ABC logo
The American Broadcasting Company (ABC), Inc., is the television and radio network in the United States that first broadcast Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, and Station 19.
History[]
In the 1920s, NBC and CBS were the two main radio networks available. NBC had two different networks: the Blue network and the Red network. In 1943, NBC sold its Blue network to Edward Novel, who changed its name to ABC, in 1944. The ABC network began its airings on April 19th, 1958. The three letters of its acronym have earned it the nickname, "the alphabet network."
On February 9th of the same year, the ownership of ABC was transferred to UPT, and in 1953, it was owned by Capital Cities company. In 1996, ABC was eventually sold to The Walt Disney Company, which has maintained its ownership until the present day. Specifically, the network's full name is American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., and is owned by the acronym-named parent company ABC, Inc. (formerly Capital Cities/ABC Inc.), which is owned by Disney. Disney also owns Touchstone Pictures, and therefore also owns its subsidiary ABC Television Studio, formerly Touchstone Television, which produced Lost. Disney's Buena Vista Television is the entity responsible for the management of ABC Television Studio's and ABC's television syndication, including that of Grey's Anatomy.