ABC News

ABC News is the news division of the American Broadcasting Company, the United States television network owned by The Walt Disney Company. It operates as a multi-platform journalism organization spanning broadcast television, streaming video, radio, websites, mobile products, podcasts, and syndicated news services. Its principal broadcast identity is built around ABC World News Tonight, while Good Morning America, Nightline, 20/20, This Week, World News Now, and GMA3 provide morning, evening, overnight, magazine, public-affairs, and daytime coverage. The organization developed from the news and public-affairs operations associated with ABC, whose institutional roots reach back to the NBC Blue Network. NBC was ordered to separate its radio networks in the early 1940s, and the resulting Blue Network became the foundation of the American Broadcasting Company. ABC began regular television broadcasting in 1948, initially operating with fewer affiliates and less programming strength than CBS and NBC. Its news operation consequently ranked behind the two older networks through much of the mid-twentieth century. A major transformation occurred after Roone Arledge, previously associated with ABC Sports, became president of ABC News in 1977. Arledge brought a more heavily produced, personality-led, and visually ambitious approach to television journalism. Under his leadership, ABC established or strengthened several programs that became long-running parts of American television, including World News Tonight, 20/20, Nightline, and This Week. The division’s growth was supported by ABC’s stronger entertainment schedule, broader affiliate base, and increased investment in national reporting. ABC News now distributes news through several related services. ABC News Radio, subsequently branded within ABC Audio, provides hourly newscasts and syndicated audio content through affiliates and digital channels. ABCNews.com, launched in 1997, expanded the division into online reporting, video, and audio. ABC News Live, introduced as a streaming news channel in the late 2010s, supplies continuous live coverage, breaking news, interviews, documentaries, and scheduled programs across connected-TV platforms and streaming services. FiveThirtyEight was also moved from ESPN to ABC News in 2018, adding a prominent data-driven politics and public-affairs publication to the division’s digital portfolio. ABC News competes with CBS News, NBC News, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and digital-native publishers. Its positioning combines the reach and familiarity of a major broadcast network with a broad digital and streaming presence. The brand remains particularly associated with national election coverage, presidential interviews, breaking-news reporting, morning television, investigative and documentary programming, and the large audiences of its flagship broadcasts. Its journalism has also faced scrutiny over editorial decisions and legal exposure, including the 1985 cancellation of a Marilyn Monroe report and the 2024 settlement of a defamation lawsuit brought by Donald Trump.

ABC News emerged from the broadcasting infrastructure of the American Broadcasting Company. ABC’s predecessor was the NBC Blue Network, which was separated from NBC after federal regulators sought greater competition and diversity in American radio. The Blue Network became the basis of ABC in the 1940s. When ABC began regular television operations in 1948, it also established news production capacity through its New York station and production facilities. During its early decades, ABC News operated at a disadvantage against CBS and NBC. Those competitors had older radio news organizations, larger affiliate systems, and stronger established positions in national television. ABC news programs generally ranked third until the network’s broader entertainment business improved in the 1970s. Additional advertising revenue and higher overall network performance allowed ABC to invest more substantially in news gathering and presentation. Roone Arledge’s appointment as president of ABC News in 1977 marked the division’s most important twentieth-century turning point. Arledge applied production techniques associated with sports and entertainment while retaining conventional reporting operations. The result was a more visually dynamic and program-driven news organization. World News Tonight, 20/20, Nightline, and This Week became durable franchises, while ABC News correspondents and anchors gained greater prominence in national political and cultural coverage. ABC World News Tonight, launched in the late 1970s, became the division’s principal evening newscast. ABC News also developed a substantial news-magazine and special-reporting operation. Programs such as 20/20 and Nightline gave the network formats for investigative reports, interviews, breaking news, and longer-form analysis. The division expanded its international video capabilities and, in 1998, participated in the sale of its interest in Worldwide Television News to the Associated Press while entering a content relationship involving AP’s television-news service and ABC News One material. Digital expansion accelerated in the 1990s. ABCNews.com launched in 1997 through a venture involving ABC News and Starwave, bringing written reports, short video, and audio to the web. The organization later entered a strategic content-sharing relationship with Yahoo News, which was expanded in 2015 and ended in 2018 as ABC News and Good Morning America continued with separate web presences. The twenty-first century brought repeated attempts to extend ABC News beyond the traditional broadcast schedule. ABC News Now launched in 2004 as a digital and broadband news service, following ABC’s earlier and unsuccessful Satellite News Channel venture with Group W in 1982. ABC News later emphasized social, mobile, podcast, and streaming distribution. ABC News Live became a continuous streaming channel available through a growing range of connected-TV and online platforms. In 2018, FiveThirtyEight joined ABC News, strengthening the division’s data and election-analysis capabilities. ABC’s audio operation was relaunched in 2015 and renamed ABC Audio in 2019. It supplies radio newscasts, podcasts, and other on-demand material through affiliate and digital distribution. Television programming also continued to evolve: GMA3 began in 2018 as an afternoon extension of the Good Morning America identity and was repurposed during the COVID-19 pandemic as a news-focused program. ABC News has periodically faced editorial controversy. In 1985, the decision to withhold a 20/20 report concerning alleged links among Marilyn Monroe, John F. Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy generated internal and public criticism and contributed to Geraldo Rivera’s departure from ABC. In 2024, the division and its corporate owner faced legal consequences from a defamation case brought by Donald Trump. The settlement illustrated the legal and reputational pressures confronting major news organizations while operating in an intensely polarized political environment. ABC News remains an active, integrated news brand across broadcast, radio, streaming, web, and audio formats.

1. 2024Defamation lawsuit settlement

   Disney settles Donald Trump’s lawsuit concerning statements broadcast by ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos.

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2. 2019ABC News Live expands distribution

   The streaming channel becomes available through Roku and other connected-TV services.

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3. 2019ABC Radio becomes ABC Audio

   The renamed audio division reflects its broader podcast and on-demand portfolio.

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4. 2018ABC News expands into data journalism and streaming

   FiveThirtyEight moves to ABC News and the division launches GMA3 while expanding ABC News Live.

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5. 2015ABC Radio is relaunched

   The audio operation is relaunched after a change in its commercial distribution arrangements.

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6. 2004ABC News Now launches

   ABC introduces a digital, broadband, and mobile 24-hour news service.

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7. 1998Worldwide Television News interests are sold to the Associated Press

   ABC News and its partners sell their interests in Worldwide Television News and enter a content arrangement with AP.

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8. 1997ABCNews.com launches

   ABC News establishes a dedicated web operation with written reporting, video, and audio.

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9. 1982Satellite News Channel launches

   ABC News and Group W launch a satellite-delivered cable news venture, which is later sold to CNN.

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10. 1978ABC World News Tonight becomes a flagship

    The evening newscast becomes the central broadcast-news program of the ABC News lineup.

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11. 1977Roone Arledge becomes president of ABC News

    Arledge brings increased investment and a more ambitious, visually distinctive production model to ABC News.

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12. 1948Regular ABC television broadcasting begins

    ABC begins regular television broadcasts and establishes news production in New York.

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13. 1943ABC’s predecessor is formed from the NBC Blue Network

    The separated NBC Blue Network became the institutional foundation for the American Broadcasting Company and its later news operations.

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A major American broadcast-news brand extending network journalism into radio, streaming, web publishing, podcasts, and data-driven political analysis.

• ABC World News TonightEvening television newscast1978

  ABC News’s principal evening network newscast, covering national, international, political, economic, and breaking-news stories. It is one of the division’s defining broadcast franchises and has been part of the ABC schedule since the late 1970s.

• Good Morning AmericaMorning news and talk program1975

  A daily morning program combining news, interviews, live reports, weather, lifestyle coverage, and entertainment. Its success has made Good Morning America one of ABC News’s most valuable and recognizable franchises, with weekend and third-hour extensions.

• 20/20News magazine1978

  A long-running news-magazine program centered on investigative reports, interviews, documentaries, human-interest stories, and cultural coverage. It is among the enduring formats developed or strengthened during ABC News’s late-1970s expansion.

• NightlineLate-night news program1980

  An evening news and interview program designed for extended reporting, analysis, and coverage of major national and international events. It became one of ABC News’s signature programs after its launch around the 1980 Iran hostage crisis.

• This WeekPublic-affairs program1981

  ABC’s Sunday political and public-affairs program, featuring interviews with political leaders, roundtable discussion, policy analysis, and commentary on the week’s major events.

• ABC News LiveStreaming news channel2018

  A continuous streaming service offering breaking news, live events, scheduled newscasts, interviews, documentaries, and longer-form reporting. It distributes through numerous connected-TV, streaming, and digital platforms.

• ABC AudioRadio and podcast network2019

  The audio division encompassing ABC News Radio newscasts, syndicated reporting, podcasts, and on-demand programming. It evolved from ABC’s earlier radio-news operations and was given the ABC Audio name in 2019.

• ABCNews.comDigital news publication1997

  ABC News’s online publication providing articles, live coverage, video, audio, explainers, and material connected to the network’s television and streaming reporting.

• FiveThirtyEightData journalism and political analysis

  A data-oriented publication known for polling analysis, election forecasting, statistical reporting, and political explainers. It transferred from ESPN to ABC News in 2018 as part of Disney’s internal portfolio reorganization.

• 2018Expand into streaming and data journalismStrategy

  Audiences were shifting from scheduled television toward streaming, digital video, and data-led political analysis.

  What changed. ABC News launched and expanded ABC News Live and brought FiveThirtyEight into the ABC News portfolio.

  Aftermath. The division gained a larger presence on connected-TV services and a stronger role in election and polling analysis.

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• 2015Relaunch the radio operationStrategy

  Cumulus planned to replace its ABC News radio service with Westwood One News through CNN.

  What changed. ABC announced a new ABC Radio operation, later broadened and renamed ABC Audio.

  Aftermath. The audio business expanded into podcasts and on-demand content rather than remaining limited to traditional radio newscasts.

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• 1998Sell interests in Worldwide Television NewsM&A

  ABC News, ITN, and Nine Network held interests in the international video-news service Worldwide Television News.

  What changed. The partners sold their interests to the Associated Press and ABC entered a related content arrangement with AP.

  Aftermath. The arrangement connected ABC News video resources with AP’s television-news distribution network.

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• 1977Invest in a stronger, more distinctive news operationStrategy

  ABC News had historically trailed CBS and NBC in audience and institutional strength.

  What changed. ABC appointed Roone Arledge and increased resources for ambitious formats, presentation, reporting, and program development.

  Aftermath. The strategy helped produce enduring franchises including World News Tonight, 20/20, Nightline, and This Week.

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• 2024Donald Trump defamation settlementControversy

  ABC News and its owner, Disney, settled a defamation lawsuit filed by Donald Trump over statements made by George Stephanopoulos regarding Trump’s liability in the E. Jean Carroll case. The agreement included a contribution toward a future presidential library foundation, payment of legal fees, and publication of a statement expressing regret over the phrasing.

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• 1985Cancellation of the Marilyn Monroe reportControversy

  ABC News president Roone Arledge stopped a planned 20/20 report concerning alleged relationships among Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. Arledge characterized the material as insufficiently suitable for broadcast, while program figures including Hugh Downs, Barbara Walters, Av Westin, and Geraldo Rivera criticized the decision and its handling. The controversy contributed to Rivera’s departure from ABC.

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• 2019ABC Radio is renamed ABC Audio

  The radio division adopted the ABC Audio name as its work expanded beyond linear radio into podcasts and on-demand programming.

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• 2019ABC News launches ABC News Live on Roku

  ABC News expanded its continuous streaming-news service to Roku, supporting the division’s broader connected-TV distribution strategy.

  Product launch
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• 2018FiveThirtyEight moves to ABC News

  The data journalism and polling website FiveThirtyEight was transferred from ESPN to ABC News within Disney’s portfolio.

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• 2014ABC announces the relaunch of its radio network

  ABC announced that its radio operation would be relaunched as ABC Radio in January 2015 after a change in the service arrangement involving Cumulus and Westwood One.

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1. ABC News (United States)
2. ABC News official website