[K6BW] Anyone know?

[Bill Smith]

Copied this off the broadcast reflector....

James Snyder writes:

I've seen "ABC 50th Anniversary" promos and it made me wonder....

Which 50th anniversary are they celebrating?

Is it the 50th anniversary of ABC as an entity?
No.  It was founded as the NBC Blue Network in 1928.

Is it the 50th anniversary of their independence from NBC and RCA?
No, they were purchased from RCA by Edward J. Noble in 1943.

Is it the 50th anniversary of the company's adoption of the "American
Broadcasting Company" name.
Nope.  That occurred in 1945.

Is it the 50th anniversary of ABC's first television transmissions?
No.  ABC's owned-and-operated stations went on the air in the late
1940s, and the first network transmissions were in 1947 (using the
facilities of the DuMont TV station in New York, WABD-TV)

Is it the 50th anniversary of ABC's first regular network television
transmissions using its own facilities?
Mmmmm....nope.  That occurred in 1948.

Is it the 50th anniversary of their using their circle logo?
No, that was adopted in 1963.

Is it the 50th anniversary of their converting to all-color transmissions?
Nope, that finally happened for Prime Time in 1968, and all dayparts in
1969.

Is it the 50th anniversary of their first prime time season ratings win?
Well that would be a heck no!  That was in 1974.


So I'm wondering...what anniversary exactly are they celebrating?

Or did someone in network promotion realize years too late that the
50th anniversary was missed and perhaps they should really celebrate
anyway?

Thoughts, anyone?

James Snyder