ABC1 (UK) - Programming

Programming

The schedule consisted entirely of American drama and comedy. The channel generally made use of the ABC Television Studio back-catalogue. Programmes were mainly from the ABC network, such as Sports Night. It broadcast Ellen, the 90s sitcom by comedian Ellen DeGeneres and the Geena Davis sitcom The Geena Davis Show. Some of its programmes such as 8 Simple Rules, Daddio and Home Improvement were also seen in the UK on Disney Channel, but were later moved over completely to ABC1, when it started airing on Sky, to coincide with the full cartoon evenings.

On 28 February and 1 March 2005, the network shook up its schedule by introducing two major new comedies, Hope and Faith and Less Than Perfect to sandwich around the big ratings success of 8 Simple Rules. On 31 May the channel introduced Rodney to its schedule at 4pm weekdays and from the 4 July ABC1 began to air Scrubs, which is also seen on other UK channels, E4, Channel 4, Sky One and Comedy Central.

For the first year after launching ABC1 broadcast from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm only. Commencing 26 September 2005, the channel broadcast 24 hours a day on Sky and NTL (now Virgin Media) services. However, the channel did not go 24-hours on the Telewest (now also Virgin Media) digital cable service until 21 October 2005, and remained a 12 hour service on Freeview due to space restrictions on the platform. It is known that Disney would have liked the channel to go 24 hours on Freeview to boost its audience share in the evenings. NTL Ireland carried ABC1 24-hours, but for unknown reasons (a problem at ABC1, according to NTL) the guide reported "Channel Off Air" at 6:00 pm every day.

ABC1 added US drama Kevin Hill to its schedule on 26 September 2005 as well as the second seasons of Less than Perfect and Sports Night towards the end of the year. 8 Simple Rules Season 3 was shown in March 2006, followed by Commander In Chief, and The Guardian, which joined the channel in April 2006.

On 5 June 2006, ABC1 introduced a block of programming from Playhouse Disney, including Higglytown Heroes, JoJo's Circus and Stanley. In July 2006, ABC1 started to air the second season of Scrubs and cult 90s drama Party of Five. In August more new programming was made available from ABC1 from the likes of Rodney season 2 and a change in the schedule for Playhouse Disney on ABC1 with the addition of Little Einsteins.

As of August 2006, all drama programming had been removed and the channel consisted of back to back sitcoms, though some drama programming did come back in 2007. In September 2006 Hope and Faith season 3 started and broadcasting every Thursday in double bills from 9:00 pm. Season 3 of Less than Perfect also started in October.

ABC1 was keen for its viewers to be able to see all of its programming on offer, and many programmes that premièred on the channel during non-Freeview hours were repeated at another time when the channel was available on Freeview (exceptions to this were The Guardian due to its subject matter, Ghost Whisperer and In Justice; although promotions for these programmes would air during the day whilst the channel was available on Freeview). It was also the only channel to time its running schedule so that Freeview viewers did not crash in and out of programmes at the 6:00 am/6:00 pm junctions.

The vast majority of shows shown on ABC1 had ended, with only two shows still in production, Ghost Whisperer and Scrubs (although ABC1 did not have the rights to later seasons of Scrubs and only the right for series 1 of Ghost Whisperer.)