American Broadcasting Company television. The fifth-oldest major broadcasting network in the world and the youngest of the Big Three television networks, ABC is often nicknamed as "The Alphabet Network", as its initialism also represents the first three letters of the English alphabet, in order. ABC launched as a radio network on October 12, 1943, serving as the successor to the NBC Blue Network, which had been purchased by Edward J. Noble. It extended its operations to television in 1948, following in the footsteps of established broadcast networks CBS and NBC. In the mid-1950s, ABC merged with United Paramount Theatres, a chain of movie
Noble Edward Irwin Noble Edward Irwin Noble Edward Irwin (September 29, 1869 – August 10, 1937) was a United States Navy Rear Admiral and Navy Cross recipient. He was born at Greenfield, Ohio on September 29, 1869. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in June 1891, and was wounded in action 1 May 1898 while aboard the in the Battle of Manila Bay. Irwin was also mentioned in the Executive Officer's official report for "intelligent personal work" on vessel repairs after the battle. Noble Irwin commanded in 1914 during the Fourth Battle of Topolobampo, a naval battle between Mexican forces during