The American Broadcasting Company, also known as ABC, is the television network that airs The Rookie.
History
In the 1920s, NBC and CBS were the two main radio networks available. NBC had two different networks, the Blue network and the Red network. In 1943, NBC sold its Blue network to Edward Novel, who changed its name to ABC, in 1944. The ABC network began its airings on April 19th 1958. The three letters of its acronym have earned it the nickname "the alphabet network."
On February 9th of the same year, the ownership of ABC was transferred to UPT, and in 1953 it was owned by Capital Cities company. In 1996, ABC was eventually sold to The Walt Disney Company, which has maintained its ownership until the present day. Specifically, the network's full name is American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., and is owned by the acronym-named parent company ABC, Inc. (formerly Capital Cities/ABC Inc.), which is owned by Disney. Disney also owns Touchstone Pictures, and therefore also owns its subsidiary ABC Television Studio, formerly Touchstone Television, which produces Lost. Disney's Buena Vista Television is the entity responsible for the management of ABC Television Studio's and ABC's television syndication.
The Rookie
The Rookie was created by former Castle producer Alexi Hawley. On October 26, 2017, the show landed on ABC with a straight-to-series order commitment, with Hawley serving as writer and executive producer. Mark Gordon from Entertainment One were also announced as executive producers.
Casting for the main cast started in October 2017 with Nathan Fillion, and ended the next year with Mercedes Mason. Shooting for the pilot took place in March 2018, in Los Angeles. It was directed by Liz Friedlander, who also serves as executive producer for the series.
On May 9, 2018, the show was officially picked up to series, and was announced to be co-produced by ABC Signature and Entertainment One.