Why Disney Briefly Weighed Selling ABC Stations

Even as major broadcasters fight Aereo in court, some have also pondered another way to fight the video streaming service -- by converting to a cable network. Chase Carey, chief operating officer of Fox network’s parent Twenty-First Century Fox publicly flagged that possibility last spring. Less well known is that ABC network’s parent Walt Disney privately considered a similar move for ABC around the same time, say people familiar with the situation. That idea was one of many options considered as part of a strategic review “fire drill,” the people said. These included whether to sell ABC’s owned and operated TV stations while keeping the network, one of the people said, an idea that dovetails with converting ABC to a cable channel.


Why Disney Briefly Weighed Selling ABC Stations