Disney–ABC Domestic Television

**Buena Vista Television LLC** (operating under the names **Disney–ABC Domestic Television** and **Disney–ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution** and also operating as **ABC Syndication**; formerly known as **Buena Vista Television, Inc.** and **Disney Domestic Television**) is the in-home sales and content distribution firm of Disney Platform Distribution, a division of The Walt Disney Company. Content distribution responsibilities include domestic television syndication, domestic pay TV, Internet and cable video-on-demand (VOD), and pay-per-view outlets.

## Background

ABC's first syndication arm, ABC Films (established in July 1953), was spun off as Worldvision Enterprises in March 1973 due to fin-syn laws (which have since been repealed).

Despite having some TV shows and feature films, Disney only had two syndicated shows, *The Mickey Mouse Club* and *The Mouse Factory*, prior to the formation of this unit.

## History

### Buena Vista Television, Inc.

Disney established a television syndication unit in 1985, with Robert Jacquemin as senior vice president of domestic television distribution. None of its animated feature films were planned to enter syndication at the time. The division was incorporated as **Buena Vista Television, Inc.** on November 5, 1985, with its first release in the first-run syndication market called *Siskel & Ebert*. The company produced the business-oriented morning show, *Today's Business*, in August 1986, only to put an end to the show in April 1987, indicating that they were unable to get enough advertisers. In 1990, the company offered its first game show, *The Challengers*, into first-run syndication.

In late 1986, Buena Vista was shopping *DuckTales* for a 1987 debut, with a 4–6 p.m. placement and a 2.5/3.5 syndicator/station ad split. In late 1990 and early 1991, after launching The Disney Afternoon syndicated block, Buena Vista had considered starting a new one-hour morning block to start in 1992.

On August 24, 1994, a reorganization of Disney took place in which Richard H. Frank became head of a newly formed Walt Disney Television and Telecommunications, which was split from Walt Disney Studios and included Buena Vista TV.

In April 1996, due to the ongoing post Disney–Capital Cities/ABC Inc. merger realignment and the retirement of its president, Walt Disney Television and Telecommunications' divisions were reassigned to other groups. Therefore, Buena Vista TV, as a part of Walt Disney Television International, was transferred to Disney–ABC Television Group.

In March 2007, Starz Inc.  sued Buena Vista TV for breaching their agreement by allowing films to be available online through Apple Inc.'s iTunes Store and other outlets. The introduction of the Apple TV device forced Starz to file suit, which hinged on the "contractual definition of 'television'" and whether complete TV exclusivity was granted, as Starz then had a secondary distribution deal with Netflix.

### Disney–ABC Domestic Television

In May 2007, The Walt Disney Company announced plans to semi-retire the use of the Buena Vista brand in favor of focusing on the three core brands of Disney, ABC, and ESPN instead. As a result, Buena Vista Television was rebranded as Disney–ABC Domestic Television (DADT). Buena Vista TV converted to a limited liability business form on April 10, 2009.

By July 2008, Disney–ABC Domestic TV signed additional carriage agreements with Vudu and CinemaNow, which was then added to the Starz lawsuit. On December 2, 2008, Disney–ABC Domestic TV and Starz Entertainment settled their online distribution lawsuit with the terms undisclosed.

Distribution units were transfer to Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International (DTCI) as part of The Walt Disney Company’s March 14, 2018 strategic reorganization in anticipation of integrating 21st Century Fox's assets. In February 2020, Disney licensed 21 TV series, from *Ally McBeal* to *Witches of East End* including *Lost* and *Desperate Housewives*, to Amazon-owned IMDb ad supported streaming service.

## First-run programming

### Current

* *Live with Kelly and Ryan* (1988–present) produced by WABC-TV
* *Right This Minute* (2016–present) produced by MagicDust Television, Cox Media Group, Gray Television and E. W. Scripps Company
* *Tamron Hall* (2019–present) produced by Summerdale Productions and May Avenue Productions
* *Litton's Weekend Adventure* (2011–present) E/I programming block from Litton Entertainment; exclusively for ABC affiliates
* *Who Wants to Be a Millionaire* (1999–present), with Valleycrest Productions, Times Square Studios, and 2waytraffic (Show format originally created by Celador); 2020 reboot produced by Valleycrest Productions, Embassy Row and Kimmelot

### Former

* *At the Movies* (1986–2010), originally *Siskel & Ebert & the Movies*/*At the Movies with Ebert and Roeper*
* *Bill Nye the Science Guy* (1993–1998), with KCTS Seattle and Rabbit Ears Productions
* *Debt* (1996–1998), with Faded Denim Productions and Lifetime
* *Ellen* (1994–1998), with The Black/Marlens Company and Touchstone Television
* *FABLife* (2015–2016), with Summerdale Productions and The Tyra Banks Company
* *Legend of the Seeker* (2008–2010)
* *Iyanla* (2001–2002)
* *Katie* (2012–2014)
* *On the Red Carpet* (2013–2014)
* *Pickler & Ben* (2017–2019), with E. W. Scripps Company, Happy Street Entertainment and Sandbox Entertainment
* *Teen Win, Lose or Draw* (1989–1992), with Burt & Bert Productions, Kline & Friends and Stone Stanley Entertainment
* *The Challengers* (1990–1991), with Dick Clark Productions and Ron Greenberg Productions
* *The Disney Afternoon* (1990–1997)
* *DuckTales* (1987–1990)
* *Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers* (1989–1990)
* *TaleSpin* (1990–1991)
* *Darkwing Duck* (1991–1992)
* *Goof Troop* (1992)
* *Bonkers* (1993–1994)
* *The Tony Danza Show* (2004–2006)
* *The Wayne Brady Show* (2001–2004)
* *Win Ben Stein's Money* (1997–2003), with Valleycrest Productions and Comedy Central
* *Today's Business* (August 1986 – April 1987), a business-oriented morning show that cost $500,000 a month to make
* *Your Big Break* (1999–2001)