American Broadcasting Company Blue Network was purchased by the new company Noble founded, the American Broadcasting System. Noble subsequently acquired the rights to the "American Broadcasting Company" name from George B. Storer in 1944; its parent company adopted the corporate name American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. Woods retained his position as president and CEO of ABC until December 1949, and was subsequently promoted to vice-chairman of the board before leaving ABC altogether on June 30, 1951. Meanwhile, in August 1944, the West Coast division of the Blue Network, which owned San Francisco radio station KGO, bought Los Angeles station KECA from Earle C. Anthony
King Broadcasting Company companies that were eventually absorbed into Gannett as well). It is still the licensee for the former King Broadcasting television stations, except KHNL, which Belo sold to Raycom Media in 1999, and (for a short while) KGW, which was spun off to Sander Media as part of the Belo acquisition due to Gannett's ownership of the Statesman Journal newspaper in Salem, Ore. Gannett operated KGW through a shared services agreement, an arrangement that was inherited by Tegna. However, KGW was reunited with its King Broadcasting stablemates when Tegna fully acquired the Sander-held stations in December 2015. King Broadcasting Company established