURCES

[1] Disney/ABC Television Group Logo, RT 12/1/2014

[2] Disney/ABC Television Group Information, RT 12/1/2014

[3] The Walt Disney Company’s Properties, RT 12/1/2014

[4] ABC Family Logo, RT 12/1/2014

[5] Disney XD Logo, RT 12/1/2014

[6] ABC Family Programming Information, RT 12/1/2014

[7] Disney XD Programming Information, RT 12/1/2014

[8] Disney XD ESPN Sport Science, RT 12/1/2014

[9] Anne Sweeney, RT 12/1/2014

[10] Ben Sherwood, RT 12/1/2014

[11] Anne Sweeney Biography, RT 12/1/2014

[12] Ben Sherwood Biography, RT 12/1/2014

[13] Ben Sherwood Becoming President, RT 12/1/2014

[14] The Walt Disney Compnay Financials, RT 12/1/2014

[15] Disney Broadcasting Financials, RT 12/1/2014

[16] ABC Financials, RT 12/1/2014

[17] Shomi Launch Date, RT 12/1/2014

[18] Shomi Logo, RT 12/1/2014

[19] Disney/ABC and Shomi Deal, RT 12/1/2014

[20] WATCH Applications Information, RT 12/1/2014

[21] Disney Watch Applications’ Updates, RT 12/1/2014

[22] How To Get Away With Murder Image, RT 12/1/2014

[23] How To Get Away With Murder Season Premier, RT 12/1/2014

[24] How To Get Away With Murder Season Finale, RT 12/1/2014

Disney/ABC

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Emily Kelberman

By Emily Kelberman

Courtesy: Disney/ABC

Disney/ABC Television Group

500 Buena Vista Street

Burbank, CA 91521

818.560.1000

About the Company:

Disney/ABC Television Group operates many different platforms of media including entertainment properties, news properties, owned television stations, radio, and publishing businesses. The group includes ABC Entertainment Group, ABC News, ABC owned television properties, Disney Channels Worldwide, ABC Family, SOAPnet, as well as Disney/ABC Domestic Television and Disney Media Distribution. The company also has equity interest in A+E Networks. [1] [2] [3]

Key Executives [4]:

Courtesy: Walt Disney Company
Bob Iger

Robert Iger – Chairman & CEO of Walt Disney Company

Courtesy: Disney/ABC
Anne Sweeney

Anne Sweeney – President & Co-Chair of Disney/ABC Television Group

Courtesy: Disney/ABC
Paul Lee

Paul Lee – President, ABC Entertainment Group

Courtesy: Disney/ABC
Gary Marsh

Gary Marsh – President, Disney Channels Worldwide

For more information on Disney/ABC Television Group’s executives click here.

Financials:

Disney/ABC Television Group is apart of The Walt Disney Company’s (NYSE: DIS). This includes the company’s global entertainment, broadcast news, owned television stations, distribution, publishing, and radio business. The Walt Disney Company is also made up of other segments such as Parks and Resorts, Studio Entertainment, Consumer Products, and Interactive. [5]

The company delivered strong results for the third quarter of 2013. Disney’s Media Networks Group had an operating income of $2.3 billion, up 8% from the previous quarter. Revenue rose 5% to $5.35 billion. The broadcasting division of the group fell 20% due to higher programming costs, yet Disney/ABC’s cable networks operating income was up 12% to $2.09 billion. [6]

Disney & Technology [7]:

Disney Using Tablet

Courtesy: Disney Channel [9]

Disney/ABC Television Group is taking advantage of the new technology of tablets, beginning to use it for television purposes. Disney is going to launch the first nine episodes of a new series on mobile devices and tablets before it airs on television. The show, Sheriff Callie’s Wild West, features a cat in pink cowboy hat and it hopes to reach a pre-school audience on a screen like the iPad, in which many kids have been brought up viewing. The series will premiere on the Watch Disney Junior App and also on a related website in late November 2013. The television show will then premiere on Disney Channel and Disney Junior early next year. The application keeps audiences linked to their cable operators. Viewers must enter their subscriber information in order to watch the shows on the tablet. [8] [9]

Disney Teams with Roku

Courtesy: Variety [10]

Disney and ESPN have recently reached a new deal with Roku, which is a streaming player that can deliver movies instantly from Netflix onto a television using the Internet. Now, viewers can stream live cable-TV channels and programming to their televisions if they are currently subscribing to a participating TV provider. Participating viewers can watch their programming on the devices of their choice, creating a more enjoyable viewing experience. [10]

Disney/ABC & Marvel [11]:

Courtesy: Marvel [14]

Disney has recently acquired the rights to Marvel, which allows the Disney company to use that franchise in all aspects of the company. It has been recently announced that Disney and Netflix have partnered together to bring viewers a new miniseries based on Marvel’s most popular characters.

It will exclusively start streaming on Netflix in 2015 with four serialized programs, preparing the way for a miniseries programming event. The miniseries is produced by Marvel Television and ABC Television Studios and is said to have groundbreaking live-action storytelling. This is following a previous deal with Netflix, which allows members to watch a wide range of Disney, ABC TV, and Disney channel movies wherever Netflix is available. Marvel is a well-known and loved brand with movies such as ‘Iron Man’ and ‘The Avengers’, so pioneering the new miniseries idea will hopefully take this form of live-action television viewing to the next level.

The series is going to focus on “Daredevil”, “Jessica Jones”, “Iron Fist”, and “Luke Cage” separately, leading up to an Avenger-style combination of the characters to create the miniseries titled The Defenders. This new platform that Disney is testing will enable the viewers to watch when and where they want, granting flexibility. ABC’s new show, “Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D” has become a hit for the network, giving the new miniseries a promising outlook [12] [13] [14]

ESPN & College Basketball:

kentucky-michigan-state-ncaa-ratings-espn

Courtesy: Variety [15]

Fall is the season of college basketball, which is great news for ESPN, a Disney owned company. The first game of the season, Kentucky vs. Michigan, attracted four million viewers. According to Nielson, this is the second largest audience ESPN has had for a non-conference game. The Duke vs. Kansas game averaged 2.98 million viewers, which is higher than in previous years. ESPN is also thriving in the local markets. The only cable show program that was higher in the men’s 18-49 bracket was “Sons of Anarchy” on FX. The interest in college basketball seems to be growing, which will benefit Disney and ESPN. [15] [16]

Programming:

The fall season is a showcase of all the new shows ABC and other networks have to offer for the new season. Disney/ABC has recently confirmed a new singing competition called “Rising Star”. It is a show that has been breaking records in Israel, with more than half of TV audiences tuning in to watch the show. ABC is planning on airing the show in Summer 2014 with a 10-episode run. With the summer slot, it will not compete with other singing competition shows, such as Fox’s “American Idol” and NBC’s “The Voice”, seeing as those occupy fall spots. This show differs from other singing competition shows because viewers vote for live performances during real time through an application. The show reinvents the reality singing competition model with the use of new technology. Disney/ABC acquired the show from Keshet DP, parent company of Dick Clark Productions. [17] [18]

Shows to be Canceled/Renewed:

For the current 2013 season, ABC has canceled “Lucky Seven” and “Back in the Game”. A few shows such as “Betrayal”, “The Neighbors”, “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland”, “Trophy Wife”, and “Super Fun Night” with Rebel Wilson are likely to be canceled by the end of the season in May, depending on ratings.

“Last Man Standing”, “Nashville”, and “The Goldbergs” are likely to get a renewal for next season, but it will depend on the ratings. “Castle”, “The Middle”, “Once Upon a Time”, “Grey’s Anatomy”, “Revenge”, “Modern Family”, “Scandal”, and “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” are certain to be renewed by May. [19]

ABC is now getting ready for its midseason premiere with returning shows like “The Bachelor” and “Suburgatory”, as well as four new shows. The new shows include “Resurrection”, “Killer Women”, “Mixology”, and “Mind Games”. The TV group has decided to push “Revenge” back to the 10pm slot for the midseason. [20][21][22]

Sources:

[1] About Disney/ABC Television Group

[2] Disney/ABC Careers

[3] Business Week Snapshot of Disney/ABC

[4] About Disney/ABC Executives

[5] Disney Financials

[6] LA Times – Disney Financials

[7] NY Times – Disney & Tablet

[8] Sheriff Callie – IMDB

[9] Disney Channel – About Sheriff Callie

[10] Variety- Disney Lands a Deal With Roku

[11] Yahoo Finance – Disney Press Release Regarding Marvel