Disney/ABC Television Group is launching the WATCH ABC app authenticated service to viewers in the tri-state region.
The app will be available for download beginning Tuesday afternoon on iOS devices. You can also access on your computer or laptop at ABC.com.
It's part of an open access preview, running through the end of June.
The WATCH ABC LIVE STREAM PREVIEW will allow people to view the nation's most watched broadcast station at home and on the go in the New York area.
The new WATCH ABC service provides viewers for the first time ever with live, local station access to their favorite ABC shows like Good Morning America, Scandal, Modern Family and Jimmy Kimmel, plus Eyewitness News, Live with Kelly and Michael, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy and other local Channel 7 programs like Up Close and Here and Now, as well as a variety of on-demand content.
The new authenticated WATCH ABC service will include the on-demand full-episode viewing experience that the ABC Full-Episode Player and ABC Player app have offered online and via tablets and phones. Viewers can access WATCH ABC online atABC.com or by downloading the WATCH ABC app on their iPhone and iPad. The WATCH ABC app will be available on Kindle Fire and Samsung Galaxy devices very soon.
WATCH ABC will be available for a preview period until July 1. After that, users must be authenticated through their TV provider.
Currently, Disney/ABC Television Group has agreements in place for its authenticated WATCH products with a variety of Multichannel Video Program Distributors (MVPDs) including Comcast, Cablevision, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Midcontinent Communications and AT&T U-verse.
Following the end of the open access preview, WATCH service will continue to be available in the New York City area to authenticated users who are customers of those providers.
The WATCH ABC preview will also be available to viewers of WPVI-TV in Philadelphia. The live streams will also continue to be available in Philadelphia to authenticated users after June 30.
"WATCH ABC is a game-changing innovation for the broadcast television industry. We're extremely excited to offer this open access preview to our WABC and WPVI viewers in New York and Philadelphia. This announcement represents a defining moment in technology and distribution, as well as for our advertising and affiliate partners, as we ensure that our high-quality content is available to viewers on a variety of devices," said Anne Sweeney, co-chair, Disney Media Networks, and president, Disney/ABC Television Group. "Our mission with this special preview is to gather key learnings about the service and the consumers who utilize it in order for our WATCH products to be the gold standard experience of authenticated multiplatform viewing."
Additionally, this summer, WATCH ABC will roll-out in the other six ABC-owned station markets which include Los Angeles (KABC-TV), Chicago (WLS-TV), San Francisco (KGO-TV), Houston (KTRK-TV), Raleigh-Durham (WTVD-TV) and Fresno (KFSN-TV).
In addition to launching in the eight ABC-owned markets, the network has reached an agreement with Hearst Television to launch theWATCH ABC service in their 13 ABC station markets, which include Boston, Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Milwaukee, in the coming months. Agreements with other station groups are expected to be announced prior to the launch of the new Fall Season.
The launch of WATCH ABC follows the success rollout of three authenticated WATCH Disney services -- WATCH Disney Channel, WATCH Disney XD and WATCH Disney Junior -- in June 2012. Downloaded nearly 15 million times since their debut, the three WATCH Disney products provide authenticated users with both access to live, linear network streams as well as an extensive offering of advantaged window "on demand" episodes.
Download the WATCH ABC LIVE STREAM PREVIEW on Tuesday afternoon for iOS devices! Watch on your computer or laptop at ABC.com
Desktop
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/feature?section=resources&id=9101667
IOS
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/feature?section=resources&id=9101676
