ABC (United States)

This page only shows primary logo variants. For other related logos and images, see: Idents Other Station IDs

Contents
1945–1953	1953–1956	1956–1962	1962–present	1988–2007	2007–2013	2013–present

ABC (abbreviated from American Broadcasting Company) is an American television network owned by The Walt Disney Company through its Walt Disney Television division. The fifth-oldest major broadcasting network in the world and the youngest of the Big Three television networks, ABC is nicknamed The Alphabet Network, as its initialism also represents the first three letters of the English alphabet (A, B, C), in order.

It was founded on January 1, 1927, as a radio service named NBC Blue Network and was spun out from NBC on January 9, 1942. It subsequently renamed to the current name on June 15, 1945, and started a television service on 1948.

1945–1953

1953–1956

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In March 1953, the network introduced a new logo, with the letters "ABC" enclosed in a "federal mirror" surmounted by the bald eagle.

1956–1962

In 1956, just before the television network began its first color broadcasts, the ABC logo consisted of a tiny lowercase "abc" in the center of a large lowercase letter a, a design known as the "ABC Circle A".

1962–present

Designer:  Paul Rand

Typography:  Nordique Pro Bold

In the mid-1960s, graphic designer Paul Rand redesigned the ABC logo into its best-known (and current) form, with the lowercase letters "abc" enclosed in a single black circle. The new logo debuted on-air on October 19, 1962, but however, didn't appear until the spring of 1963. The logo's simplicity made it easier to redesign and duplicate, which conferred a benefit for ABC. A color version of this logo was also developed around 1963, and animated as a brief 10-second intro to be shown before the then-small handful of network programs broadcast in color. The "a" was rendered in red, the "b" in blue, and the "c" in green, with the same single black circle. A variant of this color logo, with the colored letters against a white circle, was also commonly used throughout the 1960s. This logo is currently being used on ABC Localish.

1988–2007

Designer:  Harry Marks Carl Rosendahl

Typography:  Nordique Pro Bold

The original Paul Rand logo was slightly modified in 1988. This version of the design was presumably meant to make the logo clearer at smaller sizes (as evidenced by the thinner strokes on the letters and the short ascender on the "b"), but was also frequently used at larger ones. Some ABC affiliates, along with the ABC Family cable channel continue to use the 1962 design in their logos. This logo was still used on the ABC Kids block on ABC until it was replaced with Litton's Weekend Adventure.

2007–2013

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Designer:  Troika Design Group

Typography:  Nordique Pro Bold

In time for the new television season in 2007, ABC rolled out a new identity package with a new tagline and a new interpretation of its logo. The new slogan, "Start here" (used until 2010), was presented at the upfronts in May. The slogan aimed to position ABC as a multi-platform brand, which can be watched on television, as well as on a computer or a mobile device.

In the new graphics package, the ABC logo would always appear in 3D as a shiny black disc. There were also multimedia icons developed were the ABC lettering was replaced symbols for mobile phones, computers, television screens, and portable media players. The new design created by Troika Design Group was used from September 22, 2007, until May 29, 2013. Despite this, it still remains in use by plenty of ABC affiliates' logos.

2013–present

Designer:  Loyalkaspar

Typography:  Nordique Pro Bold

In 2013, ABC modified its 2007 logo. This logo first appeared on the all access website, featured in trailers for 2013–2014 programs. The new logo first appeared on May 30. Designed by Loyalkaspar, it is inspired by Paul Rand's original 1962 design.

• Loyalkaspar

External links

• Official website

◄ The Blue Network

ABC (United States)