The Walt Disney Company - Who Owns What - Columbia Journalism Review

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The Walt Disney Company: 500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521; Voice (818) 560-1000; www.disney.com

1901: Walter E. Disney is born
1928: Mickey Mouse is featured for the first time in the short animated film, Steamboat Willie
1929: Walt Disney Productions formed
1937: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is released. It is Disney's first full length animated film
1940: Walt Disney Productions offers stock as the company goes public to help lower debt. The company also moves its operations from Hollywood to Burbank, CA.
1941: Disney animation workers go out on strike for five months. Deal to return back to work is finally brokered by federal mediators
1943: The American Broadcast Company network is formed after the FCC rules that NBC must sell one of its two radio networks. The NBC Blue network is sold to Edward J. Noble for $8 million. Noble made his money as the creator of Lifesavers candy.
1945: Walt's brother, Roy, becomes president of company
1947: Walt Disney testifies in front of the House Committee on Un-American Activities
1951: Leonard Goldstein and United Paramount Theaters buy ABC for $25 million
1953: Buena Vista Distribution Company is formed to act as Disney film distributor
1954: Disneyland, the first weekly television series from the studio debuts on ABC
1955: Disneyland opens in Anaheim, CA at a cost of $17 million. The ABC television network is partial investor in Disneyland. The Mickey Mouse Club airs on ABC for the first time. Howard Hughes offers to sell Disney the RKO studio but Walt and Roy decline the deal
1960: Disney buys out ABC's remaining financial interest in Disneyland
1966: Walt Disney dies from lung cancer
1970: Monday Night Football debuts
1971: Walt Disney World opens in Orlando, FL.
1979: ESPN is launched
1983: Tokyo Disneyland opens. The Disney Channel makes its debut on cable television
1984: Michael Eisner becomes the new CEO for Walt Disney Productions. ABC in a deal with Getty Oil acquires ESPN. ABC sells 20% of the sports cable network to Nabisco who in turn later deals the stake to Hearst
1986: Company changes name from Walt Disney Productions to the Walt Disney Company. Capital Cities Communication, a large broadcasting group, acquires the ABC television network for 3.5 $billion.
1987: ESPN is awarded the National Football League's first cable broadcasting deal
1992: Disney is awarded a National Hockey League expansion team to be called The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim make their league debut. ESPN Radio is launched
1993: Disney acquires Miramax Films
1995: Disney announces its intent to purchase Capital Cities/ABC for $19 billion. The deal is the largest media merger in history to the point and the second largest sum of money ever paid for a U.S. company
1996: Capital Cities/ABC officially becomes part of the Disney Company. Disney.com is launched. Disney gains ownership stake in Major League Baseball's California Angels. Team later changes its name to the Anaheim Angels. Radio Disney is launched
1997: Knight Ridder purchases Disney's four newspapers (Kansas City Star, Forth Worth Star-Telegram, Wilkes Barre Times Leader, Belleville News-Democrat) for $1.65 billion
1998: ESPN The Magazine is launched
1999: Fairchild Publications is sold to Advance Publications. The magazine chains includes such titles as W, Jane, and Women's Wear Daily
2000: Robert Iger becomes president and COO
2001: News Corp. sells Fox Family Worldwide to Disney. Cable channel later becomes known as ABC Family
2002: ESPN and ABC announce their acquisition of the National Basketball Association's television broadcasting rights
2003: Anaheim Angels sold to Phoenix businessman Arturo Moreno for just over $180 million
2003: Roy Disney resigns as vice-chairman of the Walt Disney entertainment group
2005: Bob Iger replaces Michael Eisner as CEO
2006: Disney purchases the rights to Pixar
2008: Disney buys back rights to Disney Store, which had previously been owned by The Children's Store

Film and Theater: Disneynature; Disney Theatrical Productions; Touchstone Pictures; Marvel Entertainment; LucasFilm; Walt Disney Pictures; DisneyToon Studios; Walt Disney Animation Studios; Pixar Animation Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International (Distribution); Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Music: Disney Music Group; Hollywood Records; Walt Disney Records
Television: ABC-Owned Television Stations Group; WLS (Chicago, IL); KFSN (Fresno, CA); KTRK (Houston, TX); KABC (Los Angeles, CA); WABC (New York, NY); WPVI (Philadelphia, PA); WTVD (Raleigh-Durham, NC); KGO (San Francisco, CA); Disney ABC Television Group; ABC Television Network (ABC Daytime, ABC Entertainment, and ABC News); ABC Family; ABC Studios; A&E Television Networks (50%); The Biography Channel (50%); Disney ABC Domestic Television; Disney ABC International Television; Disney-ABC-ESPN Television; Disney Channel Worldwide (Disney XD, Playhouse Disney, Jetix, and ABC Kids); History (formerly The History Channel) (50%); H2 (50%); Hungama; Lifetime Entertainment Services (50%); SOAPnet; Disney Junior (Flanders and the Netherlands); ESPN, Inc. (80%); ESPN (and ESPN.com and ESPN360.com); ESPN2; ESPN 3D; ESPN Classic; ESPN Deportes; ESPNEWS; ESPNU; ESPN Enterprises; ESPN Interactive; ESPN International; ESPN Mobile Properties; ESPN on Demand; ESPN PPV; ESPN Regional Television; Longhorn Network
Radio: WDDY AM (Albany, NY); WDWD AM (Atlanta, GA); WMKI AM (Boston, MA); WGFY AM (Charlotte, NC); WRDZ AM (Chicago, IL); WWMK AM (Cleveland, OH); KMKI AM (Dallas-Fort Worth, TX); KDDZ AM (Denver, CO); WFDF AM (Detroit, MI); KMIC AM (Houston, TX); WRDZ FM (Indianapolis, IN); KPHN AM (Kansas City, MO); KDIS FM (Little Rock, AR); KDIS AM (Los Angeles, CA); WMYM AM (Miami, FL); WKSH AM (Milwaukee, WI); KDIZ AM (Minneapolis, MN); WQEW AM (New York, NY); WDYZ AM (Orlando, FL); WWJZ AM (Philadelphia, PA); KMIK AM (Phoenix, AZ); KDZR AM (Portland, OR); WDZY AM (Richmond, VA); KIID AM (Sacramento, CA); KWDZ AM (Salt Lake City, UT); KRDY AM (San Antonio, TX); KMKY AM (San Francisco, CA); KKDZ AM (Seattle, WA); WSDZ AM (St. Louis, MO); WWMI AM (Tampa, FL); ESPN Radio; WMVP (Chicago, IL); KESN (Dallas-Fort Worth, TX); KSPN (Los Angeles, CA); WEPN (New York, NY); WDDZ AM (Pittsburgh, PA)
Publishing: Hyperion Books; ABC Daytime Press; Hyperion; Jump At The Sun; Mirimax Books; Voice; Disney Publishing Worldwide; Disney Digital Books; Disney English; Disney Global Book Group; Global Children's Magazines; U.S. Magazines; ESPN The Magazine (50% with Hearst); ESPN Books
Parks and Resorts: Adventures by Disney; Disney Cruise Line; Disneyland Resort; Disneyland Resort Paris (51%); Disney Vacation Club; Hong Kong Disneyland (48%); Shanghai Disney Resort (43%); Tokyo Disney Resort (Owned and operated the Oriental Land Company); Walt Disney Imagineering; Walt Disney World Resort
Other: The Baby Einstein Company; Club Penguin; Disney Consumer Products; The Disney Store; Disney Apparel; Disney Accessories & Footwear; Disney Fashion & Home; Disney Food; Disney Health & Beauty; Disney Stationery; Disney Toys; Disney Interactive Media Group; Disney Interactive Studios; Disney Online (Disney.com); Disney Online Studios; Disney Mobile; El Capitan Theatre; The Muppets Studio; Playdom; Rocket Pack; UTV Software Communications; last updated 2/14/2013