ABC1 was a television channel owned by the

Disney-ABC Television Group This is a list of assets currently or formerly owned by the Walt Disney Company, unless otherwise indicated. Corporate Walt Disney Studios Live-action production Animated production Disney Studio Services Disney Theatrica ...

division of

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

, available to the viewers in the United Kingdom and the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

. ABC1 used the branding of the Disney-owned American network,

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

. The channel had general entertainment programming with programming from the US parent channel, apart from the weekend morning programming block

Playhouse Disney Playhouse Disney was a brand of programming blocks and international cable and satellite television channels that were owned by the Disney Channels Worldwide unit (now Disney Branded Television) of The Walt Disney Company's Disney–ABC Televi ...

, which was aimed at children and also aired on

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Company ...

in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

History

ABC1 channel initially launched exclusively on the British

digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television (DTTV or DTT, or DTTB with "broadcasting") is a technology for terrestrial television in which land-based (terrestrial) television stations broadcast television content by radio waves to televisions in consumers' ...

platform Freeview on 27 September 2004 but it only broadcast daily from 6am to 6pm with the expectations to eventually broadcast 24/7 by 2010. The channel didn't air commercials for the first few months to build up viewers. In December 2004, it was expanded on

Telewest Telewest (previously Telewest Broadband and Telewest Communications) was a cable internet, broadband internet, telephone supplier and cable television provider in the United Kingdom. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was also onc ...

's digital cable service, and on 14 December on the NTL digital cable service. In March 2005, ABC1 took its first advertisement from

Procter and Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer h ...

. Also in 2005, Sky started carrying the channel. In Summer 2006, a

block was added to the schedule in the morning. It was announced on 7 September 2007, that ABC1 would close down, due to Disney deciding to concentrate on their other channels and lack of primetime availability on Freeview UK. Despite being scheduled to close down on 1 October 2007, ABC1 stopped broadcasting early on all UK & Republic of Ireland TV platforms at noon on 26 September 2007, a day before its third anniversary. The channel was then replaced by a timeshift service of Playhouse Disney.

Programming

*''

8 Simple Rules ''8 Simple Rules'' (originally ''8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter'') is an American sitcom television series originally starring John Ritter and Katey Sagal as middle-class parents Paul and Cate Hennessy, raising their three chi ...

'' *'' Commander In Chief'' *''

Daddio ''Daddio'' is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from March 23 to October 23, 2000. Created by Matt Berry and Ric Swartzwelder, the series starred Michael Chiklis and Anita Barone. Synopsis Michael Chiklis stars as Chris Woods, a former restau ...

'' *''

Ellen Ellen is a female given name, a diminutive of Elizabeth, Eleanor, Elena and Helen. Ellen was the 609th most popular name in the U.S. and the 17th in Sweden in 2004. People named Ellen include: *Ellen Adarna (born 1988), Filipino actress * Elle ...

'' *''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the longest-running American soap opera in production, and the second in American history after '' ...

'' *''

Ghost Whisperer ''Ghost Whisperer'' is an American supernatural television series, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005, to May 21, 2010. The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon (Jennifer Love Hewitt), who has the ability to see and communicate with ...

'' *''

The Geena Davis Show ''The Geena Davis Show'' is an American sitcom television series created by Terri Minsky starring Geena Davis. The show aired for one season on ABC from October 10, 2000, to July 20, 2001, during the 2000–01 U.S. television season. Plot S ...

'' *''

Home Improvement The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...

'' *''

Hope & Faith ''Hope & Faith'' is an American television sitcom, starring Faith Ford and Kelly Ripa as Hope Shanowski and Faith Fairfield. Hope is a homemaker and mother of three and Faith is her sister, a soap opera star whose character is killed off, leadi ...

'' *''

Kevin Hill ''Kevin Hill'' is an American legal drama that aired on UPN from September 29, 2004 to May 18, 2005. It was filmed and produced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Synopsis The series stars Taye Diggs as the title character, a lawyer who has to bala ...

'' *''

Less than Perfect ''Less than Perfect'' is an American television sitcom created by Terri Minsky and starring Sara Rue and Sherri Shepherd which originally aired on ABC from October 1, 2002, to June 20, 2006. It follows Claude (Rue), who works at a television n ...

'' *''

Mad About You ''Mad About You'' is an American television sitcom starring Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a married couple in New York City. It initially aired on NBC from September 23, 1992, to May 24, 1999, winning numerous awards including four Golden Glo ...

'' *'' Moonlighting'' *''

Once and Again ''Once and Again'' is an American family drama television series that aired on ABC from September 21, 1999, to April 15, 2002. It depicts the family of a single mother and her romance with a single father. It was created by Marshall Herskovitz ...

'' *'' Rodney'' *'' Scrubs'' *'' Sports Night''

References

External links

Official site
(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Abc1 (UK and Irish Tv channel) 2004 establishments in the United Kingdom 2007 disestablishments in the United Kingdom 1 UK Defunct British television channels Disney television channels in the United Kingdom Television channels and stations established in 2004 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2007 Former subsidiaries of The Walt Disney Company