ABC Owned Television Stations
| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Broadcasting |
| Founded | 1948 |
| Founder | American Broadcasting Company |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Wendy McMahon (station group president) |
| Products | Television stations, Localish network |
| Parent | Disney Entertainment Television division of The Walt Disney Company |
ABC Owned Television Stations operates as a segment within the Disney Entertainment Television division of the Walt Disney Company, overseeing the owned-and-operated stations affiliated with the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and managing the Localish network.
ABC Network
The American Broadcasting Company inaugurated its initial television station on August 10, 1948, under the call sign WJZ-TV (not to be confused with the current CBS-owned WJZ-TV in Baltimore). This launch was part of a trio of stations introduced that year, including WENR-TV in Chicago and WXYZ-TV in Detroit. Within the following thirteen months, additional stations such as KGO-TV in San Francisco and KECA in Los Angeles commenced operations.
In February 1953, ABC merged with United Paramount Theatres (UPT), which had previously been associated with Paramount Pictures. UPT held ownership of WBKB, a station sharing its affiliation with CBS alongside WGN-TV. Due to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations prohibiting ownership of multiple television stations within the same market, WBKB’s channel 4 license was transferred to CBS and subsequently rebranded as WBBM-TV. The personnel from the original WBKB transitioned to WBBM-TV, while the WBKB call letters and management shifted to channel 7.
Capital Cities/ABC
On March 19, 1985, Capital Cities announced its acquisition of ABC for $3.5 billion, an unexpected development considering ABC was approximately four times larger than Capital Cities at that time.
Following the merger, Capital Cities/ABC Inc. was required to divest certain stations to adhere to FCC ownership limitations, as their combined portfolio exceeded regulatory thresholds. The company retained Capital Cities’ KTRK-TV in Houston, WTVD-TV in Durham, and KFSN-TV in Fresno. Despite an overlap between WPVI-TV (Philadelphia) and ABC’s WABC-TV, an FCC waiver was obtained based on CBS’s grandfathered ownership of stations in New York and Philadelphia. Capital Cities’ WFTS-TV (Tampa) and ABC’s WXYZ-TV (Detroit) were sold to E. W. Scripps Company. Additionally, WTNH-TV (New Haven) and WKBW-TV (Buffalo) were divested to minority-owned entities; Scripps later reacquired WKBW in 2014.
Between 1994 and 1996, a major realignment occurred following New World Communications’ affiliation agreement with Fox. To preserve its presence after losing affiliations in Detroit and Cleveland to New World’s stations, CBS sought acquisitions of E. W. Scripps’ WXYZ-TV and WEWS-TV. In response, Scripps pressured ABC to secure affiliations with its other stations or risk losing market access in Detroit and Cleveland to CBS. This strategic maneuver included a Cincinnati station deal in 1995. Subsequently, ABC purchased WJRT-TV (Flint) and WTVG (Toledo) from SJL Broadcasting that same year. In addition, ABC collaborated with Allbritton Communications in 1996 to convert several affiliates into ABC stations.
Reacting to NBC’s station exchanges in 1994, ABC entered into an agreement with McGraw Hill to transition Denver and Bakersfield stations from CBS to ABC while renewing contracts for stations in San Diego and Indianapolis.
Disney/ABC division
The ABC Owned Television Stations (ABCOTS) were merged with the ABC Radio Network and eight television stations from Capital Cities/ABC (CC/ABC) following their acquisition by The Walt Disney Company in 1996. In June of that year, ABC's chief marketing executive introduced a "one-channel" branding approach for their O&O outlets, emphasizing the "ABC" brand alongside the channel number instead of call signs, mirroring a strategy previously adopted by NBC.
In June 1998, Disney entered negotiations to purchase eight Allbritton stations and related local marketing agreements involving ABC affiliates WJSU-TV and WJXX for more than $1 billion. This move was in response to the broadcast realignment between 1994 and 1996 initiated by New World's Fox affiliation deal. However, Disney withdrew from these discussions the following month.
The launch of ABC News Now occurred in 2004 on digital subchannels across 70 ABC O&O stations and affiliates but concluded its trial phase by early 2005. Subsequently, programming transitioned to ABC Plus, featuring a local news and public affairs format. Between 2005 and 2006, ABC collaborated with AccuWeather to introduce a multicast weather service on the third subchannels of ABC stations. On April 27, 2009, the Live Well Network (LWN), an HD lifestyle channel, debuted on ABC's .2 subchannels.
On November 3, 2010, SJL Broadcasting (currently Lilly Broadcasting) reached an agreement to reacquire WJRT-TV and WTVG, the two smallest ABC O&Os; this transaction was finalized on April 1, 2011. In October 2013, rumors emerged about Disney contemplating divesting its station group amid industry consolidation trends; however, multiple representatives denied any intentions to sell.
On June 9, 2014, the ABC Owned Television Stations division announced plans to discontinue the Live Well Network by January 2015 to concentrate on local programming and key news brands. Some of Live Well's shows were considered for acquisition by FYI, a cable channel partially owned by Disney-ABC. On January 15, 2015, ABCOTS revealed that Laff—a comedy multicast network owned by E.W. Scripps’ Katz Broadcasting—would be added to its DT3 subchannels starting April 15, 2015. Although Live Well Network remained available in HD on .2 subchannels within ABC O&O stations, its distribution outside these outlets ceased.
Rebecca Campbell, who served as president of ABC Daytime and ABC Owned Television Stations, was appointed President of Disney EMEA in September 2017. Subsequently, Wendy McMahon, the senior vice president of digital for the stations, assumed the role of station group president beginning January 1, 2018.
In September 2018, ABC Owned Television Stations launched Localish—a digital media initiative aimed at mobile millennials featuring locally produced short-form stories distributed via digital and social platforms. The series More in Common premiered on Facebook Watch and was broadcast on primary channels of ABC stations in November 2018. On February 17, 2020, Live Well Network was rebranded as Localish.
At the start of 2021, Laff was removed from most ABC Owned Television Stations and transitioned to Ion Media outlets acquired by Scripps. In April 2021, Allen Media Group announced that ABC O&Os would replace Laff with This TV. Three years later, effective April 1, 2024, Sinclair Broadcast Group's Charge! will take over This TV's slot on ABC Owned Television Stations.
Stations
Stations are organized alphabetically by state and city of license.
- (**) – Denotes stations originally established and launched by ABC.
Current
<section begin="ABCO&O"/>
| City of license / Market | Station | Year of affiliation | Owned since | Digital subchannels | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresno, CA | KFSN-TV | 30 (30) | 1985 | 1986[lower-alpha 1] | |
| Los Angeles, CA | KABC-TV** | 7 (7) | 1949 |
| |
| San Francisco–Oakland–San Jose, CA | KGO-TV** | 7 (12) |
| ||
| Chicago, IL | WLS-TV** | 7 (22) | 1948 |
| |
| New York City, NY | WABC-TV** | 7 (7) |
| ||
| Durham–Raleigh–Fayetteville, NC | WTVD | 11 (9) | 1985Template:Efn-ur | 1986[lower-alpha 1] |
|
| Philadelphia, PA | WPVI-TV | 6 (6) | 1948[lower-alpha 2] |
| |
| Houston, TX | KTRK-TV | 13 (13) | 1954 |
| |
<section end="ABCO&O"/>
Former
| City of license / Market | Station | Channel | Ownership period | Current affiliation/ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit, MI | WXYZ-TV** | 7 | 1948–1986 | Now an ABC affiliate under the ownership of the E. W. Scripps Company |
| Flint, MI | WJRT-TV | 12 | 1995–2011 | Currently an ABC affiliate owned by Allen Media Broadcasting |
| Toledo, OH | WTVG | 13 | 1995–2011 | ABC affiliate owned by Gray Television |
Evolution of ABC O&O stations
<timeline> ImageSize = width:1100 height:500 PlotArea = left:60 bottom:80 top:20 right:20 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:1940 till:2022 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:1940 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:2 start:1940 AlignBars = early Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:2
Colors =
id:abc1 value:blue legend:ABC_and_affiliates id:abc2 value:skyblue legend: id:o1 value:red legend:Other_companies id:o2 value:pink legend:
PlotData = align:left textcolor:black fontsize:8 mark:(line,white) width:25 shift:(0,-5)
bar:Company
from:12/10/1943 till:09/02/1953 color:blue text:"American~Broadcasting~Company" shift:(-25,0)
from:09/02/1953 till:01/01/1965 color:skyblue text:"American Broadcasting~Paramount Theatres" shift:(-50,0)
from:01/01/1965 till:18/03/1985 color:blue text:"American Broadcasting Companies" shift:(-70,0)
from:18/03/1985 till:06/02/1996 color:skyblue text:"Capital Cities/ABC" shift:(-45,0)
from:06/02/1996 till:end color:blue text:"The Walt Disney Company" shift:(-55,0)
bar:WPVI
from:13/09/1947 till:27/04/1971 color:red text:"WFIL-TV~(Triangle)" shift:(-25,0)
from:27/04/1971 till:05/09/1985 color:pink text:"WPVI-TV~(Capital Cities)" shift:(-25,0)
from:05/09/1985 till:end color=skyblue text:"WPVI-TV~(ABC)"
bar:WTVG
from:21/07/1948 till:01/01/1979 color:red text:"WSPD-TV~(Storer Broadcasting)" shift:(-25,0)
from:01/01/1979 till:01/01/1987 color:pink text:"WTVG~(Storer)" shift:(-35,0)
from:01/01/1987 till:01/01/1991 color:red text:"WTVG~(Toledo TV)" shift:(-25,0)
from:01/01/1991 till:29/08/1995 color:pink text:"WTVG~(SJL BM)" shift:(-25,0)
from:29/08/1995 till:01/04/2011 color=skyblue text:"WTVG~(ABC)" shift:(-35,0)
from:01/04/2011 till:end color:pink text:"WTVG~(Gray TV)" shift:(-26,0)
bar:WABC
from:10/08/1948 till:01/03/1953 color=blue text:"WJZ-TV" shift:(-25,0)
from:01/03/1953 till:end color=skyblue text:"WABC-TV"
bar:WLS
from:17/09/1948 till:01/03/1953 color=skyblue text:"WENR-TV" shift:(-25,0)
from:01/03/1953 till:07/10/1968 color=blue text:"WBKB-TV"
from:07/10/1968 till:end color=skyblue text:"WLS-TV"
bar:WXYZ
from:09/10/1948 till:05/09/1985 color=skyblue text:"WXYZ-TV~(ABC)"
from:05/09/1985 till:end color:red text:"WXYZ-TV~(E.W. Scripps)"
bar:KGO
from:05/05/1949 till:end color=skyblue text:"KGO-TV"
bar:KABC
from:01/12/1949 till:end color=skyblue text:"KABC-TV"
bar:WTVD
from:=02//09//1954 till:=05//09//1985 color:pink text:"WTVD~(Capital Cities)" shift:(-25,0)
from:=05//09//1985 till:end color=skyblue text:"WTVD~(ABC)"
bar=KTRK
from=20//11//1954 till:=05//09//1985 color=pink text:"KTRK-TV~(Capital Cities)" shift=(-25,0)
from:=05//09//1985 till:end color=skyblue text:"KTRK-TV~(ABC)"
bar=KFSN
from=10//05//1956 till:=05//09//1985 color=pink text:"KFSN-TV~(Capital Cities)" shift=(-25,0)
from:=05//09//1985 till=end color=skyblue text:"KFSN-TV~(ABC)"
bar=WJRT
from=12//10//1958 till:=29//08//1995 color=pink text:"WJRT-TV~(SJL BM)" shift=(-35,0)
from:=29//08//1995 till:=01//04//2011 color=skyblue text:"WJRT-TV~(ABC)" shift=(-35,0)
from:=01//04//2011 till:end color=pink text:"WJRT-TV~(Gray TV to Allen Media)" shift=(-26,0)
TextData =
pos:(80,80) fontsize:L textcolor:black text:"Evolution of owned-and-operated ABC stations"
</timeline>
Programming
As of April 2023, the syndicated lineup for ABC's owned-and-operated stations features shows such as The Tamron Hall Show, Live with Kelly and Mark, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, and Small Town Big Deal. The production of Live with Kelly and Mark takes place internally at WABC-TV. Since 1992, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! have been distributed to ABC-owned stations through a long-established collaboration with CBS Media Ventures, previously known as King World Productions. During late-night programming hours, ABC's owned stations typically air reruns of Tamron Hall, ABC World News Tonight, and Live with Kelly and Mark. With the exception of WPVI and KABC, all ABC owned stations broadcast Daytime Jeopardy!, which is a daytime repeat offered to most affiliates. In California, afternoon rebroadcasts substitute ABC World News Tonight with World News Now.
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