Broadcast historians will no doubt scramble for their calculators knowing full well that ABC is older than 50 years. And they would be right.

However prior to 1953, the network was struggling with only a handful of affiliates (many which had to be shared with the DuMont Television Network or lost on the practically inaccessible UHF band), virtually no advertisers, and extremely limited finances for program development and expansion.

All this changed on February 11, 1953 with the finalization of a controversial merger between ABC and United Paramount Theaters Inc. Up to then, ABC was easily the "fourth" network behind CBS, NBC, and DuMont. In fact ABC had fewer affiliates than UPN and The WB had when they debuted in 1995.

The American Broadcasting Company was formed as a result of a U.S. ant-trust suit that forced the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) to divest itself of one of its two radio networks- NBC Red and NBC Blue.

In 1943, RCA sold the smaller less popular Blue Network to Edward Noble. Noble, a self-made millionaire and owner of the Rexall Drug Store chain had made his fortune in LifeSavers candy. Feeling that "Blue" was not the best name for a broadcast network it was suggested that a name beginning with "A" be chosen so the network would show up at the beginning of alphabetical listings.

Thus the American Broadcasting Company was born. Although Noble was an astute businessman, he knew nothing of the broadcast industry and by the early 1950s, ABC was in serious dire straits.

In 1948, Paramount Pictures Inc. had been at the center of a government led lawsuit that focused on Paramount's monopolistic practices of producing Hollywood films and then guaranteeing their distribution by owning thousands of movie theaters across the nation.

To be fair, Paramount was not singled out. In fact several other companies were named (including MGM). But it was its interest in television ownership that prompted the government to take a closer look at Paramount's operations.

In the end, the film companies were forced to decide what business they wanted to be in- film production, film distribution, or television. Paramount decided on film production. The distribution arm was spun-off as a new company called United Paramount Theaters Inc. Leonard Goldenson, an attorney for Paramount (and who had led Paramount's legal defense in the monopoly suit) was picked to head the new corporation.

Goldenson was determined to lead his company into the new field of television. He had been instrumental in Paramount's television interests and in the company's ownership of two stations (WBKB in Chicago and KTLA in Los Angeles) at a time when many film companies saw the new medium as their mortal enemy. United Paramount Theaters had money to burn but no network. ABC had a network but its corporate pockets were virtually empty. The merger seemed a natural.

Two years and several FCC hearings after the merger was proposed, a new combined corporation was formed- American Broadcasting-Paramount Theaters Inc. With this new influx of cash, ABC was now in the position to compete with CBS and NBC.

DuMont, struggling along due to its own problems, would fold in 1955 after an ill-fated attempt to merge with ABC. Ironically it would be Paramount Pictures' financial interest in DuMont that would force the network (and eventually the parent company) out of business.

By the end of the decade, ABC would strike deals with Disney and Warner Bros. to produce programming that would help put the network on equal footing with its competitors.

The ABC-Paramount name was dropped in 1965. Paramount Pictures returned to television in 1966 upon its purchase of production independent Desilu Studios. After an abortive attempt to launch a fourth network in 1977, it succeeded in 1995 with the advent of UPN- the United Paramount Network.

Paramount Pictures Inc. is now part of Viacom, which also owns the CBS, MTV, VH-1, Showtime, and other interests. Today, ABC-TV is a subsidiary of the Disney Corporation.

- Steve Jajkowski, The Museum of Broadcast Communications