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ABC financed Disneyland to get Walt
Hollywood fears TV
Hollywood saw television as a threat. In the 1920s, the average American went to the movies more than 40 times a year. By 1947 that was down to about 32, and by 1956 it was 14. Walt spent a week in New York studying television and concluded it was a way to go direct to the public without middlemen.
The timing favored a weak network. The FCC froze new broadcast licenses from 1948 to 1952, which left NBC, CBS, and ABC entrenched, and the share of households with TVs jumped from 9 percent in 1950 to 65 percent in 1955.
ABC's deal
CBS and NBC would gladly do a series but not a bundle that included a park. ABC, the newest network, agreed to Walt's terms, including full control over the show. It invested $500,000 in the park, the same as Disney Productions, guaranteed $4.5 million in bank loans, and paid $5 million a year for seven years for the show, the largest TV programming contract in history. The contract also fixed the opening date at July 17, 1955.
The show
The show was named Disneyland and launched in the fall of 1954 as a weekly look at the park's lands. It became the second most popular show on television after I Love Lucy and the first ABC program to crack the top 25. ABC also let Disney run trailers for its current films inside episodes.
Why did the FCC freeze broadcast licenses?
The freeze began in 1948 so the FCC could sort out signal interference between stations. The agency also had to settle color television standards and decide which channels to assign. The 1952 Sixth Report and Order ended the freeze and opened UHF channels. Until then, the networks that already held licenses faced little new competition.
Why was ABC the third network?
ABC began in 1943 when NBC had to sell off its Blue Network under FCC rules. Edward Noble, the Lifesavers owner, bought the Blue Network for about $8 million. It lagged behind CBS and NBC in stations and advertising. A big new show like Disneyland gave it a way to catch up.
Why did movie attendance fall so fast?
Television kept more families at home in the evening. In 1948 the Supreme Court's Paramount decision also ordered the big studios to sell their theater chains. The ruling ended block booking, the practice of selling theaters films in packages. Studios lost the guaranteed audiences that had supported their output.
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