ABC Owned Television Stations in California Launch ‘Day of Giving,’ a Fundraiser for the American Red Cross to Aid West Coast Communities Impacted by the Wildfires
KABC-TV Los Angeles, KGO-TV San Francisco and KFSN-TV Fresno Join With ABC Affiliate Stations Across California, Oregon and Washington to Host a Fundraiser Phone Bank, Thursday, Sept. 17 (4:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. PDT)
Viewers Can Make a Donation at redcross.org/abc or Call 866-499-GIVE (4483)
ABC Owned Television Stations in California launch “Day of Giving” to raise funds for the American Red Cross that will take place across ABC7/KABC-TV Los Angeles, ABC7/KGO-TV San Francisco, ABC30/KFSN-TV Fresno and 13 ABC affiliate stations throughout California, Oregon and Washington on Thursday,Sept. 17 (4:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. PDT). Viewers can call 866-499-GIVE (4483) during local newscasts to donate money through the Red Cross to aid communities impacted by the more than 100 wildfires raging across the state. The fires have burned more than 5 million acres in the past few weeks and destroyed countless homes and communities, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate.
The Red Cross has mobilized a massive relief effort across these states to ensure that communities have food and shelter. During fire season, ABC7 Los Angeles, ABC7 San Francisco and ABC30 Fresno have been keeping viewers informed of the statewide wildfires and air quality through an interactive wildfire tracker on the stations’ websites. The “Day of Giving” fundraiser further unites the ABC owned stations and west coast ABC affiliate stations, which will use their linear programming to focus on news coverage about the numerous communities impacted by the wildfires, provide resources through the American Red Cross, and raise money to help families in need.
On Thursday, Sept. 17 (4:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.), all participating stations will open phone lines where viewers can call 866-499-GIVE (4483) and donate. Viewers are also encouraged to donate at redcross.org/abc, which will remain available until further notice.
Participating stations include the following:
KDRV-Medford
KEZI-Eugene
KERO-Bakersfield
KEYT-Santa Barbara
KFSN-Fresno*
KAEF-Eureka
KRCR-Chico-Redding
KXTV-Sacramento
KABC-Los Angeles*
KGO-San Francisco Bay Area*
NSBW-Salinas
KAPP-TriCities
KXLY-Spokane
KVEW-Yakima
KESQ-Palm Springs
KGTV-San Diego
* Denotes ABC Owned Television Stations. All other stations listed are ABC affiliate stations.
About KABC Los Angeles ABC7 Los Angeles is Southern California’s No. 1 local news and information source. ABC7 is a leader in digital and social audience engagements and was the first station in the Los Angeles market to regularly broadcast news in high definition and also the first local television station in the United States to surpass 3 million Facebook followers. The station’s offices and studio are located in Glendale, California.
About ABC7/KGO-TV San Francisco Emmy® Award-winning station KGO-TV ABC7 is the San Francisco Bay Area’s source for breaking news, weather and live video. Widely recognized for its solution-based promise to help the Bay Area communities, the station’s initiative “Building a Better Bay Area” dedicates more time, resources and reporting to the issues that impact its viewers’ quality of life. From the local economy and education, to health and safety, to issues impacting the environment, ABC7’s focus is to bring greater perspective on the challenges currently facing neighborhoods. In addition to being the first station in the market to expand its weekday morning program to 4:30 a.m. in 2008 and their 11 p.m. weekend newscast to one hour in 2011, the station has consistently garnered Emmy nominations and wins for Overall Excellence/News Excellence, with one most recently awarded in 2019. KGO-TV is an ABC owned television station serving San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and all of the greater Bay Area, which together comprise the nation’s sixth largest television market.
About ABC30/KFSN-TV Fresno KFSN-TV ABC30 is the No. 1 source for local news in central California, both online and on the air. The station has dominated the local news ratings in the San Joaquin Valley for decades as a leader in multiplatform audience engagement. KFSN-TV is an ABC owned television station based in Fresno, serving Fresno, Madera, Merced, Mariposa, Tulare and Kings counties.
ABC Owned Television Stations Stage Nationwide 2020 Census Phone Bank Across Its Eight Markets to Raise Awareness of the Importance of the Census Count
The Virtual Census Phone Bank Will Kick Off Sept. 9, 2020, Across New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, San Francisco, Raleigh-Durham and Fresno
ABC Owned Television Stations stage a one-day-only virtual census phone bank in partnership with the Hispanic Federation and the support of the U.S. Census Bureau for a nationwide outreach to be held on Wednesday,Sept. 9, 2020. The phone bank will take place across the eight DMA markets that make up ABC Owned Television Stations, with each station set to host a phone bank and work with national partner the Hispanic Federation and respective local community partners to reach the most underrepresented groups and obtain census counts.
With the 2020 census nearing the Sept. 30 deadline and an estimated 25 million households still uncounted, the station group understands the importance of every individual being counted and adequately represented. The virtual phone bank will take place in each of its markets which serve almost 1,600 communities combined. The stations include WABC-TV New York, KABC-TV Los Angeles, WLS-TV Chicago, WPVI-TV Philadelphia, KTRK-TV Houston, KGO-TV San Francisco, WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham and KFSN-TV Fresno.
“Each station has raised awareness throughout the year of the importance of the U.S. census; however, with the nation experiencing a global pandemic, we recognize this disruption may have added to families not filling out the census,” said Wendy McMahon, president of ABC Owned Television Stations. “It’s critical that we use the strength of our platforms to reach, inform and educate the communities we serve about the importance of their census count and the impact if undercounted.”
The phone banks will be manned by volunteers who will answer calls from their homes or in socially distanced workspaces. They will be prepared to answer questions about the census and can instantly connect interested parties to a U.S. census worker via the phone to complete their form.
When examining data* within the markets of the station group, it shows that many households are undercounted. North Carolina, for example, is among just nine states where 75% or less households have been counted. New York and Texas are among the least-counted states, where less than 80% of households have been counted. In comparison, the national total response rate is 82%*.
In efforts to reduce the gap of understanding, each station hosts an immersive informative “What is the Census?” resource page for viewers on its website that contains local news coverage, resources and FAQs about the 2020 census. Additionally, the stations have posted informational videos across their respective digital and social media platforms, which will continue through the Sept. 30 census deadline. Ongoing local news coverage throughout the year about the importance of the 2020 census in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia during the COVID-19 pandemic has also been key to raising awareness in major cities that showed low self-response rates.
Below is a list of station phone bank air times, census response rate and community partners:
ABC7/WABC-TV New York, virtual phone bank opens during its newscast and begins at 4:00-6:30 p.m. EDT. New York is among the lowest counted in ABC Owned Television Stations’ market with a 72% census response rate. WABC recently reported on its partnership with local nonprofit organizations to reach underrepresented communities. “Black Theater United,” a nonprofit organization co-founded by award-winning actress Vanessa Williams, is one of those organizations they will work with to educate and encourage underrepresented communities of color to respond to the census. Additional partnerships include the Asian American Federation, NAACP and the NY Census Bureau. WABC-TV viewers can learn more at the “What is the Census?” resource page.
ABC7/KABC-TV Los Angeles, virtual phone bank opens during the newscast and begins at 3:00-7:00 p.m. PDT. L.A. County has an overall census self-response rate of 63%, while California’s response rate is currently slightly over 86%*. KABC reported that due to Los Angeles county being the largest county in America, it has the “most at stake” if an undercount occurs. Thus, KABC is working closely with both the Los Angeles City and Los Angeles County Census Bureau, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla and community partners that include Southern California Resource Services for Independent Living, First 5 LA, TransCanWork, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, California Native Vote Project, Los Angeles City, County Native American Indian Commission, Second Baptist Church in Monrovia and Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) to reach underrepresented communities of color. KABC-TV viewers can learn more at the “What is the Census?” resource page.
ABC7/WLS-TV Chicago, virtual phone bank opens during the newscast and begins at 4:00-6:30 p.m. CDT. WLS reported in its news coverage a census self-response rate of just over 58% in Chicago, while Illinois’s response rate is near 88%. However, in underrepresented communities, the response rates are significantly lower. WLS has partnered with various community partners, including the Illinois State Census Office (ISCO), Illinois Coalition on Immigrant & Refugee Rights (ICIRR), Instituto del Progreso Latino (IDPL), Chicago Urban League (CUL), Chinese American Service League (CASL), Chicago Westside Branch – NAACP and Counting on Chicago Coalition and Center on Halsted, to educate and encourage census participation. WLS-TV viewers can learn more at the “What is the Census?” resource page.
6ABC/WPVI-TV Philadelphia virtual phone bank opens during the newscast and begins at 4:00-6:30 p.m. EDT. WPVI reported that Philadelphia has a self-response rate of 53%, while the state of Pennsylvania has close to an 86%* overall response rate. WPVI has partnered with nonprofit organizations, The City of Philadelphia’s “Philly Counts” Initiative; The Urban League of Philadelphia (supporting outreach to the African American community); APM – Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha (supporting outreach to the Latino community) and SEMAAC – Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Association Coalition (supporting outreach to the Asian American and immigrant communities). WPVI-TV viewers can learn more at the “What is the Census?” resource page.
ABC13/KTRK-TV Houston, virtual phone bank opens during the newscast and begins at 3:00-6:30 p.m. CDT. KTRK reported that Houston’s household self-response rate is 55%, while the state of Texas’ overall response rate is 78%*. KTRK has partnered with Texas Civil Rights Project, OCA-Houston (supporting outreach to the Asian American Pacific Islander community); Mi Familia Vota (supporting outreach to the Latino community); and the Ismaili Council for the Southwest U.S. (outreach to the Ismaili Muslim community) to educate and encourage census participation. KTRK-TV viewers can learn more at the “What is the Census?” resource page.
ABC7/KGO-TV San Francisco, virtual phone bank opens early during the newscast and begins at 11:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. PDT. There is a 72% census self-response rate across the nine Bay Area counties KGO-TV covers, while California’s response rate is currently slightly over 86%*. KGO-TV has kept viewers informed of the importance of their census count and why census takers conduct door-to-door counts. The station worked closely with the Santa Clara County Office of the Census and City of San Jose Census, and partnered with California Complete Count Office, United Way of the Bay Area, Canal Alliance, and Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Additionally, KGO-TV worked with the local partners of OTV’s national partner, Hispanic Federation, including the Latino Community Foundation and Urban League of the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, to reach underrepresented communities of color. KGO-TV viewers can learn more at the “What is the Census?” resource page.
ABC11/WTVD-TV Raleigh Durham, virtual phone bank opens during the newscast and begins at 4:00-6:30 p.m. EDT. North Carolina is among just nine states where 75% or less of households have been counted. In fact, Durham is the second-largest county and shows less than 60% self-response rate. WTVD reported on the billions of dollars at risk if North Carolina is undercounted. The station has partnered with nonprofit organizations El Pueblo, North Carolina Asian Americans Together, El Centro Hispano and NC Counts Coalition to reach marginalized communities and encourage them to include their census count. WTVD-TV viewers can learn more at the “What is The Census?” resource page.
ABC30/KFSN-TV Fresno, virtual phone bank opens during the newscast and begins at 4:00-7:00 p.m. PDT. KFSN reported that every county in the Central Valley has a census self-response rate lower than 65%, while California’s overall response rate is currently slightly over 86%*. The station recently reported that the pandemic hampered census outreach, especially amongst Latino communities. KFSN has partnered with Centro La Familia to reach underrepresented communities of color, including hard-to-count populations such as undocumented immigrants and residents living in rural communities. They also plan to interview Mi Familia Vota and My Black Counts to raise awareness of how underrepresented communities are impacted by the census count. KFSN-TV viewers can learn more at the “What is the Census?” resource page.
Editor’s Note *Census data rate recorded as of Sept. 1, 2020 and reflects the overall total of self-response rates of people answering by mail, internet and phone, combined with follow-up counts by census takers.
Statewide Census Data recorded as of Sept. 1, 2020– reflecting states where ABC Owned Television Stations are located
State
Self-reported
Counted during follow-up
*Overall Total Response Rate
New York
61
18.8
79.9
California
67.2
19.4
86.6
Illinois
69.6
18.5
88.2
Pennsylvania
67.7
18
85.7
Texas
60.3
18.2
78.5
North Carolina
60.7
14.3
75.1
About ABC Owned Television Stations ABC Owned Television Stations is the multiplatform leader in local news and information, collectively No. 1 across all U.S. television and reaching 23% of households through its eight stations: WABC-TV New York, KABC-TV Los Angeles, WLS-TV Chicago, WPVI-TV Philadelphia, KGO-TV San Francisco, KTRK-TV Houston, WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham and KFSN-TV Fresno. The stations also deliver locally sourced storytelling to more than 14 million viewers across America through its digital-first national lifestyle brand and broadcast channel, Localish. Named the 2019 Broadcasting & Cable’s Multiplatform Broadcaster of the Year, the owned stations continue to set the industry standard for next-generation storytelling, deep community connections and a progressive commitment to solutions-based journalism.
ABC Owned Television Stations Announce Juneteenth Programming Across Its Eight Markets
In recognition of the 155th Juneteenth holiday, ABC Owned Television Stations highlight African American content and programming across its eight markets. Juneteenth celebrates the effective end to slavery in the United States and marks the day when news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached the last remaining slaves in Galveston, Texas – two and a half years after its signing.
Localish’s most popular show, “More in Common,” is spotlighting Juneteenth from its origins in the state of Texas. Host Michael Koenigs will interview one of Juneteenth’s leading advocates, 92-year-old Texas native Opal Lee, who has been marching two and half miles in designated states across the country as part of a walking campaign pushing for Juneteenth to become a nationally recognized holiday. Symbolizing the two and a half years it took for news of the Emancipation Proclamation (signed in January 1863) to reach Texas on June 19, 1865, Lee hopes the walking campaign will raise awareness about the importance of this historical day of slave liberation.
“More in Common”’s “Juneteenth” episode will air in linear broadcast in select cities on ABC (check local listings for airdate information). The episode will also be shared across the Localish social network on Friday, June 19, as well as premiere on ABC.com.
ABC7/WABC-TV New York, the most-watched television station in the nation, is commemorating Juneteenth festivities throughout the weekend with multiple coverage of community events and a public affair special addressing the history of racism in America.
Below is a list of WABC-NY programming highlights featuring Juneteenth festivities throughout the state of New York; all times are EDT:
Friday, June 19 – 12:00 p.m. – WABC’s afternoon coverage starts at Manhattan City Hall with Tiffany Rea-Fisher of Elisa Monte Dance. Rea-Fisher is one of the hosts of the Juneteenth March taking place at city hall with the goal of rallying 1 million attendees to continue the discussion of race relations in America and in the dance community.
Friday, June 19 – 6:00 p.m. – During its evening newscast, WABC- NY will feature the Freedom Day March commemorating Juneteenth, which will take place at the Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn. Guest speakers include Dexter Roberts, the vice-chair for Graduate Affairs University Student Senate at CUNY. Attendees plan to march from Flatbush to Fort Green Park, where performances from black creatives will be showcased, followed by a moment of silence in solidarity for those who have lost their lives to racial injustice and police brutality.
Sunday, June 21 – 12:00 p.m. – “Here and Now”’s “The Race to Justice” presents a panel discussion about the history of racism in America. Hosted by Eyewitness News reporter Sandra Bookman, they will delve into systemic racism, the numerous black lives lost due to police brutality, global protests and the demand for police reform.
Other OTV coverage commemorating Juneteenth include the following:
Friday, June 19 – 1:00 p.m. EDT – ABC6/WPVI-TV Philadelphia will cover Juneteenth community events throughout their newscast. They will air a virtual Juneteenth parade special scheduled for Sunday, June 28.
Friday, June 19 – ABC13/KTRK-TV Houston will have a series of powerful stories including an in-depth interview with Jamie Byrd, the daughter of James Byrd who was dragged to his death by three white supremacists in Jasper, Texas, 22 years ago; broadcast live removal of two Confederate statues followed by interviews with the Houston Museum of African American Culture and the Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site; and air the 155th Juneteenth Anniversary Celebration from Galveston, Texas.
Friday, June 19 – 6:30 p.m. CDT – ABC7/WLS-TV Chicago will host a virtual town hall as part of their series “Do You Hear Me? A Discussion About Race” hosted by anchor Cheryl Burton.
Friday, June 19 – 8:00 p.m. PDT – ABC7/KABC-TV Los Angeles will air an ABC News special event “Juneteenth, A Celebration of Overcoming.”
Friday, June 19 – ABC7/KGO-TV San Francisco will air a series of educational content with reporter Jobina Fortson on What is Juneteenth?
Friday, June 19 – ABC30/KFSN-TV Fresno, viewers can stream the encore of the virtual town hall, Anger, Action, Answers: A Central California Conversation on ABC30.com and its digital platforms.
About ABC Owned Television Stations The ABC Owned Television Stations includes WABC-TV New York, KABC-TV Los Angeles, WLS-TV Chicago, WPVI-TV Philadelphia, KGO-TV San Francisco, KTRK-TV Houston, WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham and KFSN-TV Fresno. The eight owned stations reach 23% of all U.S. television households. The stations are consistently market leaders in multiplatform local news, collectively No. 1 in local news among Adults 25-54 for 11 consecutive broadcast seasons, and in overall digital audience, video consumption and social reach and engagement. In 2018, the Stations further expanded their content portfolio and reach with the launch of the digital-first national lifestyle brand Localish that in its first year produced over 650 pieces of digital video content, totaling more than 240 million video views. The Live Well broadcast channel was rebranded as Localish in February 2020, delivering locally sourced yet nationally relevant storytelling as long-form linear programming to more than 14 million viewers across America.
ABC Owned Television Stations Drive COVID-19 Reporting Through Impactful Data Journalism
Launches Localized Search-Powered Digital Resource Hub Across Eight Owned Markets
ABC Owned Television Stations (OTV) leverage technology-powered data analysis to strengthen its reporting on the COVID-19 crisis, reflecting the station group’s significant investments to build a data journalism center of excellence.
Since the coronavirus outbreak, the group’s data journalism team has analyzed more than 1 million data points each day to provide exclusive daily data briefings to the stations’ newsrooms. The data analysis has generated leads across ABC’s owned stations and ABC’s national news franchises, including a joint national investigation with ABC News, and has resulted in more than 200 individual stories on digital and linear newscasts.
“News reporting backed by data can effectively support both investigative work and daily stories that help consumers make important decisions as they navigate all the ways this global crisis is impacting their families and communities,” said John Kelly, director of Data Journalism, ABC Owned Television Stations.
The data journalism function serves as a content driver with data journalists embedded within ABC’s newsrooms. The team analyzes community-relevant data, resulting in insights-driven stories and hundreds of customized data visualizations, including real-time interactive charts, maps, data-specific calculators, and tracking tools. These insights are tailored for each market and incorporated into linear newscasts and digital stories, which has reached nearly 5 million viewers across OTV’s eight owned station websites.
As public health officials began to institute broad stay-at-home policies, the data journalism team published a Coronavirus News Hub to aggregate the interactive case tracking maps, consumer help resources and critical news updates in one place – generating more than 1 million views across the eight localized markets. With this positive response as a reflection of the growing community demand to turn to local news as a source for trusted information and support, the station group evolved the news hub into a comprehensive digital resource center that is localized for each owned station’s market. Powered by an integrated contextual search, the resource center intuitively surfaces the most relevant information and services available to viewers from personal finance and small business resources to a list of local businesses still open.
Select examples of data journalism analysis implemented across ABC OTV’s stations include the following:
Coronavirus Stimulus Calculator:
A mobile-friendly Stimulus Calculator to determine how much viewer households could expect to receive under the Congressional stimulus bill. The tool was also incorporated into consumer reports for digital and linear broadcast packages by ABC News, Good Morning America and all eight owned television stations’ broadcasts. The stimulus calculator drove more than 1 million views across the eight owned market-specific coronavirus immersive pages.
Social Distancing During Coronavirus Pandemic:
A county-by-county analysis of mobile location data revealing how effectively communities are following social distancing rules by examining the maximum distance a phone moves from its original location each morning. The data is sourced from authorized providers whose users opted into location sharing within various mobile apps. Each of the eight owned stations produced bespoke community reporting with immersive data visualization and interactive charts. WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham posted the social distance tracker for its viewers to see how their counties performed. Other stations such as KTRK-TV Houston, WABC-TV New York and KGO-TV San Francisco incorporated data visualization in both their linear and digital newscasts.
Coronavirus Pandemic Racial Disparities:
Data journalists analyzed data by zip code to understand socioeconomic factors surrounding confirmed COVID cases and found racial disparities emerging. These insights informed a series of investigative reports that addressed the disproportionate impact of coronavirus on communities of color and urged greater action and awareness. WABC-TV New York’s reported on the disparity before press conferences on the same issue by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and California Governor Gavin Newsom. WABC-TV New York included a digital story with an interactive map of New York City tracking coronavirus cases by zip code.
COVID-19 Testing Differences:
A leading, ongoing data-driven story supporting both investigative work and daily consumer information that held state governments and local officials accountable when reporting about the rate of COVID-19 testing. The number of tests were tracked weekly and ranked states based on tests per million residents. The data revealed how grossly far behind in testing California, Texas and Illinois were compared to the rest of the country. Among the investigative reports were Houston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The stories drove more than 100,000 views online and were prominent on evening newscasts each week.
Tracking COVID’s spread into the U.S. via air travel:
OTV’s data team analyzed more than 20 million individual airline flights to understand how the virus may have spread from the level of inbound travel from Italy, China and Spain to the U.S. in the weeks and months before the outbreak, fueling a joint national investigation with ABC News. The analysis also informed localized investigations by several owned stations. The investigations were prominently featured on the nightly newscasts in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Tracking community economic and health impact:
The data team developed a suite of visualizations and maps tracking coronavirus’ cases and its impact locally, from weekly interactive charts of jobless claims to hyperlocal maps of confirmed COVID-19 cases in specific neighborhoods. The maps drove more than 540,000 views across OTV’s digital sites in the first week launched.
Recognizing the impact of COVID-19 extends beyond the immediate economic and health concerns, the data journalism team also conducted additional research to uncover the far-reaching effects at a community level. Additional COVID-related analytical impact reports with a focus on understanding tangible solutions include the following:
OTV’s reporting across its eight markets on the current capacity of hospital bed availability in local hospitals provided critical context on the potential community impact and was a direct correlation to local officials instituting stay-home policies and the practice of social distancing. The news reports in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Houston, New York and each OTV market – revealed county-by-county hospital bed capacity.
OTV conducted an in-depth analysis of nursing homes to understand the elevated risks of working with an elderly population that are especially vulnerable to the disease and the facility and staff-readiness to combat the spread of the virus. San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York and Los Angeles covered the issue in local investigative reports; and OTV posted an interactive nursing home infection-control chart on its news stations’ websites.
About ABC Owned Television Stations The ABC Owned Television Stations includes WABC-TV New York, KABC-TV Los Angeles, WLS-TV Chicago, WPVI-TV Philadelphia, KGO-TV San Francisco, KTRK-TV Houston, WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham and KFSN-TV Fresno. The eight owned stations reach 23% of all U.S. television households. The stations are consistently market leaders in multiplatform local news, collectively No. 1 in local news among Adults 25-54 for 11 consecutive broadcast seasons, and in overall digital audience, video consumption and social reach and engagement. In 2018, the Stations further expanded their content portfolio and reach with the launch of the digital-first national lifestyle brand Localish that in its first year produced over 650 pieces of digital video content, totaling more than 240 million video views. The Live Well broadcast channel was rebranded as Localish in February 2020, delivering locally sourced yet nationally relevant storytelling as long-form linear programming to more than 14 million viewers across America.
ABC News Live and ABC Owned TV Stations Launch New Apps on Streaming Platforms
America’s No. 1 Streaming News Service, Launches on Fire TV and Android TV Platforms; Update Coming to Roku, Apple TV Apps
ABC Owned TV Stations Also Debuting Market-Specific Apps on Fire TV, Android TV, Roku and Apple TV
ABC News Live, America’s No. 1 streaming news service from ABC News, has launched new apps on the Android TV and Amazon Fire TV platforms, bringing 24/7 live breaking news, live events and original programming through a newly developed native app. Additionally, ABC Owned Television Stations are launching native streaming apps across Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV, bringing local newscasts and breaking news, top videos, weather and more.
The launches come at a time when news programming is critical and engaging to millions of viewers around the country, and when local news serves a vital role in keeping our local communities informed of global events. In the past month, ABC News Live has seen a 150% year-over-year increase in monthly viewers, and with the need for information and updates about the coronavirus pandemic growing, weekly viewers in March jumped 103%. This March, ABC Owned TV Stations reached a record-high 77 million devises, and viewers watched more than 170 million minutes of news coverage. ABC owned stations have produced an aggregate average of 400 hours of live local coverage each week, primarily focused on the developments of COVID-19 across their communities.
ABC News Live The new ABC News Live app on Android TV and Fire TV provides viewers with ABC News Special Reports and critical COVID-19 updates with shows including “Pandemic: What You Need to Know,” anchored by Amy Robach (weekdays, 4 p.m. ET), and “ABCNL Prime with Linsey Davis” (weeknights, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET). Featured programming also includes a growing slate of originaldocumentaries, such as “Guardians of the Amazon,” “The Bomber and Modern Baby,” and curated content from ABC News brands including “World News Tonight with David Muir,” “Good Morning America,” FiveThirtyEight and “Nightline.” This year, ABC News Live will ramp up to 18 hours of live, anchored news programs daily across all dayparts, breaking news coverage and all-new original documentaries.
With a new user interface, enhanced programming guide and breaking news push alerts, the ABC News Live app allows users to easily find live updates and coverage of global events, political, health, business, entertainment and lifestyle news content, and more. The launch on Android TV and Fire TV will be followed by updates to the ABC News apps on Roku and Apple TV in mid-April that will include a change to the ABC News Live branding on connected TV platforms, an updated user interface and more. ABC News Live can also be found on The Roku Channel, Hulu Live, Xumo, Sling TV, Facebook, Twitter, ABCNews.com, and the ABC News and ABC mobile apps.
ABC Owned Television Eight ABC owned television stations will also each launch native streaming experiences for Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku in their respective markets, totaling 32 platform-native apps. Building on the commitment of ABC Owned Television Stations to serve their communities, the apps will elevate the local news experience for viewers in each market with the ability to watch the stations’ live linear newscasts, breaking news coverage, weather reports and Localish’s popular storytelling content, seamlessly in the streaming environment.
KABC-TV (Los Angeles) is the first to launch, with a new app now available on Android TV and major enhancements to its existing Fire TV app – including live streaming of all local newscasts and breaking news. KABC’s Apple TV and Roku apps will launch in early April, with native apps for the seven additional owned stations launching across connected TV platforms later this April.
The eight owned stations are WABC-TV (New York), KABC-TV (Los Angeles), WLS-TV (Chicago), WPVI-TV (Philadelphia), KGO-TV (San Francisco), KTRK-TV (Houston), WTVD-TV (Raleigh-Durham) and KFSN-TV (Fresno).
Content from the ABC owned stations will also be available in ABC News Live to viewers in the local market. Users not in the local market will have the option to add content from one or more of eight stations to their ABC News Live experience in the app’s settings.
About ABC News ABC News is responsible for all of The ABC Television Network’s news programming, including broadcast, digital and radio. ABC’s award-winning newscasts include “Good Morning America,” “World News Tonight with David Muir,” “Nightline,” “20/20” and “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” ABC’s “The View” joined the news division in 2014; and in 2018, ABC News launched 24/7 streaming news channel ABC News Live and acquired renowned data journalism organization FiveThirtyEight. NewsOne, the affiliate news service of ABC News, provides live and packaged news, sports and weather reports as well as footage of news events to over 200 ABC affiliates and more than 30 domestic and international clients. More people get their news from ABC News than from any other source.
About ABC Owned Television Stations The ABC Owned Television Stations includes WABC-TV New York, KABC-TV Los Angeles, WLS-TV Chicago, WPVI-TV Philadelphia, KGO-TV San Francisco, KTRK-TV Houston, WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham and KFSN-TV Fresno. The eight owned stations reach 23% of all U.S. television households. The stations are consistently market leaders in multiplatform local news, collectively No. 1 in local news among Adults 25-54 for 11 consecutive broadcast seasons, and in overall digital audience, video consumption and social reach and engagement. In 2018, the Stations further expanded their content portfolio and reach with the launch of the digital-first national lifestyle brand Localish that in its first year produced over 700 pieces of digital video content, totaling more than 240 million video views. The Localish brand will debut in 2020 as a broadcast channel to deliver locally sourced yet nationally relevant storytelling as long-form linear programming to more than 14 million viewers across America.
ABC Owned Television Stations Invests in New Data Journalism Initiative
ABC Owned Television Stations (OTVS) is investing in a new local data journalism initiative aimed at driving hyperlocal, high-impact community reporting. With the rise of “smart cities” and anincreasing amount of publicly available data, newsrooms have anunprecedented opportunity to provide critical context and relevance around the most important issues impacting local communities. By analyzing data at the neighborhood level, this innovative approach to investigative reporting will bring deeper relevance and context to the 1590 communities that make up ABC’s eight owned stations.
“The ABC owned television stations proudly serve our eight local markets, and with investments in data journalism, we are able to reach deeper into the heart of those communities to deliver news and information that our viewers care about most,” said Wendy McMahon, president of ABC Owned TV Stations.
“Open data is an incredible asset in informing citizens and holding those in power accountable. It’s our duty as local journalists to discover, investigate and communicate important information hiding in data,” said Anna Robertson, vice president of ABC Owned TV Stations Content and Partner Innovation. “This initiative will enable us to supercharge our commitment to putting data journalism at the heart of our newsrooms on a daily basis.”
ABC has already expanded its use of data storytelling to inform coverage of major news stories, including a multiplatform investigative series around measles vaccination rates across the country and the coverage of important earthquake retrofit readiness of local hospitals in nearly 500 communities across Los Angeles.
The initiative will include the following:
A new team across its eight newsrooms that will make data journalism amainstream, daily core of ABC’s newsrooms, staffed by a group ofnext-generationdata journalists and led by newly hireddirectorof Data Journalism, John Kelly. An award-winning investigative reporter and data journalist, Kelly brings more than 25 years of experience, most recently as director of Data Journalism for the USA TODAY Network where he led dozens of award-winning collaborative investigations in more than 100 local newsrooms across the country, including a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize. His data work has driven projects that won journalism and innovation awards from IRE, ONA and the National Press Club.
Selection for participation in the 2019 Google News Initiative’s Innovation Challenge around journalism in the digital age via a newly announced California-based data journalism project, the California Open Data Exchange (C.O.D.E.). Through C.O.D.E., ABC will pilot a systematic and holistic orientation around public data, starting with the state of California. Teams will evaluate the full public data ecosystem across the state to extract the most important data points and deliver information in ways that can make a difference in the lives of local consumers. An innovative new “Data Studio” will pilot new ways to bring data stories to life on video and support the creation of hyperlocal digital news products.
Partnership with Northeastern University and the Stanton Foundation to research the audience impact of modernizing visuals used in video storytelling across all platforms. ABC 7 Chicago has hired Adriana Aguilar as a visual content producer. Aguilar, a graduate from the University of Central Florida’s Character Animation Program, will create 2D and 3D animations for daily and longer-form stories produced by the ABC 7 Chicago news team. The team will track the performance of all the specialized content throughout the research project.
About ABC Owned Television Stations The ABC Owned Television Stations includes WABC-TV New York, KABC-TV Los Angeles, WLS-TV Chicago, WPVI-TV Philadelphia, KGO-TV San Francisco, KTRK-TV Houston, WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham and KFSN-TV Fresno. The eight owned stations reach 23% of all U.S. television households. The Stations also include the Live Well Network, a broadcast programming service for digital channels in owned markets. The Stations further expanded their content portfolio and reach with the launch of the multiplatform, national lifestyle brand Localish, which is ABC’s viral storytelling brand that brings out the good in America’s cities. Created by and for millennials, Localish serves locally sourced stories that transcend city limits.
