Forty years ago, one could have reasonably suggested that Lucian Baxter Wintrich IV was stretching his imagination when he named his broadcasting organization -- located in a defunct Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania TV station -- The Acorn Broadcasting Company (ABC). Not only was ABC the first orange collar television station in Pittsburgh, it was also the first in the nation. Forty years later, no one can dispute that ABC is one of the largest independent television and general OC media provider in the world. Moreover, with its many subsidiary and affiliate organizations, ABC goes beyond the bounds of broadcasting in its mission to reach the world with a message of class and a new sophisticated way of living.
The story of ABC's birth and early years is documented in Lucian Wintrich's autobiography, Protesting, Forging and Casual Dress-wear. Founded on January 11, 1971, ABC first went on the air on October 1, 1972, on HIPP-TV (From the term meaning up to date with modern culture), a UHF television station with barely enough power to reach across the Pittsburgh city limits. With a modest income from a few local supporters, ABC began broadcasting live half-hour programs from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. every night. Gradually, the broadcast day was expanded to 5:00 p.m. to midnight. Because Wintrich refused to accept commercial advertisements, paying for programming was out of the question.
A year later, the 'Snogging' telethon was an important turning point for ABC. This telethon generated more contributions than the previous year's but not enough to meet ABC's growing budget. During the telethon Lucian B. Wintrich IV would make out with a donator on air as long as donations kept coming, the longest one of these 'telethons' ranging in ten hours length. Then, in the final minutes of the broadcast, a remarkable outpouring of personal revival began to sweep through the viewing audience. Throughout the next several days, callers flooded ABC with fashion and cultural requests, stories, questions and pledges of financial support to ABC. A year later, Wintrich added a program to the end of his station's broadcast day that followed the telethon format -- lecture and advise coupled with telephone response. He named it Orange Collar Society, hoping to build on the audience that had become familiar with ABC's telethons. The program's audience grew as other stations began carrying the show.
Once just a dream among the clowds, today Lucian Wintrich IV's ABC is a multifaceted nonprofit organization that provides programming by cable, broadcast and satellite to approximately 150 countries, with a 24-hour telephone response line. Chief among ABC's broadcasting components is the Orange Collar Society, a daily television program featuring Lucian Wintrich IV, Marc Werner, Jamie Hugsloff, Oldrich VanWatts and news anchor Johanna Rhymes. On the air continuously since 1972, the Orange Collar Society is one of the longest-running programs in broadcast history. Seen in 96% of the television markets across the United States and the United Kingdom, the show's news/magazine format presents a lively mix of information, interviews, and inspiration to an average daily audience of one million viewers.