Leonard Goldenson
Goldenson orchestrated the merger of United Paramount Theatres with ABC in 1953 (after Paramount was ordered to spin it off in the wake of "United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.", a 1948 decree of the U.S. Supreme Court). ABC was originally formed in 1943 in the wake of an earlier Supreme Court decree effectively ordering the spinoff of the largely secondary-status "Blue Network" from its then-parent, NBC; its buyer, industrialist Edward J. Noble, tried to build ABC into a competitive Broadcasting company, but by 1951 was rumored to be on the verge of selling the nearly bankrupt operation to CBS, whose management apparently wanted ABC's critically important owned-and-operated television stations.
American Broadcasting Company
Since 1974, ABC has generally aired "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" on New Year's Eve, hosted first by its creator Dick Clark, and later by his successor Ryan Seacrest. The only exception was in 1999, when ABC instead broadcast "ABC 2000"—a day-long telecast produced by ABC News and hosted by Peter Jennings, covering festivities from around the world (although Clark would join Jennings to cover Times Square). ABC is also among one of several broadcasters of the Tournament of Roses Parade the next day (although the Rose Bowl Game itself now airs exclusively on ESPN after previously airing on ABC).