American Broadcasting Companies
American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, Inc. assumed the name, American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. on 1965-7-2.[1] ABC started ABC Pictures in 1965 to produce feature films.[20] In 1965, Clark was appointed vice-president, non-broadcasting operation of American Broadcasting Companies overseeing ABC-Paramount Records, ABC music publishing, theater operations, ABC Pictures, ABC Amusements and other operations. In April 1966, Dunhill Records was purchased.[21] American Broadcasting Companies move from the New York City Paramount Building to the ABC Building at 1330 Avenue of the Americas, in 1965.[22] Its recording subsidiary was renamed ABC Records in 1966.[23]
On December 7, 1965, Goldenson announced a merger proposal with ITT to ABCs board. The two companies agreed to the deal on 1966-4-27. The FCC approved the merger on 1966-12-21; however the previous day (December 20), Donald F. Turner, head antitrust regulator for the United States Department of Justice, expressed doubts related to such issues as the emerging cable television market, and concerns over the journalistic integrity of ABC and how it could be influenced by the overseas ownership of ITT. ITT management promised that the company would allow ABC to retain autonomy in the publishing business. The merger was suspended, and a complaint was filed by the Department of Justice in 1967-7, with ITT going to trial in 1967-10; the merger was officially canceled after the trial's conclusion on 1968-1-1. By 1972-5, ABCs formed the ABC Leisure Group consisting of its theaters, farm publishing operations (ABC Farm Publications) and music (ABC Records), Anchor Records and ABC Records and Tape Sales plus a new retail record store division.[24] In 1973-1, ABC Leisure Group started ABC Retail Records Division was started head by president Al Franklin. Three Wide World of Music locations in Seattle and Providence were opened by 1974-7, when they announced expansion to add 4 more locations.[25] In 1974 by August, ABC Records had acquired two additional record companies.[26] Leisure Group I added ABC Leisure Magazines and ABC Entertainment Center, Center City by October 1974.[27]
Plitt Theatres purchased ABC Theatres northern group of movie theaters including the Balaban & Katz chain in 1974. A second Plitt corporation, Plitt Theatres Holding, purchased ABC's southern circuit in 1978 for $49 million.[28]
ABC Scenic & Wildlife Attractions president John Campbell announced on April 27, 1973, its plans for developing its third wildlife preserve on 280 acres in Prince George's County, Maryland, 12 miles from Washington, DC.[29] On July 15, 1974, The Wildlife Preserve opened in Prince George's County.[30] In October 1974, ABC Leisure Group II was formed by ABC, composed of ABC Theatres (267 locations), ABC Scenic & Wildlife Attractions, Town of Smithville, NJ recreated historic settlement and the Silver Springs Bottled Water Co., under president Walter Schwartz.[27]
ABC Motion Pictures was a theatrical movie subsidiary of ABC, formed in May 1979.[31]
A cable division was started in July 1979[32] which was incorporated as ABC Video Enterprises, Inc. (AVE) by March 25, 1980.[33] The company also doubled as a home video division of ABC. ABC announced ARTS in December 1980 to be launched on April 5, 1981, sharing Nickelodeon's channel at night. ABC and the Hearst Corporation in January 1981 formed a joint venture, Hearst/ABC Video Services, to provide programming to ARTS and launch BETA, a women's network, later that year.[32] With Group W Satellite Communications, ABC Video Enterprises formed the Satellite News Channel in 1981 only to sell it a year later to Turner Broadcasting, owner of CNN. Cox Cable and AVE formed FirstTicket in 1983, to try the market for pay-per-view sporting events. AVE and ESPN launched Reserve Seat Video Productions, a pay-per-view sports producer, in 1983.[34]
In 1984, ABC Scenic & Wildlife Attractions sold both Florida locations to Florida Leisure Attractions.[35] In 1984, Hearst/ABC-Viacom Entertainment Services (HAVES) was formed from the merger of Daytime (BETA) and Lifetime Medical Television to start and operate a new cable channel, Lifetime Television.[36] Capital Cities' announced $3.5 billion purchase of ABC on March 18, 1985, stunned the media industry, as ABC was some four times bigger than Capital Cities was at the time. Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett helped to finance the deal in exchange for a 25 percent share in the combined company.[37][38]
In October 1985, ABC Motion Pictures was shut down.[39]
