DISNEY-ABC TELEVISION GROUP LAUNCHES ORIGINALLY-PRODUCED ABC NEWS VIDEO COLLECTION ON THE iTUNES MUSIC STORE
Videos Tailored Specifically to Enhance Experience for iTunes Consumers
Dedicated to expanding its network and channel brands across multiple platforms and connecting viewers with their favorite shows anytime and anywhere, Disney-ABC Television Group announced today that originally-produced ABC News videos, including exclusive interviews and raw footage, will be available for purchase on the iTunes Music Store (www.itunes.com.)
Tailored specifically for the iTunes consumer, the series offer a wide selection of videos in the categories of �ABC News Specials,� �The Day It Happened� and �Celebrity Flashback.� With material available for the first time since broadcast on network TV, individual videos can be purchased on the iTunes Music Store (www.itunes.com) for $1.99 each.
�We are committed to making news available to our audience whenever they want it, however they want it, and we are always looking at new ways we can better educate, inform and empower customers on a variety of platforms,� said David Westin, president, ABC News. �We�ve had a tremendous response to our �World News� podcasts, and with this new iTunes offering, we continue to provide what content consumers want and have grown to expect from ABC News.�
�We are pleased to make ABC News content available to iTunes customers alongside our current array of entertainment programming from ABC, ABC Family, Disney Channel, Jetix and SOAPnet,� said Albert Cheng, executive vice president, Digital Media, Disney-ABC Television Group. �As we continue to provide consumers with quality programming across all digital platforms, we drive incremental viewing opportunities, further awareness of our programs and deepen consumers� relationships with our brands.�
ABC News programming available for purchase on iTunes includes:
� From extreme snowboarders trying to survive the Alaskan wild to behind the scenes on the set of �Grey�s Anatomy,� �ABC News Specials� gives access to award-winning, in-depth reports from ABC News. Offered specials include �UFO: Seeing Is Believing,� �The Mystery of Pope Joan,� �Death and Life at 18,000 Feet,� �The Anatomy of �Grey�s Anatomy,�� and �The Reunion: Shaker Heights.�
� �The Day It Happened� is a collection of some of the most important and powerful moments of our time seen through live ABC News reports and broadcasts. Just as if viewers were tuned in on the very day these events happened, these videos are a raw account of historic days such as �Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy,� �President Nixon�s Resignation,� �Royal Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana,� �Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster,� �The Fall of the Berlin Wall,� �OJ Simpson Car Chase� and more.
� Traveling back 20 years, �Celebrity Flashback� is an entertaining look at the archived material of some of today�s hottest and most successful actors, filmmakers and musicians. From Hollywood royalty like Steven Spielberg to Hollywood leading lady turned royalty, Grace Kelly, to musical legends Rod Stewart and the Rolling Stones, this is the first time this material has been made available in its entirety since broadcast on the network.
In January, ABC News launched free, ad-supported video podcasts on iTunes including daily segments from �Good Morning America,� the �World News� webcast and ABC News Now�s �Money Minute,� �Medical Minute� and �Buzz Cut.� The �World News� webcast marked the first time a network newscast produced a unique program for the Internet audience, and it is consistently ranked as one of the top news podcasts on iTunes.
ABC News content joins other Disney-ABC Television Group programming including ABC�s �Lost� and �Desperate Housewives�; Disney Channel�s �That�s So Raven,� �The Suite Life of Zack and Cody� and �Hannah Montana�; Playhouse Disney�s �Little Einsteins�; Jetix�s �Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!,� �Power Rangers: Mystic Force� and �Mighty Morphin Power Rangers�; ABC Family�s �Kyle XY� and �Wildfire� and SOAPnet�s �Soapography,� among others, currently available for purchase on the iTunes Music Store. New episodes of current series are available on iTunes the day after they air.
This announcement is part of the Disney-ABC Television Group�s overall Digital Media multiplatform business initiative and demonstrates the Group�s ongoing commitment to launching new digital products and working with strategic partners in the digital media space to make its high-quality, informative and entertaining content available to consumers whenever and wherever they choose.
ABOUT ABC NEWS
With an average television and radio audience of more than 208 million people in a given month, ABC News far surpasses the competition. More than 2,300 affiliate stations broadcast ABC News Radio�s global news coverage. ABC News Now, including the 24-hour linear channel and a wide range of video-on-demand programming from all ABC News broadcasts, is currently available to nearly 25 million Internet users. Bernard Gershon is the senior vice president and general manager of the ABC News Digital Media Group.
ABOUT DISNEY-ABC TELEVISION GROUP
Disney-ABC Television Group is home to all of The Walt Disney Company�s worldwide entertainment and news television properties. The Group includes the ABC Television Network, Disney Channel�s worldwide portfolio of kids channels, ABC Family and SOAPnet; as well as television production and syndication divisions Touchstone Television, Walt Disney Television Animation, Buena Vista Worldwide Television and Walt Disney Television International. Disney-ABC Television Group also manages the Company�s equity interest in Lifetime Entertainment Services, A&E Television Networks and E! Networks.
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