The company was established on October 12, 1943 as a radio network. It served as a successor to the NBC Blue Network that was purchased by Edward Noble. Its operations were extended to television in 1948. In the middle of the 1950s, ABC merged with United Paramount Theatres (UPT), then a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures. Leonard Goldenson, the then head of UPT, was able to make the television network profitable. He did it by leading it to broadcast a number of successful series. ABC sold its theater operation division in the 1970s to Henry Plitt who renamed it to Plitt Theatres.
In the 1980s, ABC merged with Capital Cities Communications, a publishing/broadcasting group, after the former purchased an 80% stake of the cable sports channel ESPN. In 1996, ABC became part of The Walt Disney Company’s division Disney-ABC Television Group. Disney also acquired a Fox-owned cable TV channel in 2001 and renamed it ABC Family.
ABC is among the Big Three television networks (the other two being CBS and NBC). As such, the network has broadcast many programs that are considered to have significantly contributed to the American pop culture. These include classic series such as The Untouchables, Zorro, Happy Days, and The Fugitive, among others. The network is also known for globally popular series Desperate Housewives, Lost, Modern Family, and Grey’s Anatomy. They have also entered the realm of relative TV with Dancing with the Stars, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and more.