With Capital Cities Chairman Tom Murphy, Burke spearheaded the $3.5 billion acquisition of the American Broadcasting Company in 1986 by Capital Cities, a much smaller company.[1] Burke became President of ABC following the merger, running the daily operations of the television network until his retirement in 1994.[1] Burke and Murphy streamlined ABC's operations and made the network more profitable.[1]
One of Burke's three sons, Steve, former head of Comcast, has headed NBCUniversal since 2010.