WABC-TV (ABC 7 New York)

About WABC-TV (ABC 7 New York)

History: Signing On as WJZ-TV

WABC-TV signed on August 10, 1948, as WJZ-TV — the first of three television stations launched by the American Broadcasting Company during that same year, alongside WENR-TV in Chicago (now WLS-TV) and WXYZ-TV in Detroit. Its call letters came from its then-sister radio station, WJZ on 770 AM. In its early years, the station was programmed much like an independent station, since the ABC television network was still in its infancy; the ABC-owned stations aired some common programming, especially after the network's prime-time schedule began expanding in the fall of 1949. The station's original transmitter sat atop The Pierre Hotel at 2 East 61st Street before moving to the Empire State Building in 1950, and its original studios were at 77 West 66th Street, with additional facilities at 7 West 66th Street — a tunnel even linked the ABC studios to the lobby of the Hotel des Artistes a block north.

Becoming WABC-TV

The station's call letters were changed to WABC-TV on March 1, 1953, after ABC merged its operations with United Paramount Theatres, the theater chain broken off from Paramount Pictures by U.S. government decree. The WJZ-TV call sign was reassigned in 1957 to Westinghouse Broadcasting for its newly acquired Baltimore station, as a historical nod to the original owners of WJZ radio in New York. As part of an ABC expansion program begun in 1977, the network built 7 Lincoln Square on the southeast corner of West 67th Street and Columbus Avenue, on the site of an abandoned moving-and-storage warehouse, with companion construction at 30 West 67th Street; both buildings were completed in June 1979, and WABC-TV moved its offices there from 77 West 66th Street.

Ownership: The ABC Flagship

WABC-TV (channel 7) is the flagship station of the ABC television network, owned and operated through the ABC Owned Television Stations division — WABC Television (New York), LLC — of The Walt Disney Company. As the network's East Coast flagship, it is ABC's most important local station, setting the template for the owned-and-operated group. The station is licensed to New York, New York, broadcasts digitally on VHF channel 7 (virtual 7), and operates with an effective radiated power of 34 kW from its Empire State Building transmitter.

Eyewitness News: A Broadcast Institution

WABC-TV is best known in broadcasting circles for its version of the Eyewitness News format, one of the most successful local-news brands in American television. The station launched its first regular news program, Report to New York, on October 26, 1959, with Scott Vincent on news, Howard Cosell on sports, and Lynn Dollar on weather. On October 22, 1962, the weeknight news expanded to 45 minutes as The Big News, anchored by Bill Beutel and Jim Burnes with Cosell continuing on sports — though it initially failed to dent ratings leader WCBS-TV.

The Eyewitness News era transformed the station's fortunes, and today WABC-TV broadcasts 49 hours and 55 minutes of locally produced newscasts each week — 7 hours 35 minutes each weekday, over five and a half hours on Saturdays, and over six and a half on Sundays — among the heaviest local-news outputs of any station in the country. The station partners with Philadelphia sister station WPVI-TV, which popularized the Action News format, in producing statewide New Jersey political debates, pooling anchors, reporters, live trucks, and helicopters where their markets overlap.

Live with Kelly and Mark

WABC-TV produces the nationally syndicated talk show Live with Kelly and Mark, a franchise rooted in the station's own morning history. Its roots trace to A.M. New York, which debuted in 1970 as a local version of NBC's Today show, hosted first by John Bartholomew Tucker and most successfully by Stanley Siegel from 1975 to 1978. After a retitling as Good Morning New York, the show was cancelled in early 1983 after losing a ratings battle to Donahue on WNBC-TV. A month later the station tried again with The Morning Show, hosted by Regis Philbin and Cyndy Garvey; Kathie Lee Johnson (soon Kathie Lee Gifford) joined Philbin in 1985.

In 1988, Buena Vista Television began syndicating the program nationally as Live with Regis and Kathie Lee. Gifford departed in 2000 and was succeeded by Kelly Ripa; Philbin left in November 2011, and after a period as Live! with Kelly, former New York Giants star Michael Strahan became Ripa's co-host in September 2012. Strahan moved to Good Morning America full-time in May 2016, and on May 1, 2017, Ryan Seacrest was announced as the new co-host — an additional studio was built within WABC's facilities to accommodate his Los Angeles-based radio show. Seacrest departed on April 14, 2023, and three days later Ripa's husband Mark Consuelos became co-host, giving the show its current title.

Programming Beyond News

Beyond news and the syndicated morning show, WABC has long presented civic events including the Columbus Day Parade and the Puerto Rican Day Parade, and beginning in 2017 became the first television station to air the New York City LGBT Pride March. Its locally produced public-affairs lineup includes Here and Now, covering issues and trends affecting the local Black community; Tiempo, a weekly program focused on issues affecting local Hispanic residents; and Up Close, a public-affairs program featuring newsmakers. As of 2023, its first-run syndicated programs aside from Live include Tamron Hall, Jeopardy!, and Wheel of Fortune.

Sports Programming

WABC-TV serves as the local over-the-air broadcaster of Monday Night Football simulcasts of ESPN-televised games carried nationally on ABC — a natural fit given the Disney corporate family — though ESPN-only games involving the Giants or Jets air locally on WPIX. The station previously carried the Giants' victory in Super Bowl XXV. Since 2013, WABC has been the exclusive local English-language carrier of the annual New York City Marathon, preempting a weekend edition of Good Morning America for the live broadcast (also simulcast nationally on ESPN2, blacked out locally).

The station airs New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets games televised through the NBA on ABC, including the Knicks' appearances in the 1970, 1972, 1973, and 2026 NBA Finals, and the then-New Jersey Nets' 2003 Finals appearance. It has carried New York Rangers, Islanders, and Devils games through the NHL on ABC — including the Devils' Stanley Cup victories in 2000 and 2003 — resuming the duty in 2021 as the over-the-air simulcast partner of the NHL on ESPN. Through ABC's MLS coverage it aired New York City FC's 2021 MLS Cup victory and the Red Bulls' 2008 final appearance, and through ABC's former baseball contract it aired the Yankees' 1977 World Series triumph.

September 11 and the 2007 Fire

On September 11, 2001, WABC-TV's transmitter facilities — along with those of eight other local television stations and several radio stations — were destroyed when hijacked airplanes struck the World Trade Center. Transmitter maintenance engineer Donald DiFranco died in the attack. In the immediate aftermath, the station fed its signal to WNYE-TV, WHSE-TV, WHSI-TV, and the New Jersey Network before establishing temporary facilities at the Armstrong Tower in Alpine, New Jersey, eventually returning to the Empire State Building, its transmitter home from 1950 to 1980.

Disaster struck the studios themselves on May 27, 2007, when a fire — reportedly ignited by a spotlight contacting a curtain, later described by the station as an electrical malfunction — knocked WABC off the air shortly before the 11 p.m. newscast. The building was evacuated and the news studio badly damaged by smoke and water. Broadcasting resumed around 1 a.m. on May 28, with Eyewitness News originating from the newsroom and Live! with Regis and Kelly relocating to the set of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire; normal studio operations resumed with the 5 p.m. newscast on June 20, 2007.

Digital Era and Streaming

WABC-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog VHF channel 7 signal at 12:30 p.m. on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated digital transition, relocating its digital signal from pre-transition UHF channel 45 to VHF channel 7. The VHF digital signal initially proved difficult to receive in parts of the city; after the FCC had requested lower-power operation, the station filed on June 29, 2009, to increase power from 11.69 kW to 27 kW, receiving special temporary authority in January 2010 to operate at 26.9 kW.

In May 2013, WABC-TV and Philadelphia sister station WPVI-TV became the first two ABC-owned stations to offer live web-based streaming to authenticated pay-TV subscribers through the relaunched Watch ABC apps. Its digital subchannels have carried the Live Well Network (launched April 27, 2009, rebranded as Localish on February 17, 2020) on 7.2 and the Laff comedy network on 7.3 since April 2015. Earlier experiments included ABC News Now on subchannels in 2004 and a multicast AccuWeather service on the third subchannel from December 2005 to March 2006.

Studios and Transmission

WABC-TV maintains its studio facilities at 7 Hudson Square in Lower Manhattan, co-located with ABC's corporate headquarters, after decades at Lincoln Square on the Upper West Side. The station transmits from atop the Empire State Building in Midtown Manhattan, the site it first used in 1950. Its signal also reaches areas of the eastern United States lacking an ABC affiliate via satellite carriage on Dish Network and DirecTV, extending the flagship's footprint well beyond the tri-state area.

How to Watch

WABC-TV broadcasts over the air on virtual channel 7.1 (ABC programming in high definition), with Localish on 7.2 and Laff on 7.3, receivable with an antenna across the New York metropolitan area. It is carried on all major cable, satellite, and telco systems in the tri-state region — typically on channel 7 — and streams live to authenticated subscribers through the ABC app and abc7ny.com, the station's digital home for local news, weather, and streaming video. National audiences can watch its signature production, Live with Kelly and Mark, in syndication on stations across the country.