American Broadcast Network

The American Broadcast Network (known as ABN)  is an American public broadcasting television network. The company was founded in 1964 succeeding American Television Company, and Champion Television Group. It was run by Sabana-Winston Television Distribution in 1964. Sabana-Winston Television Distribution was rebranded as Sabana American Broadcast Holdings (or SABH) in 1985 until 2014 and is part of the ABN Domestic Television Corporation. SABH recently became rebranded as Champion Digital Broadcasting. It is the de facto member of Sabana Global Broadcast Services (SGBS) representing North America and U.S. Territories.

ABN operates the 24-hour motorsports cable network, The Racing Channel (TRC) under the ABN Sports banner. The company also operates the national cable news network, ABN News. ABN.com is the network's primary Internet web page with links to their respected divisions' web pages including TRC3.com, a live interactive web streaming service for out-of-market viewers.

ABN's headquarters are located in Seattle, Washington for coverage in the Western United States with a branch campus in Charlotte, North Carolina that covers the Eastern United States. After the construction of the newly erected NASCAR Plaza in downtown Charlotte in 2008, ABN moved to set up the new WABN studios into the new building at 550 South Caldwell Street. Each campus houses the different division of Champion Digital Broadcasting including ABN, ABN Women, ABN Maxx, The Racing Channel, UBC, G-ABN and Mundovision among others. Both campuses also house the ABN  Animation Network, Altitude Game Studios, ABN Digital Entertainment and Sabana Global Broadcasting Services. The two campuses each house KABN and WABN for the west and east coast feeds. Due to length limitations in Seattle and Charlotte, two main truck terminals nearby the campuses were built to accomodate them.

50th Anniversary

ABN celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2014. As a commemoration of its past five decades of service, ABN reintroduces its 1964 logo design and modernized it with the current ABN block text. The red diamond-blue octagon cross was ABN's first official ident prior to ABN using the full blue oval and diamond cross, commonly known to ABN viewers as simply the "diamond oval". Above, the text reads, "1964-2014: 50 Years of Excellence" with the slogan in between the dates. A similar application is shown for ABN Sports since it launched the same year as ABN itself.

Launching ABN in High Definition (720, 1080, 1200 & 1600p Ultra HD)
Beginning in 1996, ABN begun launching their experimental 1200Xi XHF (experimental high fidelity) picture format rendering pictures in a 1,200 pixel "letterbox" format and a 1,920 x 1,200 pixel "widescreen" format. The 1200Xi XHF experiment was well received by viewers so much so that ABN began high definition broadcasting in 1997 in 720p resolution. By 2000, programming was upgraded to 1080 and 1200p resolution. Starting in 2015, ABN made television history by becoming the first domestic television network to launch programming in the 1600p Ultra High Definition format. The picture dimensions are 2,560 pixels in width x 1,600 in height, nearly four times the resolution of the standard 1080p making this the most advanced resolution in ABN's history. New Ultra HD studios were built at ABN's Charlotte and Seattle headquarters, The studios officially launched Ultra HD broadcasting in January of 2015. Live ABN programming will air in the 1600p Ultra HD format while all other ABN programming will remain in the native 1080p and 1200p HD formats. The network has phased out the 720p format. As of January 10, 2015, all ABN programming no longer airs in the native 720p format.

U.S. Television Realignment of 2015 and its effects
The 2015 US TV broadcast realignment consisted of a series of events, primarily affiliation switches between television stations as a result of the launches of the BIG Network and the GBN. Experts say that "it is the worst business decision ever made". 272 major U.S. television affiliates were affected by the realignment, most notably affiliates from ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC, compared to the 1994 US TV broadcast realignment. Five ABN stations underwent major affiliation changes. Duly noted are ABN affiliates KANX-TV, KPLB, KOWO, WTQI-TV and WXBX. The U.S. Television Realignment of 2015 is also the most expensive than any realignment period to date. Some experts say that it is costing more than four times of the U.S. Television Realignment of 1994 for these 272 stations to transfer programming to the new affiliation, build new studio sets and purchase new equipment.

Stations in dispute
It is not uncommon for ABN stations to undergo a dispute regarding programming, contracts, and so forth. However, some disputes can cost the staff and management of an ABN station its affiliation. Here are some stations currently in dispute:
 * WIXE channel 13 in Dixieville, Florida was slated to have ABC Television America programming on the DT2 subchannel, but because ABN and ABC Television America are competitors, WIXE managers are disputing this current development.
 * Kissimmee-St.Cloud station WHSD was slated to switch with PBS on channel 4. However, management has recently told that "we will not risk losing our affiliation and our viewers on channel 4 to this dump of a mainstream public TV station like that of PBS. This is the worst decision on their part to take our channel away, more importantly, take our callsign away. We have been assigned as WHSD since the very beginning and we will fight this to the end regardless of the cost." The current PBS station is on WMXO channel 62. WHSD management is continuing to dispute the ongoing development.
 * Monster Isle, Townsville (state) station WQQI is disputing a recent development where NBCUniversal was in the planning stages of buying the station. ABN Domestic Television Corporation managers have made several attempts to decline the sale to NBCUniversal but the NBCUniversal management keeps pushing the sale forcing WQQI to switch or lose the building altogether. WQQI management finds the allegations from NBCUniversal management unwaranted and unfounded and would not go to such lengths while attempting to buy a station out. WQQI is still operating and currently continues to dispute the sale.
 * In 2013, station KWLN in Brea, California, a dispute took place regarding the addition of the ITV Network on one of its subchannels. Due to ABN and ITV being competitors, it was decided that the ITV Network should not be added as a subchannel. It led up to a lawsuit filed by the network of which ABN won judgement and ITV having to pay over $300,000 in legal fees. In the counterclaim of the case "ITV Network vs. ABN Domestic Television Corporation" the DTC claims that the allegations against KWLN management were "fraudulent and ill advised". It was this counterclaim that gave ABN the judgement, but it nearly came at the expense of nearly losing the Brea television market in full.

Competition with other networks
ABN's main rival networks are Hyper Network, CCC, WIN Television America, ABC Television America, United Broadcasting Network, PBC, ITV, and. There is no direct competition between ABN and other major networks like RKO Network,, , , and  and the future networks GBN and BIG Network. The network on some occasions will work directly with those who are not among ABN's chief competitors,

Kohrumai Broadcasting Company is the latest competitor to ABN. It is located in Portville, Oreconsin, Sovereignty of Dahrconia. As of March 2015, KBC and ABN are now the first two networks to broadcast in 1600p Ultra HD.

ABN station WBRP destroyed
Baltimore ABN television station WBRP was the unfortunate site of the April 27-May 2 riots as a result of Mr. Freddie Gray who died as a result of a broken spinal column towards his neck area while being transported by Baltimore city police officers. Gray was arrested the week before his death on April 19th in Baltimore, but the legacy of this insurrection is greatly heartfelt. The entire WBRP building was gutted from inside and outside. Equipment was damaged beyond repair. The Ultra HD studio was set ablaze, the newsroom gutted, the digital video archives of over 6,000 news events covered by WBRP over the years now gone without a trace. Several staff members of WBRP were severely injured or killed during the rioting in Baltimore. ABN's closest competitors in the city also were affected by the rioting, looting and civil unrest by several protesters inciting violence, combating police in SWAT and riot gear, damaging 200 small businesses who cannot commence in commercial practice in Baltimore, school children caught in the crosshairs, one mother's desperation to save her son from becoming a part of the miscreants involved in the insurrection, and a desperate motive to find answers. The building suffered significant structural damage and collapsed while firefighters battled the blaze. Nothing from WBRP could be saved. The building located near the area where Mr. Freddie Gray was put into custody was deemed a total loss. Even their digital transmitters from nearby suffered significant structural damage from the rioters. Of the WBRP staff killed as a result of the riots: Of the WBRP staff injured as a result of the riots, 15 were sent to Baltimore hospitals; the range of injuries include minor to fatal (5 minor, 4 sustainable, 2 fatal).
 * Shaniah Walsh, news director, age 28, University of Miami graduate in broadcasting, 4-year Baltimore resident
 * Christopher Candice, associate news editor, age 55, University of Maryland School of Journalism graduate from 1979, member of the National Association of News Journalists, 20-year Baltimore resident
 * John Hicks-Wynman, videographer, age 22, University of Maryland School of Journalism graduate from 2011, 7-year Baltimore resident
 * Fred Tamby, reporter, age 43, University of Montana School of Journalism graduate from 1988, 15-year Baltimore resident
 * Thomas Trauncy, WBRP station manager, age 61, University of Baltimore-Maryland graduate from 1973, 35-year Baltimore resident
 * James McFadden, WBRP 6 and 11 PM sportscaster and chief sports editor, University of Massachusetts graduate from 1980, 25-year Baltimore resident

ABN CEO Billy Fortner and Champion Digital Broadcasting COO Taylor Winston shared their thoughts on a May 4th appearance of an ABN News program:

''Fortner: I am befuddled, shocked beyond any kind of belief, nothing in this kind of circumstance can quell the anger I have for those miscreants who decided it was okay to do this just because they thought the mayor of Baltimore thought it was okay, by which of no means whatsoever it was. This is the darkest days of American history we are witnessing and one of our own working for our affiliate in Baltimore has lost a score of people who were doing their damnest to get out of this no-win situation while covering the riots. The building is completely destroyed, nothing to save, nothing to recover. All there is left of the WBRP building is charred remains, twisted metal, broken concrete, all pieces of a television family now shattered and scarred forever of this sheer lunacy from those people who performed this sort of insurrection in the city of Baltimore. I can't believe this has happened and as a CEO of American Broadcast Network, I dare anyone to find an excuse for this because there is none. Our president said it best. Like him or hate him all you want, but to emphasize his words, "this is not excusable". There is no excuse to be found in this incident and I pray for the people of Baltimore and the state of Maryland to seek the truth! Seek the truth! Not seek opinions. Opinions are what the mainstream media shindigs like Fox News use all the time. We are about the truth! And until they accept the truth, we will continue to bring the truth to the people of Baltimore, Maryland and this whole country as we try to find ways to move forward from this and try to finish the rest of 2015 as peaceful as we can.''

Several other members of the WBRP staff who were not directly involved had since gone on to work for other nearby stations in Trenton, New Jersey, New York City, Boston, Chicago, and Milwaukee. Taylor Winston says ''we have lost a great television family in Baltimore. The legacy of WBRP is now being carried forward thanks to many of our other fellow stations nearby and far away reaching out to the members of WBRP affected by this tragedy. They were not the result of Mr. Freddie Gray's death. They were not the smoking gun. But they were thrust into a scene of chaos and insurrection and some paid the ultimate price. Those resonsible for the attrocities committed in Baltimore must pay dearly for their crimes against humanity's finest citizens. We will move forward. We're America's Most Trusted Television Leader because we're about the truth, not about the opinions from mainstream news, sports and meteorological media. We seek the one and only truth that the Good Lord from above has shown in years past. We strive to bring the truth to the American people. We urge of you to continue supporting American Broadcast Network as we surge forward into better days ahead. Let us not repeat the examples of these people who performed these cowardess, duplicitous, collective lawlessness leaving the city of Baltimore broken. But we know they will rebuild. We know what we must do. We must do what is humanly possible to continue living our lives in spite of the cringing circumstances before us. This is why we are here. And for Baltimore, we will do what is necessary to raise WBRP back from the brink, but if it cannot be possible, then we must move on and make America find their inner being with the Good Lord above. It is the best that we can do now. ''

WBRP viewers were urged to use the hashtag "#WeAreWBRP" in support of rebuilding the station on their social media outlets including FlickTV.

ABN stations across the country are rallying together for a fundraiser event. Proceeds from the ABN Hot Summer Nights Concert Series will be utilized in rebuilding WBRP. ABN viewers were urged to visit ABN.com and click "Help WBRP" on the main page. ABN's networks and the Champion Digital Broadcasting team are working together to rebuild what the rioters in Baltimore destroyed.

Reviving KCER-TV
As big of a cluster bucket this arrangement became as opponents suggested, Kohrumai Broadcasting Company, ABN, CER2 Digital Networks and the ABN Domestic Television Corporation made an arbitrary agreement allowing dual ownership of the failing Benton, Arkansas TV station. Low ratings, poor management, and the loss of three affiliates over a 30 year span became a recipe for the downfall of KCER-TV. As strange as this may sound considering that Kohrumai is just starting and ABN has been in service for over 50 years and the fact that they are competitors naturally, KBC CEO Randy Webb and ABN CEO Billy Fortner came to a mutual agreement allowing the dual-affiliation to take place. KBC began the acquisition process on March 28, ABN was not originally intended to purchase KCER. But due to the removal of KCER's previous CEO, ABN was forced to drop out of the potential sale of KSPA channel 30 as part of the bargaining process that ABN instead gets KCER with Kohrumai as the first dual-affiliate in ABN's history. Could this mean that ABN and Kohrumai could potentially become partnered together instead of being competitors? Only time will tell.

The Strike of 2012
Suffering a similar chain of strikes like that of their minor competitor, the Rainbow Dash Network, ABN was plagued with similar strikes. Possibly one of the most notable events for ABN was a 1 month industrial dispute in 2012, which led to the subsequent shutdown of several ABN affiliates, broadcasts, and productions. This shutdown and the dispute lasted from September 3, 2012 until October 22, 2012. Trouble first occurred at New York City's WNYC when electricians refused to accept, what they considered, a derisory pay increase. Management attempted to operate a normal service but other transmission staff refused to co-operate. An order by the union was given to cease the strike or be terminated. Some managed to follow the protocol, others did not and had lost an exorbitant amount of funds while losing pay benefits in the process.

Viewers were greeted with blank television screens on the morning of September 3 and 4 of 2012, and were left without regular programs, most importantly various lifestyle, news, weather, and sporting events.

The strike ended with victory for the unions in a dispute estimated to have cost ABN $495 million in lost revenue. It is the most expendable in ABN's history since the 1982 strike which cost the company $144 million in lost revenue. Several stations almost lost ABN affiliation and threatened to switch affiliations during the strike. Finally, after the settlement was paid, programming resumed at 6:00 am on October 30, 2012. Returning viewers were greeted with a new jingle, "Go Beyond". When the strike ended, ABN was greeted the daunting task of luring back viewers from other stations. This proved difficult as production of original programming had stopped and wouldn't even be available for several months; ABN consequently as a result of the strike and dispute suffered in the ratings at the hands of other stations. Two and a half months after ABN began broadcasting again, it was finally ready to air additional original programming and viewers began switching back. This is by far the worst strike in the history of American Broadcast Network and the Champion Digital Broadcasting company.

Sitcoms

 * 66 Rock
 * Ashley
 * My Super Dooper Crazy Life
 * Everybody Knows Billy
 * Jesse and JJ
 * Hot In SoCal
 * 60 Seconds to Mercury
 * Scrubbers
 * Jet City

Game Shows (produced by ABN Digital Entertainment)

 * All or Nothing (the show is loosely based on NBC's Deal or No Deal)
 * Second Chance (Based on CBS's Press Your Luck and its ABC predecessor using a hybrid of PYL and Game Show's Whammy! elements instead of the original ABC format)
 * Picture This! (charades)
 * Ultra GUTS (co-produced by ABN Digital Entertainment and RKO Productions, distributed by RKO Television Group)
 * The Gauntlet (based on Family Channel's Masters of the Maze)
 * Beat Masters (a modernized version of Name That Tune featuring modern music from the 90's to 2000's)
 * Truth or Consequences (a reflection of its former self from the 60's)
 * Dance Blitz
 * Super Pyramid (an evolution of the Donnie Osmond-era Pyramid game show with a $250,000 prize round instead of the $100,000 prize round from the Pyramid era)
 * Beat the Clock/Time Attack Blitz (two newer shows that share similar game components. Time Attack Blitz is much faster than Beat the Clock due to accelerated time challenges that are 60 seconds or less than the normal 90 to 120 seconds in Beat the Clock)
 * Jewel Quest (puzzle game)
 * Burnout! (loosely based on Pass Time distributed by Fox Sports and Speed Channel, this drag racing game show is recorded live on ABN's cable partner, TRC, then placed on digital video delay for encore presentation on ABN or ABN Sports depending on the schedule)

News Programs

 * ABN Evening News (nightly news program)
 * Sunrise America (morning news program)
 * Beyond the Cameras (news documentary program)
 * ABN News Sunday Edition

Drama

 * CSI Liberty City
 * CSI Las Venturas
 * NAVY NCIS Rockport City
 * Kingpin
 * Seekers (an original UBC production that moved to the ABN drama lineup during the realignment)
 * Rogue Agents
 * Cross
 * Vanessa and Vittel
 * City of Devils
 * Hawkeye

Late night comedies

 * Late Show with Vince Laverty
 * The Midnight Show with Bruce Simms

Soap operas

 * Timeless
 * The Bold Americans
 * The Journey
 * Code Black: Extreme ER
 * My Family
 * Saints of Carcer (based in Carcer City, Liberty State)
 * Love Riders

Syndicated lifestyle shows

 * Kaylah (The Kaylah Higgins Show)
 * Grille City USA (food culture and cooking)
 * XR Hollywood Tonite (entertainment news)
 * The Digital Movie Theater (film and box office news)
 * The Muscle Car Temple (automotive lifestyle)
 * Home Transformation (home makeover/remodel/decoration)
 * Pop City (music and lifestyle news program)
 * Flippers (loosely based on Pimp My Ride)
 * U Style Makeover Extreme (distrubuted by U Style Entertainment) (styling and fashion)
 * Fast Line (racing show)

Syndicated courtroom shows

 * Lance Norton
 * Hatchet
 * Judge Lucy Lopez
 * America's Court (no correlation to the courtroom show The People's Court)

List of ABN network affilliated stations
See List of ABN affilliates

Slogans
These are the slogans over the years that ABN has been on the air.
 * The Newest Television Network in the Country (1964-1965)
 * We Are American Broadcast Network (1965-1966)
 * Proud to be Your Network (1966-1967)
 * The Best Memories Are Made on ABN (1967-1968)
 * You Are #1 to Us! (1968-1969)
 * Look No Further than ABN (1969-1970)
 * The Number One Television Network in America (1970-1971)
 * America Loves Watching ABN (1971-1972)
 * Excellence in Television (1972-1973)
 * Still the One to Watch (1973-1974)
 * We're the One Worth Watching (1974-1976) (came with four different jingles)
 * ABN Television Network: We Are Here For You (1976-1977)
 * ABN: You're In For Something (1977-1978)
 * ABN: America Turns Us On (1978-1979)
 * Expect Nothing But the Best on ABN (1979-1980)
 * ABN: We Are Television (1980-1981)
 * Watch Great Things Unfold (1982-1983)
 * ABN: Watch What We're Doing Now (1983-1984)
 * Share the Spirit of ABN (1984-1985)
 * ABN is America's Network (1985-1986)
 * Great Things Are Happening on ABN (1986-1987)
 * ABN: America's #1 Television Network (1987-1988)
 * ABN: 25 Years of Service and Still Going Strong (1988-1989)
 * The Stars Shine Bright on ABN (1990-1991)
 * This Is What Moves You (1992-1993)
 * See It. Feel It. Live It. (1993-1994)
 * ABN. We're More than Just Television (1994-1995)
 * ABN. Cool Like Us (1995-1996)
 * Something Exciting Is Happening on ABN (1996-1997)
 * America's Number One Network (1997-1998)
 * Come Home to America's Best Only on ABN (1998-1999)
 * ABN High Definition: Television of the Next Millennium (1999-2000)
 * ABN: The Pulse of America (January 1-September 10, 2001)
 * ABN: Let's Roll! (following the 9/11 attacks from September 15 - December 31, 2001)
 * This is ABN (2002-2003)
 * ABN: One for All (Special slogan used in September 2002)
 * ABN is All About You (2003-2004)
 * You're Gonna Love This! (2005-2006)
 * The Best Is On ABN (2006-2007)
 * The Difference Is ABN (2008-2009)
 * Watch What We Do on ABN (2009-2010)
 * ABN Is the Place to Be (2010-2011)
 * Entice Yourself (2011-2012)
 * Go Beyond (2012-2013)
 * The Next Best Thing is ABN (2013-2014)
 * ABN: 50 Years of Excellence (2014-2015)
 * America's Most Trusted Television Leader (2015-20xx)

Jingles
These are the jingles that aired on ABN over the years.

You Are #1 to Us
''ABN. ABN. You are number one to us!''

''We bring you cheer! We bring you laughter!''

We excite you on your brightest days!

No matter the task, ABN is here for you!

''You are number one to us (on ABN)! ''(repeat twice)

You are Number One...on ABN!

America Turns Us On
''Come one, come all! ''

You know it's us when America turns us on!

You feel the passion!

You see the joy!

''So come on! What'cha waitn' for?''

''Turn us on! We are ABN!''

''America turns us on! America turns us on!''

For the best, for the brightest stars!

''It's here on ABN! So turn us on!''

See It, Feel It, Live It
I can see you move.

I can feel your love.

I'm livin' it up!

See what's on!

Feel the magic!

Live it up!

See it!

Feel it!

Live it!

ABN!

Miscellaneous
Own work