The American Broadcasting Company, or ABC, is one of the few national broadcast networks in the USA. With roots as a radio network, ABC actually evolved from a mandated offshoot of NBC’s radio holdings (NBC Blue) but was acquired decades later by Disney in 1995. While Bob Iger is the Chairman and CEO of Disney and Ben Sherwood oversees all of Disney Media Networks as President and Co-Chairman, the majority of creative development takes place within the ABC Entertainment division, led by President Channing Dungey, and ABC Studios (formerly Touchstone Television), run by President Patrick Moran. The network development team and ABC Studios operate out of Burbank, California. (ABC/Disney/Wikipedia)
Channing Dungey, President of ABC Entertainment
Network Defining Programming
ABC has a long history of notable programming, but the network struggled to get out of 3rd place in the early days of broadcast TV. This led to the network taking creative chances on new and risqué material. Television history scholar Robert Thompson notes that, “ABC was the first network to cozy up with the film industry” by doing deals in the 1950s with Warner Brothers, Disney, and MGM (personal communication, September 25, 2017). Later, in the 1970s, ABC was finally able to crack first place with a run of success that included the 1976 Olympics, Roots, Happy Days, and “Jiggle TV” shows like Three’s Company and Charlie’s Angels.
“This period achieved two things: ABC was number one and had a younger skewing audience. When ABC snuck into first place after years in third, it added more competition, more promotion, and more cancellations at all the networks” (Robert Thompson, personal communication, September 25, 2017). Years later, ABC was again in the ratings wilderness before striking creative pay dirt in 2004-2005 with runaway success for Lost, Desperate Housewives, and Grey’s Anatomy (Carter, 2006). All three shows would have lasting impacts on ABC and throughout the TV landscape.
Assets
ABC’s biggest asset is its affiliation with Disney. As a division of the parent conglomerate, the network and studios have greater access to the top-notch brands that are part of Disney’s impressive portfolio like ESPN, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar, and Disney itself. ABC has benefitted from this with ESPN-branded sports content for college football and the NBA Finals as well as with Marvel property based shows like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, and the soon-to-premiere Inhumans. They could also develop a show based on Star Wars or Indiana Jones via Lucasfilm in the future (Schwartz, 2017). With the recent announcement of Disney’s forthcoming streaming service, ABC is at the moment not going to be involved with the service (Associated Press, 2017). However, with the aforementioned history of the network dating back over 70 years, there are many hit shows from the past whose catalogs would make great binge fodder for the Disney streaming project or an ABC app (if ABC retained rights)–The Flintstones, Wide World of Sports, Bewitched, General Hospital, The Fugitive, Batman, Charlie’s Angels, Three’s Company, Roots, Happy Days, The Love Boat, Good Morning America, 20/20, Dynasty, Full House, Roseanne, Home Improvement, America’s Funniest Home Videos, NYPD Blue, the TGIF shows, Desperate Housewives, Lost, Grey’s Anatomy and many others. In the current era, with IP and franchises are dominant, having this cache of recognizable brands associated with ABC is something that it will likely find a way to monetize. More recent such franchise brands that ABC continues to find success with are The Bachelor, Dancing With the Stars, The View, Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, Modern Family, and black-ish.
Business and Revenue Models
Juan Alfonso, VP of Drama Development at ABC Studios
The goal of ABC Studios is to create content for distribution and the goal of ABC Entertainment is to generate ad revenue by selling a high viewership of its programming to advertisers. VP of Drama Development at ABC Studios, Juan Alfonso, elaborates, “Generally speaking, our revenue model comes from licensing the content to broadcasters (including broadcast network, cable and SVOD), home entertainment, syndication, as well as international revenues from licensing abroad.” (personal communication, September 15, 2017). Sometimes, the goals of the studio and the network line up and ABC Studios shows will be programmed by ABC Entertainment onto the ABC Network. This is the ideal scenario for the company, as the money stays within the overall corporation. However, it can be beneficial or necessary for ABC Studios to sell shows to other networks, which they have done with shows like The Amazing Race and Criminal Minds. Conversely, the most advertiser-attractive programs in a given season may come from outside studios like Sony Pictures Television (The Goldbergs) or 20th Century Fox (Modern Family). “The biggest win for The Walt Disney Company is for ABC Studios to develop shows that run on ABC and that we own for the long haul. Needless to say, we have a great relationship with ABC, as we’re in the same building and know them well. We speak to them early in the development season and try to tailor our search to meet their needs. But we also look to sell our content to all broadcasters, beyond just Disney networks.” (Juan Alfonso, personal communication, September 15, 2017).
Competition and the Future
As a broadcast network, ABC is still free over the airwaves and is forced to be carried by cable operators and MVPDs. The other main competition for broadcast is NBC, CBS, and Fox while to a lesser extent also the CW, Telemundo, Univision, and other outlets like WGN and Sinclair. In the modern sense however, competition comes from everywhere and broadcast networks can’t be compared only to one another. Audiences looking for quality drama or comedies can easily jump to HBO, AMC, FX, or Netflix while unscripted fans can find plenty of offerings on the myriad of niche lifestyle cable networks. Even within the Disney umbrella, ABC’s storied Monday Night Football franchise was relocated to sister network ESPN. An audience member’s own Netflix que, DVR, Facebook feed, or a video game could be competition on a given evening. With an abundance of good content and dwindling hours in the day, ABC needs to fight all of the aforementioned competition along with other activities like going to the movies or a concert. ABC is reviving American Idol (formerly on Fox) to add to its stable of relatively cheap but successful reality staples like The Bachelor and Dancing With the Stars. It will have to contend with the departure of Shonda Rhimes, creator of many hit shows for the network (Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away With Murder), who is leaving for Netflix.
Shonda Rhimes (red) with the stars of her three biggest ABC hits
The shifting sands of talent and technology are affecting the whole industry, but the pace of change doesn’t worry Alfonso:
“It’s hard to comment on technology, as it changes so quickly. At the studio, we focus on creating the highest quality content. We know the demand for great entertainment will be there, no matter what platform it winds up on.” (personal communication, September 15, 2017).
ABC’s relationship with Disney along with its trove of highly recognizable brands, both past and present, put the network and studio in strong positions relative to its broadcast competitors in the realm of creative development. Thompson believes ABC has a “candy store reputation” thanks to its catalogue of fun, interesting, and innovative programs over the years (personal communication, September 25, 2017). In the “content is king” period, a candy store of content is a good place to be. While the industry’s uncertainty with the future of broadcast, cable, streaming, and the like in question, ABC is better positioned for the future than others thanks to its corporate associations, history, and creativity.
References
About ABC (n.d.) Retrieved from http://abc.go.com/
Alfonso, J., personal communication, September 15, 2017.
American Broadcasting Company. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved September 12, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Broadcasting_Company
Associated Press. (2017, September 7). Disney’s Streaming Sevice Just Got a Lot Bigger. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-disney-streaming-20170907-story.html
Carter, B. (2006). Desperate Networks. New York, NY: Broadway Books.
Castleman, H, & Podrazik, W. J. (2016). Watching TV: Eight Decades of American Television (3rd ed.). Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
Rogers, A. (2017, August 10). Disney’s Building Its Own Netflix. Everyone Else Might, Too. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/story/disney-leaving-netflix/
Schwartz, T. (2017, January 10). ABC Still Looking to Develop Star Wars TV Series With
Lucasfilm. Retrieved from http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/01/10/abc-still-looking-to-develop-star-wars-tv-series-with-lucasfilm
Senior Executives (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.disneyabcpress.com/disneyabctv/disney-abc- senior-executives/
Thompson, R., personal communication, September 25, 2017.
Turow, J. (2017). Media Today: Mass Communication in a Converging World (6th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.