ABC

The much-hyped musical episode of Grey’s Anatomy gave the long-running ABC show a ratings boost, even against a good premiere for the new Fox show Mobbed.  Grey’s averaged a 4.8 adults 18-49 rating in the 9 p.m. timeslot last night, up 33% over last week’s rating, when the show faced NCAA basketball games.

If reality television could be considered an economic indicator, perhaps the recovery is under way. Two networks are betting on shows based on entrepreneurs competing for seed money.

ABC News will co-sponsor a Republican presidential caucus debate in Iowa with the ABC affiliate WOI, (owned by Citadel Communications), as well as the Iowa State Republican Party. It occurs on […]

Adam Gerber will lead a team supporting ABC’s sales organization, focused on positioning the network as a quality opportunity. He’ll also create ad solutions for marketers across all of ABC’s platforms.

Dancing With the Stars returned strong for its 12th season last night against much weaker competition on CBS. The ABC reality show notched its third-best premiere ever in total viewers as stars including Kirstie Alley, Ralph Macchio and Kendra Wilkinson performed for the first time.

ABC seems ready to join CBS and NBC in cutting the number of its daytime dramas. All My Children appears to be the most vulnerable for cancellation, and there is speculation that it may be replaced by a a talk show in the fall.

ABC has warned potential buyers of WLNE Providence, R.I., that the station does not come with a guaranteed affiliation contract. “The consent of ABC is required before anyone may operate the station as an ABC affiliate after March 31,” the network said in a court filing. The warning has “effectively chilled the sale process,” said current owner Kevin O’Brien in another filing.

TV stations are rolling out apps for smart phones and tablets with the support of technology and software vendors, hoping that the apps will eventually provide a substantial, new source of advertising revenue. Although advertising is the most common way of monetizing apps, some are also experimenting with modest monthly subscription fees.

Brad Womack picked Emily Maynard as his future bride, and ABC picked up a win last night with the season finale of The Bachelor. The 15th edition of the ABC reality show averaged a season-high 4.5 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., dwarfing its previous season high of 3.4 earlier this month.

The group is urging members to sign a petition protesting the title of the pilot which it says is “an affront to women” and “attacks the world’s largest faith.”

Perhaps all Secret Millionaire needed was a change of scenery. The show, which had a short, modestly rated run on Fox a couple years ago, returned on a new network last night with solid ratings. Millionaire, which follows undercover millionaires in much the same way as Undercover Boss, averaged a 3.3 adults 18-49 rating in its 8 p.m. premiere. The show was No. 2 for the night behind lead-out Desperate Housewives (3.4). And it bettered usual timeslot occupant Extreme Makeover: Home Edition‘s average by a full point.

Last night’s Oscars telecast slid a bit in the ratings compared to last year, but it was still well ahead of the 2009 and 2008 ceremonies, based on early ratings from Nielsen. From 8:30 to 11:30 p.m., the ceremony averaged a 24.6 household rating and 37 share on ABC, down 7% from a 26.5/40 last year. But it was up nicely over 2009, when the ceremony averaged a 23.3 rating, and 2008, when it managed just an all-time-low 21.9.

ABC and its affiliates could relax the morning after The 83rd Annual Academy Awards. In accepting her prize for the Best Supporting Actress, Melissa Leo (The Fighter) got carried away. “When I watched Kate [Winslet] two years ago it looked so f***ing easy,” she said, immediately covering her mouth in horror that she’d just dropped the f-bomb on live TV. Fortunately, the producers were able to zap the gaff. Airing such language has brought heavy FCC fines in the past.

The Primetime Emmy Awards will continue to air on the four major broadcast networks with a new deal between the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox . The new pact, expected to close in about two weeks, is said to mirror tne TV Academy’s most recent agreement with the four networks.

By halting production on the eighth season of Two and a Half Men, CBS Corp. and   Warner Bros. are turning away from a proven hit with both viewers and advertisers.

ABC and the organizers of the Academy Awards struck a deal Thursday that will keep the movie-industry telecast on the Walt Disney Co. broadcast network through 2020. The deal, approved at a meeting of the Academy’s board of governors, extends ABC’s existing contract to air the show in the U.S., which was last renewed in 2005 and set to expire in 2014.

NEW YORK (AP) — ABC News says the top executive behind “Good Morning America” is leaving. ABC News President Ben Sherwood said Wednesday that Jim Murphy, senior executive producer of […]

Emily Barr (left) and Peggy Allen are the ABC execs charged with developing the programming and expanding the distribution of the O&Os’ Live Well multicast channel. The diginet featuring  lifestyle programming aimed at women and produced mostly by the stations is now shopping for additional affiliates with the goal of reaching 50-60% of TV homes by the end of the year. The two outline their strategies and goals as they compete for a valuable — and increasingly in demand — chunk of stations’ spectrum.