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ABC, one of the most famous brands in broadcasting, is moving outside its native America for the first time with the launch of a UK digital TV entertainment channel.
ABC1 will be available to 4 million homes with a Freeview box from Monday September 27, giving at least part of the UK a taste of programming from the US parent channel, including long-running daytime soap General Hospital and 90s Tim Allen sitcom, Home Improvement.

The new Freeview channel from the Disney-owned network will broadcast initially from 6am to 6pm and the company is also planning to it available to UK digital satellite and cable viewers.

Not only is it the first time the famous ABC logo has appeared on a non-US TV channel in the broadcaster's 60-year history, but also the first time a Disney channel has been launched outside America without the media giant's eponymous brand name.

"The launch of the ABC brand signals the Walt Disney Company's long-term commitment to the UK. All day long, ABC1 will provide the daytime viewer with well-written, high-quality entertainment," said John Hardie, the managing director of Walt Disney branded TV for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Other shows in the ABC1 launch line-up include Sports Night, the critically acclaimed but short-lived sitcom about a US cable TV station, which starred Peter Krause, who went on to play Nate in HBO's Six Feet Under.

The ABC1 schedule will also feature Once and Again, a forty-something drama from the creators of Thirtysomething, The Geena Davis Show and 8 Simple Rules, a sitcom starring James Garner.

ABC1 will be launching into an ever more competitive UK market for general entertainment digital channels this autumn.