ABC News is aggressively promoting its streaming services, believing such products will transform the news business over the next decade in the same way cable channels CNN, Fox News and MSNBC did in their time.
The company said it will hire about 50 new journalists, put top correspondents (Linsey Davis and Tom Llamas) in leadership roles in the online content department and increase the number of live hours, aiming to create a 24/7 news service this year.
“I think for ABC News this is the greatest moment of transformation since the days of Roone Arledge,” said ABC News President James Goldston, referring to the legendary ABC executive who ran the company for more than two decades, starting in 1977. “You’re going to see a transformation that will be like the birth of cable TV.”
ABC is not alone in the fight for dominance in the industry, constantly competing with CBS, NBC and new services like Cheddar and Newsy.
ABC has brought in Justin Dial as senior executive producer of ABC News Live, who previously worked on the now-canceled daily news program Vice News on HBO. Justin wants to create a service that combines a lot of live, breaking news with long-form stories and documentaries. The premiere of “Guardians of the Amazon” about the destruction of rainforests, filmed by the Nightline team, will take place next month.
Starting with coverage of the Iowa caucus, Llamas will anchor newscasts on ABC News Live, while Davis will host two separate hour-long news programs that will air on weekday evenings.
Currently, the ABC News streaming service shows live broadcasts and videos prepared based on full stories.
Broadcast news companies lag behind cable news agencies in timeliness and visual appeal, primarily because cable networks operate 24 hours a day, said Alan Wolk, co-founder and lead analyst of research firm TVREV. Thanks to smart TVs, streaming services can actually become television networks; in addition, such services are available on computers and mobile devices.
He said CNN, Fox News and MSNBC are now more involved in political talk shows than news per se, which opens up opportunities for other companies.
“People want to watch fresh news,” said Goldston. “They often don’t care about other people’s comments. Many people don’t like the cable companies’ approach to news.”
A potential weakness of this approach is that streaming services may be affected by what made cable companies actively use the talk show format – viewers leave the channel when there is a lull in the news. That’s why cable television has seen personalities like Tucker Carlson or Rachel Maddow attract viewers even in the absence of major events.
According to Wolk, the CBSN streaming service is more like television newscasts than just a service where users can click on individual clips. NBC News has announced ambitious plans to increase the number of live broadcasts on NBC News Now and is partnering with Sky TV to create an international network.
CNN has created a strong streaming service; so have Fox and Fox Nation. The latter company provides a subscription service that actively uses commentary and lifestyle programs.
As with entertainment streaming, news is “the Wild West, and now is the time to grab land,” said Peter Csathy, chairman of media and technology company CREATV Media. “You have to stay in the game, or you risk losing your place forever.”
Streaming is becoming increasingly popular among young consumers, while the age of cable news network viewers has risen sharply. Cable network ratings are now up due to strong interest in the Trump administration, but there is a serious concern in the industry about how to behave in the “post-Trump world.”
“Streaming is the new world order,” said Csathy. “Some of today’s leaders may turn out to be tomorrow’s leaders. But you can be sure that new players will emerge that we don’t know about right now, or that don’t even exist yet.”
Those working on the ABC News Live project have been given complete freedom to organize this service – the rules of its operation and content creation have not yet been established.
“Our main focus is on defining a new category of streaming news,” said Colby Smith, senior vice president and general manager of ABC News Digital and Live Streaming.
Based on materials from Tvnewscheck