July 31, 1995…The Circuit Is Reversed As Disney Buys ABC
July 31, 1995…The Circuit Is Reversed As Disney Buys ABC
Did you know that in the beginning, ABC invested in Disney?
In the early 1950’s, Walt Disney sought corporate sponsorship for his Mickey Mouse themed amusement park. Desperate for quality programing, the new CEO of the American Broadcasting Company, Leonard Goldenson, lead ABC to become Disneyland’s primary backer. Following a $500,000 investment to subsidize Disneyland’s construction, the ABC network received a 35% share of park profits and exclusive programming from Walt Disney Studios.
The sponsorship immediately paid dividends. In 1954 the ABC network began televising “Disneyland”, a series of hour long specials, which featured old Disney Films, studio documentaries and new Disney Studio features. The extremely popular Davy Crockett debuted on the Disneyland series, and soon after, “Davy Crockett, the Indian Fighter”, and “The Mickey Mouse Club” came to ABC. The popularity of Disney programming boosted ABC’s ratings, and when Disneyland park opened in July of 1955, ABC aired the special event live, with the biggest ever remote broadcast at the time.
Walt Disney continued to host the “Disneyland” series, which was renamed “Walt Disney Presents” in 1958. ABC aired the successful programs until 1961. A dispute over Disneyland profits and the ability to broadcast in color, pushed Walt Disney to move to NBC, where Disney hosted “Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color”, appearing on NBC until his death in 1966.
One other dividend that is not often mentioned is the fact that, despite all of the efforts from NBC and CBS to have the Hollywood movie makers supply television with programing, it was ABC’s association with Disney that finally broke the logjam. Soon, the screens were full of westerns, and detective stories from the west coast.
On July 31, 1995, Walt Disney Co. agreed to acquire Capital Cities-ABC Inc. in a $19 billion deal. The rest as they say “is history”. -Bobby Ellerbee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic7v9KA03Cs
…and then in 2006, Disney traded Al Michaels’ contract to NBCUniversal in exchange for the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a creation of Walt Disney.
Bobby, don’t you have both these cameras as part of your Eyes Of A Generation collection? Btw, just how many studio cameras do you have these days?
Even as a kid I knew I was being cheated. It seemed every 4th Disney on Sunday night was nothing but an infomercial for the park.
The original Disneyland open as sponsored by AMC/Derby Foods: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x31xYrZOJHQ
ABC also got Warner Brothers involved in series TV with shows like Maverick.