ABC

Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger said Tuesday that the ABC network last week sold the remainder of its available advertising time — several weeks earlier than usual. ABC fetched an average of $1.7 million per 30-second spot for the 84th annual Academy Awards to be broadcast on Feb. 26, a slight uptick from last year’s rate.

Frankie Heck settled into the driver’s seat of a new Volkswagen on a recent episode of ABC’s The Middle, caressing the steering wheel as celestial music played. Her face was a mask of such pure pleasure that you almost wanted to avert your eyes. Welcome to the world of product “integration” on prime-time television. Advertising within programs has gone beyond the mere placement of soda bottles on the table in front of American Idol judges. The Passat didn’t just pass by on the street during The Middle, it was a key part of the comedy’s story line.

Even in small markets, broadcasters are generating up to $1 million in annual revenue with a single subchannel, according to panelists at a NATPE session on multicasting. 

There may be life after daytime for ABC’s last remaining soap opera, General Hospital, which is likely to get the ax later this year to make room for Katie Couric’s new syndicated talk show. One scenario being discussed has the drama continuing as a short-run primetime summer series, similar to Spanish-language networks’ telenovelas, says an ABC insider.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An anti-profanity crusader on Tuesday asked ABC to pull this week’s “Modern Family” episode in which a toddler appears to use a bleeped curse word. “Our […]

The official pilot pickup season kicked off in the past two weeks with orders at the CW, Fox NBC and ABC, with CBS as usual late to the party.

The network said Saturday that the sitcom about two men who dress as women to look for work is off the schedule after only two episodes aired.

Walt Disney Co.-owned ABC will promote its new series The River by showing two full episodes in movie theaters in a bid to lift ratings for the second-place network.

Syosset, N.Y.-based media research company Beta Research says in the next 12 months many media and marketing executives plan to increase advertising spending on ESPN, Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, History, TBS and TNT. But they are not alone. Among broadcast networks, more money will be heading the way of ABC and CBS.

Cougar Town is likely to return in the March, said ABC Entertainment president Paul Lee. The news comes as Cougar Town showrunner Bill Lawrence — having been excluded from the network’s TCA day — hosted his own party for television reporters at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena on Monday night.

Jon Banner will replace Rick Kaplan as the Sunday talk show’s executive producer.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Japanese television network has settled a lawsuit with ABC and a leading reality TV production company over allegations that the series “Wipeout” is a rip-off […]

The network will air four specials but end the weekly series after it completes its current ninth season.

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists announced Friday night that it has reached a tentative agreement with the Big Four broadcast networks on a new network TV contract, ocvering all network programming except scripted primetime shows..

Saturday’s Your Voice, Your Vote special, moderated by ABC News’ Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos, averaged 7.6 million total viewers from 9 to 11 p.m. ET. That made it the most-watched program of the night among viewers.

The network has pulled the freshman comedy from its schedule. Repeats of Last Man Standing, which has been preceding the show, will now occupy the 8:30 p.m. Tuesday timeslot.

The network has picked up an additional hour of the Nathan Fillion-Stana Katic crime procedural.

The network signs a deal with Creative Mobile Technologies for content and ad sales In 10,000 taxicabs in major media markets.

Three days after Thanksgiving, ABC found a turkey on its schedule. The network’s Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, Have a Little Faith, bombed last night against soft competition to close out the holiday weekend. Faith averaged a mere 1.1 adults 18-49 rating from 9 to 11 p.m., despite getting strong lead-in support from Once Upon a Time, the night’s top non-sports show with a 3.4 rating at 8 p.m.

The broadcaster reups with ABC in Boise Idaho; Las Vegas; Twin Falls, Idaho; and Tucson, Ariz.

The overachieving network has surprised critics who expected its season to be dominated by the demise of venerable shows like Desperate Housewives.