ABC News announced it will bring back its digital news network in July as well as providing continuous news updates on the internet and wireless services.
The network was initially launched during the political conventions last summer. It was stopped in January as the network wanted to evaluate its worth. It was available in a little more than 6 million of the nation’s nearly 110 million television homes.
The 10 ABC-owned stations will contribute local programming to the service, which ABC News President David Westin said would distinguish it from other cable news networks. ABC News will work to get other affiliated local stations involved, he said. Westin described “ABC News Now,” with its multiple platforms, as a generation beyond traditional cable news outlets.
“We need to have news available to our audience whenever they want it, however they want it,” he said.
ABC will also offer around 50 hours of programming on demand. During its initial run, the most requested program was a repeat of Ashlee Simpson’s performance at the Orange Bowl.
“ABC News Now,” available in about 30 million homes over the Internet, offers the usual breaking news services to its digital customers. It will also feature a few original shows, like the business show “Money Matters” and “Politics Live” with Sam Donaldson and Chris Cuomo. But for the most part, it will rerun other ABC News programming.
The participating ABC-owned stations are in New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; San Francisco; Philadelphia; Houston; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Toledo, Ohio; Flint, Mich.; and Fresno, Calif.
Credit: Yahoo/AP
