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
Broadcasting Company of America Broadcasting Company of America." The new company's officers were: President, J. C. Lynch; Vice-president and General Manager, William E. Harkness; Manager of Broadcasting, George F. McClelland; Secretary and Treasurer, F. S. Spring; and Auditor, H. F. McKeon. Operations continued to be based at AT&T headquarters at 195 Broadway in New York City. Unpublicized at the time were ongoing intense negotiations between AT&T and the radio group companies, led by RCA, about the status of the cross-licensing agreements, and the overall future of the broadcasting industry. AT&T's consolidation of its radio activities into the BCA subsidiary allowed for two possible outcomes: