The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948. As one of the Big Three television networks, its programming has contributed to American popular culture.
Corporate headquarters is in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City,[1] while programming offices are in Burbank, California adjacent to the Walt Disney Studios and the corporate headquarters of The Walt Disney Company.
The formal name of the operation is American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., and that name appears on copyright notices for its in-house network productions and on all official documents of the company, including paychecks and contracts. A separate entity named ABC Inc., formerly Capital Cities/ABC Inc., is that firm's direct parent company, and that company is owned in turn by Disney. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Alphabet Network", due to the letters "ABC" being the first three letters of the Latin alphabet, in order.
ABC began news broadcasts early in its independent existence as a radio network after the Federal Communications Commission ordered the former NBC Blue Network to be spun off as an independent company in 1943. This was done to keep single or a few companies such as NBC and CBS from dominating radio broadcasting in the U.S., and in particular, from dominating news and political broadcasting and projecting narrow points-of-view. Television broadcasting was suspended however, during World War II.
Regular ABC television news broadcasts began soon after ABC started transmitting from its initial New York City television station and production center in late summer 1948. ABC-TV news broadcasts have continued as the ABC television network spread across the country, a process that took many years, from that beginning in 1948 through today, but they have not always had the same level of success that they enjoy now. Throughout the 1950s, the 1960s, and the early 1970s, ABC News consistently ranked third in viewership behind CBS News and NBC News. Until the 1970s, the ABC-TV network had fewer affiliate stations, and also weaker prime-time programming lineups to support the network's news departments than the two larger networks had, each of which had established their radio news operations during the 1930s.
Only after Roone Arledge, the former head of ABC Sports, became the president of ABC News in 1977, at a time when this network's prime-time entertainment programs were achieving good ratings and drawing in advertising revenues and profits to the ABC corporation overall, was ABC able to invest the resources to make it a major source of news telecasting. Arledge, known for experimenting with the broadcast "model", created many of ABC News's most popular and enduring programs, including 20/20, World News Tonight (now ABC World News), This Week, Nightline, and Primetime Live.
ABC News gained respect in the early 1980s by covering the Iran hostage crisis and, later, for covering the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area with live telecasts.
The ABC News slogan, "More Americans get their news from ABC News than from any other source", is a claim that refers to the number of people who watch, listen, and read ABC News programming on television, the radio, and the Internet, and not necessarily to the telecasts alone.[1]
ESPN, a sports-news organization with several cable and satellite television channels — and also owned by Disney — provides sports bulletins and video for some of ABC News's programs, especially the overnight programs.
In February 2010, ABC News announced it would lay off hundreds of staff members or up to 25% of its total work force and close all news bureaus outside of its headquarters in Washington and New York, including bureaus in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago.[2]
In the wake of the job cuts, a significant controversy erupted online in May 2010 after it was announced the former VP of news coverage, Mimi Gurbst, was leaving the network to become a guidance counselor.[3] A story in the New York Observer reported that Gurbst was a "cherished" mentor inside the news division.[4] Reporters who closely follow TV news observed that a large number of current and former ABC News staffers went online to vigorously respond that Gurbst had helped perpetuate a negative culture with ABC News.
Employee Retention
MARCH 03, 2011
A Great Accomplishment
I am very proud to announce that LaSalle Network was just named the “Top Five Best Staffing Firms to Work For” by Staffing Industry Analysts, the global advisor on contingent work.
This is a huge honor to be recognized by the staffing industry’s leading analyst and I am very proud of every LaSalle employee for contributing to this award.
When I started LaSalle in 1998, I made it a priority to put my employee’s first. I had previously worked in multiple companies where I didn’t feel appreciated or recognized, and I never wanted my staff to feel like this.
I implemented a team-based staffing structure, fostering collaboration instead of competition, and encouraged a policy of honest and open communication between management and staff. I wanted to make sure every employee always felt they could voice their concerns and their opinion mattered regardless.
Ultimately, the more employees know they have support from you, the more they will support your organization.
Congratulations to all of my co-workers at LaSalle...now the entire industry knows that being a LaSallian is truly something special!
Corporate headquarters is in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City,[1] while programming offices are in Burbank, California adjacent to the Walt Disney Studios and the corporate headquarters of The Walt Disney Company.
The formal name of the operation is American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., and that name appears on copyright notices for its in-house network productions and on all official documents of the company, including paychecks and contracts. A separate entity named ABC Inc., formerly Capital Cities/ABC Inc., is that firm's direct parent company, and that company is owned in turn by Disney. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Alphabet Network", due to the letters "ABC" being the first three letters of the Latin alphabet, in order.
ABC began news broadcasts early in its independent existence as a radio network after the Federal Communications Commission ordered the former NBC Blue Network to be spun off as an independent company in 1943. This was done to keep single or a few companies such as NBC and CBS from dominating radio broadcasting in the U.S., and in particular, from dominating news and political broadcasting and projecting narrow points-of-view. Television broadcasting was suspended however, during World War II.
Regular ABC television news broadcasts began soon after ABC started transmitting from its initial New York City television station and production center in late summer 1948. ABC-TV news broadcasts have continued as the ABC television network spread across the country, a process that took many years, from that beginning in 1948 through today, but they have not always had the same level of success that they enjoy now. Throughout the 1950s, the 1960s, and the early 1970s, ABC News consistently ranked third in viewership behind CBS News and NBC News. Until the 1970s, the ABC-TV network had fewer affiliate stations, and also weaker prime-time programming lineups to support the network's news departments than the two larger networks had, each of which had established their radio news operations during the 1930s.
Only after Roone Arledge, the former head of ABC Sports, became the president of ABC News in 1977, at a time when this network's prime-time entertainment programs were achieving good ratings and drawing in advertising revenues and profits to the ABC corporation overall, was ABC able to invest the resources to make it a major source of news telecasting. Arledge, known for experimenting with the broadcast "model", created many of ABC News's most popular and enduring programs, including 20/20, World News Tonight (now ABC World News), This Week, Nightline, and Primetime Live.
ABC News gained respect in the early 1980s by covering the Iran hostage crisis and, later, for covering the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area with live telecasts.
The ABC News slogan, "More Americans get their news from ABC News than from any other source", is a claim that refers to the number of people who watch, listen, and read ABC News programming on television, the radio, and the Internet, and not necessarily to the telecasts alone.[1]
ESPN, a sports-news organization with several cable and satellite television channels — and also owned by Disney — provides sports bulletins and video for some of ABC News's programs, especially the overnight programs.
In February 2010, ABC News announced it would lay off hundreds of staff members or up to 25% of its total work force and close all news bureaus outside of its headquarters in Washington and New York, including bureaus in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago.[2]
In the wake of the job cuts, a significant controversy erupted online in May 2010 after it was announced the former VP of news coverage, Mimi Gurbst, was leaving the network to become a guidance counselor.[3] A story in the New York Observer reported that Gurbst was a "cherished" mentor inside the news division.[4] Reporters who closely follow TV news observed that a large number of current and former ABC News staffers went online to vigorously respond that Gurbst had helped perpetuate a negative culture with ABC News.
Employee Retention
MARCH 03, 2011
A Great Accomplishment
I am very proud to announce that LaSalle Network was just named the “Top Five Best Staffing Firms to Work For” by Staffing Industry Analysts, the global advisor on contingent work.
This is a huge honor to be recognized by the staffing industry’s leading analyst and I am very proud of every LaSalle employee for contributing to this award.
When I started LaSalle in 1998, I made it a priority to put my employee’s first. I had previously worked in multiple companies where I didn’t feel appreciated or recognized, and I never wanted my staff to feel like this.
I implemented a team-based staffing structure, fostering collaboration instead of competition, and encouraged a policy of honest and open communication between management and staff. I wanted to make sure every employee always felt they could voice their concerns and their opinion mattered regardless.
Ultimately, the more employees know they have support from you, the more they will support your organization.
Congratulations to all of my co-workers at LaSalle...now the entire industry knows that being a LaSallian is truly something special!