ABC News Radio
 |
|
| Type | Radio network |
|---|---|
| Branding | ABC News |
| Country | United States |
| Availability | National, through regional affiliates. |
| Slogan | Trusted. Credible. Complete. |
| Headquarters |
ABC News World Headquarters New York, New York United States |
| Owner |
Disney/ABC (distributed through Skyview Networks) |
|
Launch date
|
January 1, 1968 |
|
Former names
|
ABC Radio News |
|
Official website
|
www |
ABC News Radio is the radio service of ABC News, a division of the ABC Television Network in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks with newscasts on the hour to its affiliates. ABC News Radio is the largest commercial radio news organization in the US.
ABC Radio aired the first broadcast report of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Texas at 18:30 UTC and Don Gardiner anchored the initial bulletin at 18:36:50 UTC, minutes before any other radio or television network.
Beginning in the late 1950s, ABC fed hourly newscasts to affiliates at 5 minutes before the hour until January 1, 1968, when the singular ABC radio network was split into four separate and distinct programming services. The American Contemporary Network, on major-market music stations like WABC New York, aired news at 5 minutes before the hour. American Information Network news ran at the top of the hour on major-market stations like KGO San Francisco. The American FM Network carried news geared toward adult FM listeners at 15 minutes past the hour, while the American Entertainment Network had news at the bottom of the hour.
Before the split, ABC reached an understanding with the FCC concerning the "Chain Broadcasting" rule, which forced the sale of NBC's Blue network and enabled ABC's creation in 1943. Each of the four networks could be cleared only when no other ABC network was on the air in a particular market. Though each of the four new "networks" were distributed to all member radio stations nationally over the same broadcast-quality telephone 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, ABC Rock and ABC Direction, were added on January 4, 1982 after the network became a satellite-delivered service. The network was strict in its insistence that there be no simultaneous broadcast of more than a single network in a market, except during crisis or special event coverage.
After the sale of most of ABC's radio assets to Citadel Broadcasting in 2007, the ABC Radio Network was operated by the broadcaster as part of the Citadel Media Networks division, and still distributed ABC News content. Citadel Broadcasting was later acquired by Cumulus Media: in July 2014, Cumulus announced that it would end its partnership with ABC News, and begin a new partnership with CNN to syndicate news content via the new Westwood One News network for its stations beginning on January 1, 2015. In turn, ABC announced that it would take the syndication of its radio content in-house under a revived ABC Radio, with distribution handled by Skyview Networks.
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