ABC News Live just launched on YouTube TV, which reported more than 2 million subscribers as of February. The service has also begun streaming on Amazon’s Fire Tablets. It will be added to Amazon’s news app on Fire TV devices in the coming weeks.
“Adding ABC News Live onto Amazon’s news app and YouTube TV couldn’t have come at a more critical time for audiences,” said Colby Smith, senior vice president, digital media, Disney direct-to-consumer & international. “As millions of streamers seek to understand the personal impact of the pandemic, we want to make news and information easily accessible to them.”
Amazon’s news app, which rolled out last October, offers customized news feeds.
ABC News Live streams live breaking news, live events and original programming including “ABC News Live Prime” anchored by Linsey Davis at 7:00 p.m. ET and 9:00 p.m. ET, “Pandemic: What You Need to Know” anchored by Amy Robach at 4:00 p.m. ET and 8:00 p.m. ET.
In recent weeks, ABC News Live has reported extensively on healthcare workers on the front lines, the unemployment crisis and debunked the online myths related to the coronavirus.
Launched in May 2018, ABC News Live reports a 200 percent year-over-year increase in monthly viewers, from March 2019 to March 2020, due in part, to wide OTT distribution.
ABC News Live also streams via The Roku Channel, Hulu, Xumo, Sling TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Facebook, Twitter, ABCNews.com, the ABC News and ABC mobile apps.
Separately, CBS Television Stations and CBS Interactive announced the launch of CBSN Chicago on Tuesday.
“Today marks the beginning of a terrific new chapter in CBS Chicago’s history,” said Derek Dalton, president and general manager, WBBM. “We are excited to broaden the reach of our local news coverage and make our content available to consumers whenever and wherever they want to watch.”
CBSN Chicago is available through CBSN on CBSNews.com, www.CBSChicago.com and the CBS Local mobile app. It is the ninth of ViacomCBS’s 13 local direct-to-consumer streaming news.
In March, the company launched CBSN Pittsburgh. CBSN Pittsburgh’s lineup includes live streams of KDKA (CBS) and WPCW (CW) newscasts, “Pittsburgh Today Live” and coverage of breaking news. On-demand viewers can also access a library of local news content.
Debuting in November 2014, the CBSN platform registered more than 100 million streams in March.