John F. Kennedy assassination bulletin

ABC Radio broadcast the first nationwide report of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Kennedy was shot in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas at 18:30 UTC on November 22, 1963, and ABC Radio's Don Gardiner anchored the network's initial bulletin at 18:36:50 UTC, minutes before any other radio or television network did the same.

A surviving aircheck from New York shortwave station WRUL includes the first ABC Radio bulletin. Gardiner interrupts Doris Day's recording of "Hooray for Hollywood" to tell listeners at 13:36:50 EST (UTC−5):

We interrupt this program to bring you a special bulletin from ABC Radio. Here is a special bulletin from Dallas, Texas: three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade today in downtown Dallas, Texas. This is ABC Radio. To repeat: in Dallas, Texas, three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade today. The president now making a two-day speaking tour of Texas. We're going to stand by for more details on the incident in Dallas. Stay tuned to your ABC station for further details. Now we return you to your regular program.^[3]

ABC Radio Networks

Ralph Beaudin, group vice president, of ABC Radio came up with the idea of splitting ABC Radio Network into four different networks. He felt that there was more product than stations could broadcast, causing a sale issue. The four separate networks would allow advertisers to better market to their preferred audience. Paul Harvey and the Breakfast Club were designated as Entertainment network features.^[5] Before the split, ABC obtained a waiver of the FCC's "Chain Broadcasting" rule on December 29, 1967, which had forced the sale of the Blue network in 1943.

Though each of the four new networks were carried on the same 5 kHz telco line (3.5 in some cities), 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.^{[citation needed]} However, the FCC insisted that there be no overlap of any ABC network broadcast in a single market, and the network required affiliates to get approval before any delayed broadcast of network programming.^[6] The new networks were launched on January 1, 1968.^[5]

Two additional networks, ABC Rock Network and ABC Direction Network were added on January 4, 1982. ABC Rock's anchor affiliate was WPLJ in New York City and had many Album-oriented rock formatted station move from American FM Network with a total of 40 affiliates. Executives in charge of ABC Rock at the launch were vice president Tom Plant and program director Denise Oliver. The Direction Network was under ABC Entertainment Network's executive's charge and was for adult (25-45) formats stations and started with 57 affiliates.^[7]

ABC Radio acquired Watermark Inc., best known as the syndicator of American Top 40 with Casey Kasem and American Country Countdown with Bob Kingsley, in 1982. Kasem left ABC in 1988, reclaiming the American Top 40 name from ABC in 1998, and selling the AT40 brand to AMFM Radio Networks (later absorbed intro Premiere Radio Networks). Kingsley left ABC in 2005 and 'ACC' continues to air as part of the ABC stable with Kix Brooks as host since 2006. Dick Bartley joined the network in 1991 with the AT40 spinoff American Gold and his live Saturday night call-in oldies show, before leaving at the end of March 2009.

ABC launched a foray into talk radio with ABC Talkradio (similar to rival NBC's Talknet) in 1982. Among its most notable hosts were Michael Jackson, Owen Spann, Dr. Toni Grant and Ray Briem. In 1987, an adjunctive network internally known as "ABC Radio Talk" was launched, to wrest some programming control away from local ABC station KABC in Los Angeles. Tom Snyder and Barry Farber were featured on this secondary network, following a notable three-hour guest appearance by Snyder on Ray Briem's program. However, the rising popularity of conservative talk radio, fueled by The Rush Limbaugh Show, led to the main network's demise. Limbaugh had been picked to replace Owen Spann on the main ABC Talkradio network after Spann was forced to retire due to medical issues; this occurred when former ABC executive Ed McLaughlin purchased Spann's former weekday slot, with the idea of giving Limbaugh a national platform following his initial success on KFBK in Sacramento.

After Tom Snyder's retirement in 1992, ABC ostensibly filled his weeknight slot with Leslie Marshall, at the time the youngest syndicated host ever, while most major affiliates instead picked up Limbaugh. ABC's national talk programming efforts ended shortly thereafter, though one program from the original Talkradio/Weekend network, Bob Brinker's Moneytalk remained on the air until 2018.

ABC acquired the Satellite Music Network, the first satellite-delivered music radio network, and its nine channels of programming in 1989. The division continues to operate semi-autonomously as Cumulus Music Radio at Cumulus's Dallas-Fort Worth cluster.

ESPN Radio Network was formed in September 1991 by both ESPN, Inc. and Capital Cities/ABC, Inc.'s ABC Radio Networks^[8] and launched as Sports Radio ESPN on January 1, 1992.^[9] Radio Disney was test launched in November 18, 1996 in four markets by ABC Radio Networks with a Los Angeles station added on August 26, 1997.^[10]

ABC again began building a talk network, this time with an emphasis on political talk, in 2001. Among the first hosts heard on the new ABC talk network were Sam Donaldson of ABC News television, Sean Hannity of WABC, Larry Elder of KABC, and John Batchelor of WABC. Donaldson left his show after a short time. Mark Levin was added in 2005 and eventually replaced Elder in 2007, and Mark Davis of WBAP had a brief syndication run on the network in 2005. Rush Limbaugh's program was not part of this network; following a series of mergers in the 1990s, Ed McLaughlin's company, EFM, was absorbed into Premiere Radio Networks, a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia).

Hannity has been the most successful, displacing Laura Schlessinger as the most popular host in the time slot within a few years (especially on the East Coast); the network shared the program with Premiere Radio Networks from 2008 to 2013 before Premiere took over the program entirely beginning in 2014.

Sale to Citadel

In 2005, ABC began to explore the sale of its radio division. The two leading competitors for the purchase of the network, which included twenty-two of ABC Radio's top stations, as well as ABC's talk and music networks, were Bala Cynwyd-based Entercom Communications and Forstmann Little & Company's Citadel Broadcasting unit. Citadel was chosen as the top bidder and the deal to purchase the stations and the network was struck in February 2006.^[11]

The deal did not include Radio Disney, ESPN Radio (or its Spanish counterpart ESPN Deportes Radio), any of the five ESPN Radio stations (or the myriad of Radio Disney stations) Disney owned at the time, or any of ABC's television assets (the ABC name, which also remained in Disney's hands, would be licensed to Citadel for two years). Disney's ABC News unit will also still produce ABC News Radio programming for distribution by Citadel.^[12] Despite the change in ownership, Citadel Media still listed "ESPN Radio" & "ESPN Deportes" as part of its advertising sales family.^[13]

The acquisition of ABC Radio by Citadel Broadcasting was officially completed on June 12, 2007^[14] and the "ABC Radio Networks" logo was licensed from Disney until April 2, 2009.

Shortly after the announcement of the ABC/Citadel merger, the "FM" network was reactivated. It now provides an hourly two-minute newscast, similar in format to when the network formerly operated. Those newscasts carry the on-air brand "ABC News Now".^[15]