ABC News NOW is ending

[Gregg Lengling]

ABC News is ending a digital television experiment it began with last summer's political conventions.

Beginning this weekend, its 24-hour-a-day news feed will be available only over the Internet and through wireless devices. "ABC News Now" had also been available on the digital channels of nearly 70 ABC affiliates; such channels require digital cable service or a television capable of receiving digital broadcasts.

Although the network is pleased with the digital experiment, it needed to re-evaluate what distribution methods made the most sense, ABC News spokeswoman Julie Summersgill said. Internet and wireless distribution will continue because ABC News has multiyear deals with such partners as America Online Inc., she said.

The network still considers "ABC News Now" to be the future of television news, allowing viewers to watch from whatever platform is most convenient, be it a cell phone or a computer. Yet the audience is very small in the thousands, compared with millions for regular TV.


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Prior to the conventions, ABC began distributing the program on digital channels in an experiment intended to last through Election Day. The network extended that through last week's inauguration before deciding to end the experiment.

Summersgill said ABC News remains committed to the program and is beginning to hire permanent staffers; before it had borrowed personnel from other ABC News shows.