ABC Radio

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For other uses, see ABC Radio (disambiguation).

ABC Radio is a division of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) focused on AM radio and FM radio broadcasting. Twenty-two of ABC Radio's top stations, as well as ABC's talk and music networks, are to be acquired by Forstmann Little & Company's Citadel Broadcasting unit.^[1] The deal does not include Radio Disney or ESPN Radio, or the five ESPN Radio stations owned by Disney, although very few ESPN stations like WYOS in Binghamton, New York and KESP in Modesto, California are already owned by Citadel. Disney's ABC News unit will also still produce ABC News Radio programming for distribution by Citadel.^[2]

1 History
2 Controversy
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

ABC began as the NBC Blue network in 1927. The NBC Blue and NBC Red networks were both owned by the Radio Corporation of America, but were forced to separate when the Federal Communications Commission declared them a monopoly in 1940. NBC Blue was then renamed to the 'American Broadcasting Company' in 1945.

ABC Radio aired the first broadcast report of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Kennedy was shot in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas at 13:30 ET (or 12:30 local time) on November 22, 1963 and ABC Radio's Don Gardiner anchored the network's initial bulletin at 13:36:50 ET, minutes before any other radio or television network did the same.

ABC fed hourly radio newscasts to affiliates at :55 past the hour until January 1, 1968, when the singular ABC radio network "split" into four separate and distinct programming services. The "American Contemporary Network," on major-market music stations such as WABC New York, aired news at :55. "American Information Network" news ran at the top of the hour. ABC's "FM" network carried news geared toward younger listeners at :15 past, while the "American Entertainment Network" had news at the bottom of the hour.

Before the "split," ABC obtained a waiver of the FCC's "Chain Broadcasting" rule, which forced the sale of NBC's Blue network and enabled ABC's creation in 1943. Though each of the four new "networks" were carried on the same 5 kHz telco line, the move allowed ABC to have as many as four affiliates in one city -- a major competitive advantage and a dramatic turning point in the history of network radio. Two additional news networks, Rock and Direction, were added later.

Today, only Information and Entertainment remain as separate newscast services, with their programming delivered via satellite. The "Information" network newscasts clear on major-market stations like WABC New York, KABC Los Angeles, WLS Chicago, KGO San Francisco, WMAL Washington, WJR Detroit, and WBAP Ft. Worth/Dallas (all of which are owned by ABC). "Entertainment" network news airs mainly on small and medium-market stations. These ABC News Radio newscasts originate from the news division's bureaus in New York, Washington and Los Angeles and air exactly at the top of the hour. They are no longer identified on air by their brand name.

ABC Radio Networks also distributes Paul Harvey News and Comment, which originates from Chicago.

Politcal opinions expressed on ABC Radio shows tend to be conservative, which is the norm for American talk radio. This runs counter to many conservative pundits' and talk show hosts' views that ABC television news, as well as broadcast news on most other mainstream television networks, is liberal-biased.

[edit] Controversy

In January 2007, ABC Radio attempted to shut down a blogger -- nicknamed "Spocko"^[3]-- after Spocko posted audio clips on his website of inflammatory comments made by hosts of the ABC Radio-owned KSFO station in San Francisco, California, such as Melanie Morgan. Spocko wrote letters to sponsors suggesting that they rethink their advertising on certain shows, including Morgan's. Some companies agreed and revoked their sponsorship, including MasterCard, Visa, Netflix, and Bank of America, while other companies such as AT&T, FedEx, and Kaiser Permanente considered doing the same. Spocko's Internet service provider received a letter from ABC's attorney on ABC letterhead requesting that Spocko's website be pulled, citing copyright infringement. The service provider shut down the website, but Spocko soon launched a new website on another provider. Contrary to rampant rumors, Spocko's original web site provider shut down his web site even though Spocko complied with the cease and desist order, and not because he refused to remove the clips. Spocko did remove the clips immediately, but was shut down in spite of this action.