by Macy Jenkins

History

The American Broadcasting Company began in 1943, after previously operating as the NBC Blue Radio Network.   The first television broadcast was in 1948.  In 1996, The Walt Disney Company bought ABC, which is now a part of the Disney-ABC Television Group.    Corporate headquarters and network news are based in New York City, while programming is based in Burbank, California.

The Players

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Bob Iger

Chairman and CEO of the Walt Disney Company.

Iger began his career at ABC in 1974. Most recently, he acquired Pixar (2006) and Marvel (2009).  He directed the merger between Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. and The Walt Disney Company. [1]

 

 

Anne Sweeney

Co-Chair, Disney Media Networks; President, Disney/ABC Television Group.

Sweeney oversees ABC Studios, the ABC Owned Television Stations Group, the ABC Television Network, Disney Channels Worldwide, ABC Family, SOAPnet, and A&E Television Networks.

 

 

Kevin Brockman

Executive Vice President, Global Communications, Disney/ABC Television Group.

Brockman oversees all corporate, news and entertainment communication efforts worldwide on behalf of the Disney/ABC Television Group.

 

 

 

Rebecca Campbell

President, ABC Owned Television Stations Group.

Campbell is responsible for the company’s eight local TV stations and their digital assets in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham and Fresno.

First Quarter Report

The Walt Disney Company’s media networks (which include cable and broadcast stations) increased by 7% in 2012, ending with $5.1 billion in revenue.  ABC Broadcasting revenue increased by 6% over the last year, going from $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion.  This comes after broadcasting operating income increased by $36 million to $262 million in 2012.  The increase in operating income was able to increase because of higher advertising revenues.  The amount of online advertising increased, as did advertising rates. [2]

Ratings

Each of the broadcast networks has seen a decreased in ratings from last year.  As of March 24^th, ABC is in fourth place (after CBS, FOX, and NBC) with a 26-week season average of a 2.3 rating.  ABC is down 8% from last season.  Among total viewers, ABC’s 7.8 million is second only to CBS’ 12.1 million viewers (CBS had the Superbowl and the Grammy’s, while ABC’s main event was the Academy Awards). [3]

On Sunday February 24^th, 40 million people tuned in to watch Seth MacFarlane host the 85^th Annual Academy Awards ceremony.  It was the most watched Oscars since 2010.  And this year’s saw 1 million more viewers than Billy Crystal’s 2012 ceremony. [4]

Primetime Programming

Top Rated Shows: Modern Family,  Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, Once Upon a Time, Dancing With the Stars, The Middle, The Bachelor, Castle, and 20/20.

New Shows – Winter 2013:

The Taste: The competitive reality cooking show premiered on Tuesday January 22, 2013.  The eight-episode season consisted of auditions where the judges blindly tasted food and eventually eliminated teams to find the winner.  The premiere earned a 4.0 rating but the spring finale raked in a mere 1.1.   Critics say The Taste is simply a less exciting version of NBC’s The Voice. [7] [8]

Zero Hour: The drama premiered on Thursday February 14, 2013.  It was the least-watched premiere for a scripted series in ABC’s history (1.3 rating/6.3 million viewers).  Two weeks later, it was canceled. [9]

Red Widow: The drama premiered on Sunday March 3, 2013 and was picked up for eight episodes.  It’s centered around a woman who discovered her husband’s secret business life after he is murdered.  The premiere earned a 1.5 rating and it’s currently the lowest-rated show on the network.  However, ABC hasn’t pulled the plug yet. [10]

Splash: The series premiered on Tuesday March 19, 2013 to an audience of 8.8 million and earned a 2.6 rating.  It’s ABC’s highest-rated reality TV premiere in two years and the highest-rated reality TV premiere since The X Factor’s Fall 2011 premiere. [11]

How to Live With Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life): The comedy premiered on Wednesday April 3, 2013.  It stars Sarah Chalke as a divorced mother who moves back in with her hippie parents.  The show premiered with a 2.9 rating.  It airs after ABC’s #1 show, Modern Family. [12]

(See the “How to Live with your parents…” trailer)

Family Tools: The comedy will premiere on Wednesday May 1, 2013 as a part of ABC’s Wednesday comedy line-up.  The series is centered on a man who returns home from the army and has to take over his father’s hardware business. [13]

The only new shows from fall 2012 to escape cancellation (so far) have been Nashville, Malibu Country, and The Neighbors.  

ABC Daytime

Daytime television as a whole is not what it once was.  The soap opera era is over and only four traditional American soap operas remain on the air across all of the networks.  Due to declining ratings, ABC canceled the long-running dramas All My Children in 2011 and One Life to Live in 2012.  The sole survivor is General Hospital, which airs at 2pm.

The only other daytime programming the network offers is The View at 11am and The Chew at 1pm.

ABC News

ABC’s news programming includes World News with Diane Sawyer, Good Morning America, Nightline, Primetime, 20/20, and This Week with George Stephanopoulos.

Good Morning America was the number 1 morning program in total viewers and in the Adult 25-54 demographic during the fourth quarter of 2012.  In fact, it marked the first time the program has won the Adult 25-54 demographic since 1994.

Nightline was the number 1 late-night program in total viewers and in the Adult 25-54 demo.

World News with Diane Sawyer beat CBS Evening News in fourth quarter ratings and saw its strongest fourth quarter performance since 2009.

Online and Mobile

ABC.com has a comedy web series that infuses recaps from the network’s programs with comedic situations.  The latest is called “Taye Diggs Destroys Hip Hop.”  Actor Taye Diggs leaves Private Practice and starts a career in the world of Hip Hop music. [15]

ABC was the first network to offer a mobile app (released in april 2010).  As of April 5^th, the app had been downloaded 10 million times, there have been 200 million episode views and more than 1.3 billion ads run.  [16]

The Future

ABC still claims the number 1 scripted show, Modern Family, and has a large online presence.  But overall, in the era of “blinkandyoumissit,” the major networks have no time to rest before they plot their next moves.

Sources

[1] “Robert A. Iger”  http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/about-disney/leadership/ceo/robert-iger

[2] “The Walt Disney Company Reports First Quarter Earnings For Fiscal 2013” http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/sites/default/files/press-releases/pdfs/q1-fy13-earnings.pdf

[3] “2012-2013 Season: CBS Leads Among Adults 18-49 & With Total Viewers Through Week 26 Ending March 24, 2013” http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/03/26/2012-2013-season-cbs-leads-among-adults-18-49-with-total-viewers-through-week-26-ending-march-24-2013/174970/

[4] “Seth MacFarlane-Hosted Oscars Watched By 40.3M, Up From 2012” http://www.deadline.com/2013/02/oscars-2013-tv-ratings-up-from-2012-abc-seth-macfarlane/

[5] “ABC The Only Major Net to Grow Year to Year” http://tvafterdarkonline.com/2013/01/abc-the-only-major-net-to-grow-year-to-year/

[6] “ABC Delivers Its Most-Watched Non-“Oscar” Week Since November” http://www.thefutoncritic.com/ratings/2013/03/26/abc-delivers-its-most-watched-non-oscar-week-since-november-209415/20130326abc02/

[7] “The Taste’s Two-Hour Premiere Earned Solid Ratings” http://eater.com/archives/2013/01/23/the-taste-wire.php

[8] “’The Taste’ Ends First Season With A Sad Whimper” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/14/the-taste_n_2876049.html

[9]” ‘Zero Hour’ Canceled: ABC Pulls Anthony Edwards Drama After Three Episodes” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/01/zero-hour-canceled_n_2794162.html

[10] “Red Widow: New ABC TV Series; Cancel or Keep It?” http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/red-widow-new-abc-tv-series-cancel-or-keep-it-27528/

[11] “Ratings: ABC Makes a Big Splash, Body of Proof Rises, Smash Dips, New Normal Drops” http://tvline.com/2013/03/20/ratings-abc-splash-premiere-ncis-la-spinoff/

[12] “’How to Live with Your Parents’ Opens Strong, ‘Modern Family’ is Wednesday’s Number 1 TV Show” http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/04/04/how-to-live-with-your-parents-opens-strong-modern-family-is-wednesdays-number-1-tv-show/176484/

[13] “’Family Tools’ Cut Down To 10 Episodes: ABC’s Midseason Comedy Affected By ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Schedule” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/10/family-tools-cut-down-to-10-episodes-abcs-midseason-comedy_n_2109980.html

[14] “ABC News surges into 2013 propelled by strong 4th quarter 2012 ratings.” http://www.cynopsis.com/files/8013/5759/7642/ABC_NEWS_SURGES_INTO_2013_PROPELLED_BY_STRONG_4TH_QUARTER_2012_RATINGS.pdf

[15] “It’s No April Fools Joke: ‘Taye Diggs Destroys Hip Hop’ on ABC.com/ABCdotcomedy – Video” http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/04/01/its-no-april-fools-joke-taye-diggs-destroys-hip-hop-on-abc-comabcdotcomedy-video/175843/

[16] “Disney/ABC App Downloaded 10 Million Times.” http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/197432/disneyabc-app-downloaded-10-million-times.html#axzz2PslnXpZl