America’s #1 streaming news service, launches on Fire TV and Android TV Platforms; Update coming to the Roku platform, Apple TV apps
ABC Owned Television Stations also debuting market-specific apps on Fire TV, Android TV, the Roku platform and Apple TV
ABC News Live, America’s #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, the Roku platform, 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 Television Stations reached a record-high 77 million devices, and viewers watched more than 170 million minutes of news coverage. The 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 original documentaries, 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 the Roku platform 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 platform, Hulu Live, Xumo, Sling TV, Facebook, Twitter, ABCNews.com, and the ABC News and ABC mobile apps.
ABC Owned Television Stations
Eight ABC owned television stations will also each launch native streaming experiences for Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, and the Roku platform 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, top stories, 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 the Roku platform 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 apps settings.
