ABC News (ABC News)

History



ABC began news broadcasts early in its independent existence as a radio network after the FCC ordered the former NBC Blue Network to be spun off as an independent company in 1943. Regular television news broadcasts began soon after ABC opened its New York flagship TV station and production center in the late summer of 1948. They have continued from that time until today but have not always had the same degree of success they enjoy now. Throughout the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s, ABC News consistently ranked third in audience behind CBS News and NBC News. Until the 1970s, the network had fewer affiliate stations and a weaker prime time programming lineup to support its news effort than the two largest networks, each of which had established radio news operations during the 1930s and had begun regular television service in the months before the U.S. entered World War II.



It wasn't until Roone Arledge became the President of ABC News in 1977, at a time when the network's prime time entertainment shows were achieving ratings and financial success and bringing more profits to the corporation overall, that the network was finally able to invest the resources to make it a major player in news. Arledge, known for experimenting with the broadcast "model," created many of ABC News' most popular and enduring programs, including 20/20, World News Tonight, 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 live.



Arledge turned ABC News into a broadcasting titan, regularly defeating rivals NBC and CBS. ABC would remain dominant for over two decades while the late Peter Jennings was principal anchor. The net