ABC NEWS LAUNCHES NEW LIVE EVENT EXPERIENCE ON THE IPAD AND DESKTOP DURING THE REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTIONS

ABC News Offers Three Simultaneous Live Streams and Specialized Digital-Only Content for Complete Coverage of the 2012 Political Conventions

Today ABC News announced the release of new updates to the ABC News App for the iPad that bring users inside the 2012 Republican and Democratic National Conventions. Three screen live streams on the iPad and desktop provide users with up-to-the-minute convention coverage through a combination of live streaming video and social media feeds. ABC News Digital is revolutionizing the way users watch and participate in news, leading the charge for original and live digital news coverage.

The ABC News iPad App and desktop sites will offer live, multi-stream coverage of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions starting Tuesday, August 28th from 7:00-11:30p.m.ET. Today, ABC News Digital will offer live, single-stream coverage of the opening day of the Republican National Convention across all ABC News platforms including ABCNews.com and mobile properties at 2:00p.m.ET and one hour of single-stream coverage at 7:00p.m.ET. For the full convention live stream, log on to http://abcnews.go.com/politics/live. All of the latest convention news can be found on http://abcnews.go.com/politics.

The ABC News multi-stream experience delivers live, complete access to special events, wherever and whenever users demand the latest political information. As more people crave the ability to monitor live events in video and social spaces, ABC News offers instant access to the conventions with three simultaneous video feeds of gavel-to-gavel coverage and political highlights. In addition, a social feed powered by Storify compliments the viewing experience with editorially curated social content. Through this feature, users can see up-to-the-minute social media activity from inside and outside the convention halls.

"Video, original content, and products are the cornerstones of our digital strategy. We are seeing great success with our new day parted iPad app, which assembles ABC News video based on the time of day for easy viewing," said Joe Ruffolo, Senior Vice President of ABC News Digital. "The new live event experience extends our focus on video to special events like the political conventions."

When news breaks, more and more users turn to their mobile devices for the latest headlines and video clips. According to the latest ComScore report, ABC News mobile sites and apps more than doubled in total users' year over year. In addition, visits across ABC News mobile platforms reached an all-time record in July. Since the refresh of the ABC News iPad App in June, total user engagement increased 57%.

"As mobile has grown into a major platform for consuming news, we have noticed that users want the tablet to be the device where they both lean back and maintain control - a device that has the simplicity of a remote control but allows for the individualized navigation path of a web browser," said Doug Vance, Vice President of Strategy and Product Development.

Traditional online coverage of the conventions required users to switch between multiple windows to keep an eye on the podium, listen to expert commentary and monitor social media chatter. The ABC News iPad App streamlines this process and places all three activities together on one screen, allowing tablet users to customize their viewing experience through simple touch navigation.

In addition to product updates, ABC News Digital's live stream convention coverage will be available to users across all platforms, including mobile devices. Each night, ABC News Digital will offer viewers specialized, digital-only content unavailable anywhere else. The live stream co-anchored convention coverage utilizes ABC News and Yahoo! News talent along with all-star guests like Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain, political pop videos and real-time info graphics for an unparalleled broadcast experience. For the latest political highlights, ABC News is the ideal companion throughout the 2012 election cycle.

ABC News Digital platforms will provide live coverage of the conventions starting Tuesday, August 28th from 7:00-11:30p.m.ET on ABCNews.com, Yahoo!, Yahoo! News, GoodMorningAmerica.com on Yahoo!, YouTube's Election Hub, ABC News' iPad & iPhones apps, as well as on ABC affiliate websites. ABC News Digital will have twice-daily "Politics Pop" videos, convention video clips and the latest highlights from the convention floors. The ABC News App for iPad is also available for free from the App Store on iPad at www.itunes.com/appstore.

Live-streamed coverage will be anchored by ABC News political director Amy Walter and Yahoo! News Washington Bureau Chief David Chalian. They will be joined throughout the night by Diane Sawyer, George Stephanopoulos, "World News" weekend anchor David Muir, senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper, senior political correspondent Jonathan Karl, senior Washington editor Rick Klein, political contributor Matthew Dowd, and Yahoo! News' White House correspondent Olivier Knox, senior political reporter Holly Bailey, and political reporter Chris Moody.