Disney–ABC Domestic Television

Disney–ABC Domestic Television
Subsidiary
Industry Television syndication
Founded 1983
Headquarters Burbank, California, U.S.
Area served
 North America
Key people
 Janice Marinelli (President)
Parent Disney–ABC Television Group
(The Walt Disney Company)
Website disneyabc.tv

Disney–ABC Domestic Television, also operating as ABC Syndication[1] (formerly known as Buena Vista Television and also known as Disney Domestic Television and Disney-ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution), is the in-home sales and content distribution firm of the Disney–ABC Television Group, a division of The Walt Disney Company. Content distribution responsibilities include domestic television syndication, domestic pay TV, Internet and cable video-on-demand (VOD), and pay-per-view outlets.[2]

Background

ABC's first syndication arm, ABC Films (established in July 1953), was spun off as Worldvision Enterprises in March 1973 due to fin-syn laws (which have since been repealed).

History

Buena Vista Television

Buena Vista Television 1997 logo

Disney–ABC Domestic Television was established in 1983 as Walt Disney Domestic Television Distribution. On November 5, 1985, the unit was incorporated as Buena Vista Television.[3]

In April 1996, due to ongoing post Disney–Capital Cities/ABC merger realignment and retirement of its president, Walt Disney Television and Telecommunications group's divisions were reassigned to other groups. Hence BVTV, as a part of Walt Disney Television International, was transferred to Capital Cities/ABC.[4]

In 1999, Buena Vista Television and its subsidiary, Valleycrest Productions, reached an agreement with British company Celador to distribute the U.S. version of the UK game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. The show premiered in August 1999, with Regis Philbin as host.

As BVTV, DADT initially acted as a de facto syndication arm for ABC after Disney bought the network in 1996, since at the same time, ABC's original production division was folded into Touchstone Television. That company became ABC Studios in 2007, also as part of Disney's branding strategy. In between these transactions, Disney reorganized all its non-ESPN TV assets into the Disney–ABC Television Group in 2004, making BVTV the official syndication arm of ABC.

In March 2007, Starz Entertainment sued BVTV for breaching their agreement by allowing movies available online through Apple's iTunes Store and other outlets. The introduction of AppleTV device forced Starz to file suit which hinged on the "contractual definition of 'television.'" and whether complete TV exclusivity was granted, as Starz then had a secondary distribution deal with Netflix.[5]

Disney–ABC Domestic Television

In May 2007, The Walt Disney Company announced plans to semi-retire the use of the Buena Vista brand, instead focusing on the three core brands of Disney, ABC, and ESPN.[6] As a result, Buena Vista Television was rebranded as Disney–ABC Domestic Television (DADT).[5] BVT converted to a limited liability business form on April 10, 2009.[3][7]

By July 2008, DADT signed additional carriage agreements with Vudu and CinemaNow which was then added to the Starz lawsuit. On December 2, 2008, DADT and Starz Entertainment settled their online distribution lawsuit with the terms undisclosed.[5]

First-run programming

Current

Former

References

  1. ↑ "ABC Syndication Members Profiles". Syndicated Network Television Association. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Disney–ABC Domestic Television Company Profile". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
  3. 1 2 "BUENA VISTA TELEVISION (C1356512)". Business Entity Detail. California Secretary of State. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Roth, Iger Assume Expanded Responsibilities at the Walt Disney Company". PR Newswire. April 16, 1996. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 Spangler, Todd (December 15, 2008). "Coda. (a lawsuit between Starz Entertainment and Disney-ABC Domestic Television)". Multichannel News.
  6. ↑ Fixmer, Fixmer (April 25, 2007). "Disney to Drop Buena Vista Brand Name, People Say (Update1)". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Buena Vista Television LLC (200910010281)". Business Entity Detail. Califorina Secretary of State. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  8. ↑ Villarreal, Yvonne (October 20, 2014). "ABC stations pick up Tyra Banks-led daytime talk show for 2015". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  9. ↑ Just, Olivia (July 3, 2014). "Disney moves filming of 'Millionaire' to Stamford". CT Post (Hearst Media Services Connecticut, LLC). Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  10. ↑ Stelter, Brian (December 2, 2011). "Head of ABC’s Daytime Programming Is Leaving". New York Times. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  11. ↑ Thielman, Sam (August 1, 2008). "Sam Raimi banks on Disney's 'Seeker'". Variety. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
  12. ↑ Carter, Bill (December 19, 2013). "Katie to End Production in June After Two Seasons". The New York Times. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
  13. ↑ Albiniak, Paige (April 29, 2013). "Disney-ABC Goes Wall-to-Wall With 'On the Red Carpet'". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Low ratings spell end of Brady show". Los Angeles Times. AP. January 13, 2004. Retrieved December 11, 2014.

External links

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