Formed in January 2009, the ABC Entertainment Group develops and produces compelling programming for broadcast on ABC, as well as across television and digital platforms. The successful partnership between ABC Studios and ABC Entertainment has delivered some of the most successful, talked-about and evolutionary series on television today.
About ABC Entertainment:
ABC Entertainment is responsible for all network primetime and late-night entertainment programming, inclusive of scripted dramas and comedies, alternative series, specials, movies and mini-series.
The network’s 2011-12 primetime lineup includes "America’s Funniest Home Videos," "Apt. 23," "The Bachelor," "Body of Proof," "Castle," "Cougar Town," "Dancing with the Stars," "Desperate Housewives," "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," "GCB," "Grey’s Anatomy," "Happy Endings," "Last Man Standing," "Man Up," "The Middle," "Missing," "Modern Family," "Once Upon a Time," "Pan Am," "Private Practice," "Revenge," "The River," "Scandal," "Secret Millionaire," "Shark Tank," "Suburgatory," and "Wipeout."
ABC is also home to the late-night series "Jimmy Kimmel Live," the annual Academy Awards® presentation in February, as well as the Country Music Awards and American Music Awards in November.
About ABC Studios:
ABC Studios is a leader in the development, production and strategic distribution of entertainment content across television and emerging digital platforms. The studio's impressive slate of programming for network and cable distribution for the 2011-12 season includes "Army Wives," "Body of Proof," "Castle," "Cougar Town," "Criminal Minds," "Desperate Housewives," "Grey’s Anatomy," "GCB," "Happy Endings," "Man Up!," "Missing," "Once Upon A Time," "Private Practice," "The Protector," "The River" and "Scandal."
In the 2010/11 season, ABC Studios produced three of Primetime's Top 25 Shows, and the studio continues to produce late night's growing sensation, "Jimmy Kimmel Live," and is a distributor for the Emmy Award winning "Amazing Race."
Primetime Performance:
ABC finished the May 2011 Sweep a solid No. 2 among Adults 18-49, producing its most-watched May Sweep in three years. With five of the top fifteen TV series airing on ABC – including the No. 1 comedy "Modern Family" and No. 1 drama "Grey’s Anatomy" – the network is retaining 97% of its Adult 18-49 audience and generating solid gains among TV’s youngest viewers, Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11. "Dancing with the Stars" stands as the No. 3 TV show for the key month in Total Viewers, producing the ABC unscripted series’ most-watched season ever.
ABC.com:
ABC.com’s Full Episode Player delivers a high-quality viewing experience to users and premium to advertisers, attracting a young, highly educated and loyal audience. In 2009, ABC.com launched a new short-form video player, which allows users to embed videos throughout the web, including their own blogs and third-party social networking sites. The ABC.com short-form player is home to over 2,000 pieces of content, including original webisodes, exclusive sneak peeks and interviews with the stars of ABC’s most popular series. ABC.com is available anytime, anywhere on mobile devices at m.abc.com.
Commerce:
Capitalizing on growing consumer demand for its franchises, ABC Entertainment Group continues to leverage the success of its hit programming into global business development opportunities, including merchandise licensing, home video, book publishing and music soundtracks.
In the DVD market, ABC has capitalized on increased consumer interest in episodic programming by launching box sets of its most popular series.
ABC continues to develop strategic partnerships in such emerging technology sectors as wireless, e-commerce, broadband and video-on-demand, delivering a broad range of content directly to fans, creating new revenue and marketing opportunities and furthering the relationship with its audience. In addition to making episodes available on ABC.com and Hulu, the network launched the critically acclaimed ABC Player iPad app, which provides users with easy access to episodes. Episodes from hit ABC series are also available for purchase through Apple’s iTunes Store and Xbox Live.
Source: The Nielsen Company, 2011 May Sweep = National Live + Same Day Program Ratings (4/28-5/25/11), unless stated otherwise. TV Season = National Most Current Program Ratings (9/20/10-5/25/11). Upscale data based on regular non-sports programming (9/20/10-5/22/11). Coviewing data based on all programming (9/20/10-5/22/11). DVR Playback Live + 7 Day based on original telecasts only (9/20/10-5/8/11).