ABC Studios

ABC Studios, a D.B.A. of Touchstone Television Productions, LLC, is the television production unit of ABC Entertainment Group, part of Disney–ABC Television Group (both ultimately owned by The Walt Disney Company). ABC Studios was established as the Touchstone Television banner in 1985 and given its current name on May 28, 2007.

Touchstone Television
The Touchstone Films banner was used for TV by then-new Disney CEO Michael Eisner in the 1984–85 television season with the short lived western, Wildside. Touchstone was a banner of Disney Pictures which included at the time television production. In the next season, Disney's TV production unit produced a hit in The Golden Girls using the Touchstone Films brand.

On April 18, 1989, Walt Disney Television and Touchstone Television were grouped together under Garth Ancier, president of network television for Walt Disney Studios. With difficulty selling in the off-network syndicated market, Disney television executives decided in late September 1990 that Hull High, then on NBC, or a potential NBC mid-season replacement, Disney Action-Adventure Hour, would be its last hour long drama. High's pilot did cost the company $4.5 million which was considered very costly. In 1992, Touchstone moved into producing longer forms for TV, focusing on more adult fare with its first telefilm for CBS about Edna Buchanan, a Miami Herald crime reporter who would win a Pulitzer Prize.

On August 24, 1994, with Jeffrey Katzenberg's resignation, Richard Frank became head of Walt Disney Television and Telecommunications, a new group taking Touchstone and other TV units out of the Disney studios.

In April 1996, due to ongoing post-Disney-CC/ABC merger realignment and the retirement of its president, Walt Disney Television and Telecommunications' divisions were reassigned to other groups, with Touchstone Television transferred to The Walt Disney Studios. By March 1998, David Neuman assumed the presidency of Touchstone TV. In March 1998, Touchstone was placed under Buena Vista Television Productions, a newly formed group under chairman Lloyd Braun, along with Walt Disney Network Television.

In 2000, Touchstone created two departments for comedy in September, and a department for drama in December. While two of their pilots were in consideration to be picked up by ABC in April 2003, Tollin/Robbins Productions agreed to a two-year development deal with Touchstone Television, which included a two-year option, shares in profits and outside sales.

ABC Television Studio
In February 2007, Touchstone Television was renamed ABC Television Studios as part of Disney's push to drop secondary brands like Buena Vista for Disney, ABC and ESPN.

In June 2009, ABC Entertainment announced a new organization, effective immediately as ABC Entertainment Group, consolidating back office functions like business affairs, distribution and scheduling of ABC Studios and ABC Entertainment while retaining separate creative units. In January 2010, Disney–ABC Television Group announced it was cutting 5% of its workforce. In October 2012, ABC Studios formed its Signature unit to sell to outside networks. In August 2017, Ryan Seacrest Productions left CBS at the end of their deal to move over to ABC Studios.

Following up its cable/streaming unit expansion, ABC Studios launched a new Alternative Division for the full range of unscripted work from documentary to game show to social experiment shows. The former executive vice president of development and production at Ryan Seacrest Productions and Universal TV Alternative Studios' former head, Fernando Hernandez was hired by the studio to head the division around January 2018. The division was announced in October 2018 with a small slate, a production executive Gareth Provan and an in-house development group, The Originals Group. The division is tapping existing production companies with deals at ABC Studios, Ryan Seacrest Productions, Larry Wilmore’s Wilmore Films and Bob Sertner Productions, plus partnerships Hernandez has developed including with Mission Control Media, Parker Paige Media, INE Entertainment, Party Pit Productions.

ABC Signature
ABC Signature Studios (alternatively Signature, or ABC Signature) is an artist-driven division of ABC Studios spearheading year-round development and production across the cable and streaming landscape. Most recently, Signature received a straight-to-series order for “High Fidelity” for the Disney direct-to-consumer streaming service. Created for streaming by Veronica West & Sarah Kucserka, Zoë Kravitz will star and produce alongside West & Kucserka and Midnight Radio. Signature is currently in production on the series “Godfather of Harlem” for EPIX, created by Chris Brancato and Paul Eckstein with Forest Whitaker starring and executive producing; as well as the pilot “The Wilds,” created by Sarah Streicher with Jamie Tarses and Dylan Clark producing for Amazon. Hello Sunshine and ABC Signature start production on “Little Fires Everywhere” next year with Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington starring and executive producing. These projects join a robust slate of returning series, including the critically acclaimed comedy “SMILF” for Showtime, “grown-ish” for Freeform, “Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger” for Freeform and “Marvel’s Runaways” for Hulu.

Signature history
ABC Studios was moving to sell to outside networks. As the studios had placed the former ABC comedy Cougar Town at TBS, and Devious Maids at Lifetime, Signature was started in October 2012 to continue the trend.

Signature developed Mistresses, which was included in ABC's summer schedule and renewed for another season. Signature was incorporated on 2013-9-23. In October 2013, the division placed its first outside project, Benched, for USA with a pilot order which finished shooting by December. Other projects were in the works with A&E, WE tv and TBS. In the works with ABC, Signature has a possible straight-to-series Stephen King story adaptation, Grand Central based on The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates. Corporate sibling Freeform picked up Rated P For Parenthood for development as its first program from Signature in June 2014.

In April 2015, Signature and ABC Studios agreed to a two-year, first-look with Black Label Media, started by Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill and Thad Luckinbill three years ago as a financing and producing company. McG's Wonderland Sound & Vision signed a two-year overall production agreement with Signature, Freeform and ABC Studios in October 2015. This follows two productions from McG on Freeform/ABC Family. Signature signed SMILF producer Frankie Shaw to a two-year overall deal in July 2018.

In April 2016, Freeform greenlit Marvel's Cloak & Dagger with a straight-to-series order as Marvel Television's first co-production with Signature. Another co-production with Marvel Television was greenlit in August 2016, with Marvel's Runaways confirmed for the Hulu streaming service. Signature put in development a live action Mighty Ducks series in January 2018 that is likely to end up being a show on BAMTech's Disney brand streaming service.