page_title: History of the American Broadcasting Company
section_title: New regulations and the radio network's recovery (1966–1969)
hierarchical_section_title: History of the American Broadcasting Company / Transition to color (1960s) / New regulations and the radio network's recovery (1966–1969)
context_page_description: The American Broadcasting Company is an American multinational commercial broadcast television network that is a flagship property of Walt Disney Television, a subsidiary of the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, California, on Riverside Drive, directly across the street from Walt Disney Studios and adjacent to the Roy E. Disney Animation Building. The network's secondary offices, and headquarters of its news division, is in New York City, at its broadcast center at 77 West 66th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
  The network's history dates back to 1927, when the network was created as an NBC-operated radio network called the NBC Blue Network. It would later become an independent television network known as the American Broadcasting Company in 1943, and be purchased by The Walt Disney Company on February 6, 1996.
context_section_description: Color became the dominant format for the Big Three networks in the 1965–66 U.S. network television season. ABC remained in third place and required investment to grow into a major competitor, but faced financing issues. In 1964, the network found itself, as Goldenson later wrote in the 1991 book Beating the Odds: The Untold Story Behind the Rise of ABC, "in the middle of a war [where] the battlefield was Wall Street". Many companies sought to take over ABC, including Norton Simon, General Electric, Gulf and Western Industries, International Telephone and Telegraph, and Litton Industries.
  In 1965, the corporate entity, American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, was renamed as the American Broadcasting Companies, while its cinema division became ABC Theatres; its recording division was renamed ABC Records in 1966. In December of that year, the ABC television network premiered The Dating Game, a pioneer series in its genre, which was a reworking of the blind date concept in which a suitor selected one of three contestants sight-unseen based on the answers to selected questions. This was followed in July 1966 by The Newlywed Game, featuring four recently married couples who guessed the responses to their partner's questions (some of which were fairly risque). As ABC began to outgrow its facilities at 7 West 66th Street, Goldenson found a new headquarters for ABC in a 44-story building located at 1330 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, at the corner of 54th Street (now occupied by The Financial Times's New York office). This operation allowed for the conversion of the premises at 66th Street into production facilities for television and radio programs.
  On December 7, 1965, Goldenson announced a merger proposal with ITT to ABC management; the two companies agreed to the deal on April 27, 1966. The FCC approved the merger on December 21, 1966; however, the previous day (December 20), Donald F. Turner, head antitrust regulator for the United States Department of Justice, expressed doubts related to such issues as the emerging cable television market, and concerns over the journalistic integrity of ABC and how it could be influenced by the overseas ownership of ITT. ITT management promised that the company would allow ABC to retain autonomy in the publishing business. The merger was suspended, and a complaint was filed by the Department of Justice in July 1967, with ITT going to trial in October; the merger was officially canceled after the trial's conclusion on January 1, 1968.
  On January 12, 1966, ABC replaced The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet with Batman, an action series based on the DC Comics series starring Adam West that was known for its kitschy style. In 1967, WLS radio CEO Ralph Beaudin was appointed as the president of ABC Radio. Under his leadership, ABC Radio was divided into four "networks" devoted to different types of programming: news, informative series, pop music, and talk shows. Two other networks were later created to provide rock music and traffic reporting.
  In 1968, ABC took advantage of new FCC ownership regulations that allowed broadcasting companies to own a maximum of seven radio stations nationwide in order to purchase Houston radio stations KXYZ and KXYZ-FM for $1 million in shares and $1.5 million in bonds. That year, Roone Arledge was named president of ABC Sports; the company also founded ABC Pictures, a film production company which released its first picture that year, the Ralph Nelson-directed Charly. It was renamed ABC Motion Pictures in 1979; the unit was dissolved in 1985. The studio also operated two subsidiaries, Palomar Pictures International and Selmur Pictures. In July 1968, ABC continued its acquisitions in the amusement parks sector with the opening of ABC Marine World in Redwood City, California; that park was sold in 1972 and demolished in 1986, with the land that occupied the park later becoming home to the headquarters of Oracle Corporation.
  In July 1968, ABC Radio launched a special programming project for its FM stations called "LOVE Radio". It was spearheaded by Allen Shaw, a
caption: During this period, ABC moved its corporate headquarters to 1330 Avenue of the Americas.
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