Broadcast and cable TV news outlets saw strong social media growth in March, according to new data from the social video analytics company Tubular Labs .

Fox News, for example, grew its U.S. unique viewers across Facebook and YouTube by 32% month-over-month, to 60.1 million, while minutes watched soared 26% to 1.6 billion (both 13-month highs).

CBS News saw a 51% bounce in unique viewers to 38.5 million and a 29% increase in minutes watched to 140.4 million in March, Tubular reported.

The growth comes amid a busy news cycle in March, with major news involving policy changes, tariffs and economic concerns.

CNN in March saw unique viewers grow by 21% to 31 million, while minutes watched grew 80% month over month to 426.3 million.

MSNBC had 35.2 million unique viewers, up 20% from a month earlier in March, but its minutes view hit 1.4 billion, up 28% month over month, according to Tubular. That made it the only one of the news organizations to come close to Fox News in minutes viewed.

ABC News had the second highest unique viewers, with 54 million, but the slowest growth, up 5% month over month in March. Its minutes viewed only grew 1% in March to 346.5 million.

More information about Tubular can be found here.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—In response to Donald Trump’s call for ABC stations to lose their broadcast licenses, Federal Communications Commission chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has issued a strongly worded statement condemning the idea. 

“The First Amendment is a cornerstone of our democracy,” Rosenworcel said. “The FCC does not revoke licenses for broadcast stations simply because a political candidate disagrees with or dislikes content or coverage.”

Trump called for ABC to lose its licenses after the Sept. 12 presidential debate, where ABC News moderators fact-checked some of Trump’s widely debunked statements, including Trump’s erroneous claim that Haitian immigrants were stealing and eating dogs and cats. 

In a call to Fox News during the Fox & Friends morning show on following the debate Sept. 11, Trump attacked the ABC moderators for bias and called it a “rigged” debate. 

“To be honest, they’re a news organization,” Trump said. “They have to be licensed to do it. They ought to take away their license for the way they did that.” 

It wasn’t clear if he was calling for the revocation of licenses of stations owned by ABC or if he was referring to all ABC TV station affiliates, which are owned by a variety of companies.  Broadcast networks aren't themselves aren't licensed by the FCC while broadcast affiliate stations and local TV stations are licensed. 

Broadcasters were required to be politically balanced until the Fairness Doctrine was abolished in 1987 during the Reagan administration. 

Trump didn’t address his position on the Fairness Doctrine or the fact that bringing it back would cause serious problems for the many conservative radio talk shows that have backed Trump. 

Free speech has also been a major line of defense by Fox Corp., which owns both Fox News, where Trump made his call to revoke ABC licenses, and local TV stations. 

Activists have been pushing for Fox to lose its Philadelphia TV station license for WTXF-TV, arguing that the election conspiracy theories advanced by Fox News Channel make Fox "unfit" to own broadcast stations. Fox’s arguments against that push have relied heavily on the idea that the FCC can’t infringe on free speech. The license renewal is still under review by the FCC. 

Both of Pennsylvania's senators, who belong to the Democratic Party, have supported the license renewals, also citing free speech issues. 

NEW YORK—The ABC News Presidential Debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump drew an estimated audience of 67.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen. The debate aired live on 17 television networks reported by Nielsen

The 67.1 million viewers was significantly greater than “CNN Presidential Debate” (51.266 million) in June between President Biden and Trump, based on Live + Same Day Data from Nielsen Media Research. 

Reported networks include: ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Merit Street, Scripps News, Telemundo, Univision, BET, CNN, CNNe, FOX News Channel, FOX Business, MSNBC, Newsmax, NewsNation, PBS.

About 26.4 million viewers tuned into Disney and ABC’s linear and streaming platforms making the debate ABC’s most-viewed multiplatform program of the year      

With 19 million total viewers on ABC, the debate the most-watched debate on any network in 16 years. 

ABC News live on streaming and digital platforms, including Hulu, Disney+ and ABC Owned Television Stations, had 7.4 million viewers in early reporting, boosting the total multiplatform audiences to 26.4 million. The debate was also most-viewed live event by hours streamed on Disney+ in the U.S. to Date.

The debate ranked No. 1 in total viewers and adults 25-54 in each of ABC’s top 6 owned TV stations.

In terms of total viewing across all networks, the audience skewed older, with 41.3 million over the age the age of 55. Nielsen reported the following: 

• Persons 2+ (67,135,000, 21.2 rating)
• Households (45,571,000, 36.2 rating)
• Persons 18-34  (6,470,000, 9.0 rating)
• Persons 35-54  (16,880,000, 20.6 rating)
• Persons 55+ (41,349,000, 41.0 rating)

In terms of individual breakdowns by networks, Fox reported these final Nielsen figures, with Fox News being the top cable network and ABC toping the broadcasters: 

• Fox New Channel: 9,062,000 People 2+; 1,942,000 Adults 25-54
• Fox: 4,845,000 P2+; 1,901,000 A25-54
• FBN: 295,000 P2+; 62,000 A25-54
• CNN: 4,389,000 P2+; 1,575,000 A25-54
• MSNBC: 6,381,000 P2+; 1,236,000 A25-54
• ABC: 19,049,000 P2+; 6,596,000 A25-54
• NBC: 10,075,000 P2+; 3,744,000 A25-54
• CBS: 6,189 ,000 P2+; 1,904,000 A25-54

Samba TV is reporting that 28.3 million homes watched the Presidential Debate hosted by ABC News on Sept. 10. That makes the faceoff between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris the most the most-watched TV event of the year so far, besides the Super Bowl, according Samba TV.

This also marked a 12% increase from the June 27 debate between Donald Trump and then-candidate President Joe Biden, which was seen in 25.2 million homes. Of note is the fact that 53% of the audience that watched Tuesday's debate skipped the June Biden/Trump debate, showing a renewed interest in the race since Joe Biden dropped out. 

Older households comprised a large share of viewership for the Tuesday debate, as millennial and Gen-z audiences under-indexed, Samba TV said. 

Ashwin Navin, Samba TV co-founder and CEO noted that “Contrary to expectations of voter fatigue and anemic viewership, last night’s debate was well consumed online and on linear and streaming platforms, offering both candidates a valuable opportunity to address the nation in this tightly contested election."

As always,  different measurement firms are likely to provide different data depending on their methodologies. 

AdImpact reported that the debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris had an average viewership across all networks of 71.3 million, rising to a peak of 78 million at 10:02PM ET, before gradually tapering off. 

Fox reported these audience numbers from Nielsen data for the 9 p.m. ET to 10:45 p.m. ET time slot: 

• Fox News Channel: 9,062,000 People 2+; 1,942,000 Adults 25-54
• FOX: 4,845,000 P2+; 1,901,000 A25-54
• FBN: 295,000 P2+; 62,000 A25-54
• CNN: 4,389,000 P2+; 1,575,000 A25-54
• MSNBC: 6,381,000 P2+; 1,236,000 A25-54
• ABC: 19,049,000 P2+; 6,596,000 A25-54
• NBC: 10,075,000 P2+; 3,744,000 A25-54
• CBS: 6,189 ,000 P2+; 1,904,000 A25-54

Other key data points from Samba TV about the debate include: 

• Among the swing states, viewership trends across the two debates were similar. Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin saw slight over-indexes in viewership compared to the U.S. as a whole (between 9%-11% each), while households in Georgia, North Carolina, and Nevada were less likely than the average U.S. household to watch. Household viewership in Arizona was on par with the rest of the U.S.
• Households that watched the Harris/Trump debate, but skipped the Biden/Trump debate, shed light into the undecided voter as they were not interested in tuning in when Biden was on the ballot but now have interest in following the race with the addition of Harris. Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin over-indexed among this group, while Georgia, North Carolina, and Arizona under-indexed. Nevada was similarly likely as the average U.S. household to be part of this group.
• Older households comprised a high proportion of debate #2 viewers, over-indexing on viewership while younger audiences under-indexed. The strongest over indexes were among households A65-74 (+11%) and 75+ (+17%), while millennial and Gen Z households under-indexed, according to Samba TV.

President Joe Biden and Former President Donald Trump have agreed to participate in two televised debates, the first of which will be hosted by CNN on June 17. 

ABC will host the second on Sept. 10, which will be available on ABC, the ABC News Live streaming network and Hulu. It also said that it will make its debate available to simulcast on additional broadcast and streaming news networks in America.  

The CNN debate will occur usually early, before both of the parties hold their official National conventions. 

CNN will host the debate from its Atlanta studios in the crucial battleground state of Georgia. CNN said that the debate will air on CNN, CNN International, CNN en Español, CNN Max and CNN.com. 

To ensure candidates may maximize the time allotted in the debate, no audience will be present at the CNN debate. Moderators for the debate and additional details will be announced at a later date.  

ABC News reported that information on moderators, format and additional details will be provided at a later date.

Both CNN and ABC said that to be eligible for participation the candidate must appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to reach the 270 electoral vote threshold to win the presidency prior to the eligibility deadline; agree to accept the rules and format of the debate; and receive at least 15% in four separate national polls of registered or likely voters that meet their standards for reporting.

Those conditions would currently make all the third party candidates ineligible. 

NEW YORK—ABC News has launched a redesigned ABC News mobile app that offers a number of new features and technological enhancements for improved live streaming, performance, navigation, and search. 

The revamped ABC News app is built on Disney’s proprietary technology, product and design platforms that will improve speed and scalability, and offer increased flexibility for storytelling, the company said. 

The use of those platforms will also speed up the introduction of new features by allowing the ABC News app to benefit from new feature and functionality development across the broader Disney digital portfolio. 

“ABC News is the leader in news,” said Lulu Chiang, vice president of ABC News Digital Content. “We are excited the new updates to our signature digital app will deliver new ways showcase our world class journalism, take consumers deeper into our reporting, and add to the way that audiences watch and read everything from breaking news to our industry-leading election coverage and more.”

Key enhancements include: a new video player; picture in picture and “docking” capability; more seamless integration of ABC News Live; improved EPG and schedule; enhanced video technology and more.

The updated app also offers improved search functionality, introduces “dark mode” to the app for the first time, and provides topical categories to help with discovery of content. 

The improvements will also give ABC News editors and reporters more flexibility in storytelling.

"This latest release is a key step in our strategy to advance our video storytelling on mobile devices,” said Nicole Breskin, vice president, news & entertainment product, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution. “Critically, the app will also provide new experiences around breaking news and live video to deliver key news coverage when people need it. Our refreshed app is built on our scalable foundation upon which we can innovate and bring ABC News to our audiences in novel ways.”

Ahead of the 2022 Mid-Term Elections, the updated ABC News app will also deliver updates to live, real-time voting result data. 

In addition, election maps will have new design and interaction, and election coverage in the app will provide historical data for the first time – allowing users to examine results from previous election cycles, setting the scene for upcoming mid-term elections and looking ahead to the 2024 election cycle.

Consumers will also be able to take advantage of Exit Poll Filters, letting them examine data through the lenses of demographic information, location, education level and more to understand what decisions different types and sets of voters have made.

The newly redesigned primary app navigation offers one-tap access to “Watch”, “Explore”, “Listen”, “Search”, as well as an updated “My News” section. 

Through easy-to-use personalization, the new ABC News app allows users one-tap access to easily add and change topical interests, and curates those personalized news interests in the “My News” section.

In “Listen” users have will also have access to an updated and improved library of ABC News’ award-winning audio content.

NEW YORK—ABC News is ramping up its documentary production with the launch of ABC New Studios, a new non-fiction producer and commissioner of feature documentary films, series and specials that plans to deliver more than 100 hours of programming across ABC, Hulu, Disney+ and National Geographic in 2022.

Currently, three feature documentaries and 15 series and specials are in production, the studio announced. The initial slate of feature documentaries taps Dawn Porter, Irene Taylor, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, and Stanley Nelson.

ABC News Studios has named Reena Mehta senior vice president of streaming and digital content, and Mike Kelley the vice president and lead of ABC News Studios. 

Mehta has an extensive background in content strategy and planning from HBOMax and Nickelodeon. 

Kelley has experience in global partnerships and distribution from ITV Studios and strategy and programming at PBS and will oversee the creative and business direction for ABC News Studios.

In addition David Sloan will serve as senior executive producer and creative lead of ABC News Studios. Jacqueline Glover is head of documentary for Onyx Collective and oversaw the initial slate of feature documentary films for ABC News Films.

“ABC News Studios is a testament to our strategic investment in and commitment to meet the audience’s demand for bold storytelling and straightforward journalism whenever, wherever and on whatever device,” said Kim Godwin, ABC News president. “I’m excited to leverage the power and integrity of the No. 1 news network in America to create premium and distinctive content for all communities.”

ABC News Studios soft-launched in 2021 and early 2022 with successful projects across ABC and Hulu, from documentary films like “Aftershock,” “Jacinta” and “Leave No Trace” to series including “City of Angels | City of Death,” “The Fatal Flaw: A Special Edition of 20/20,” “Keeper of the Ashes: The Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders,” “Let The World See,” “Mormon No More” and “Wild Crime” to specials like “The Housewife and the Hustler,” “The Ivana Trump Story: The First Wife,” “The Kardashians” and “Truth and Lies: The Last Gangster,” as well as George Stephanopoulos Productions’ “Alec Baldwin Unscripted,” “The Informant: Fear and Faith in the Heartland,” and “Out of the Shadows: The Man Behind The Steele Dossier.”

“We’re laser-focused on ABC News Studios contributing premier non-fiction content to linear and streaming subscriber growth and engagement for ABC and the Disney company at large,” said Reena Mehta, ABC News senior vice president of streaming and digital content. “Our wide range of captivating original programming draws on the legacy of ABC News with best-in-class storytelling.”

“ABC News Studios, and its subsidiary ABC News Films, debut slate of 100+ hours of programming this year is a tremendous achievement,” said Mike Kelley, vice president and ABC News Studios lead. “We plan to premiere at least one new title from ABC News Studios each month only on Hulu and continue to launch hits on the network. I’m energized by the creativity from the teams inside ABC News and our third-party production partners to build out further an expansive content pipeline.”

Kimberly Godwin has been named president of ABC News. She will oversee editorial and business operations for broadcast, digital, streaming and audio news across the organization, including  “Good Morning America,” “World News Tonight,” “The View” and “This Week.” Starting in early May she will report to Peter Rice, chairman of Disney General Entertainment Content.

A 35-year veteran of journalism and broadcasting, Godwin joins Disney from CBS where she was executive vice president of News. She also served as vice president of News, CBS News executive director for Development and Diversity, and senior broadcast producer of the “CBS Evening News.”

“Kim is an instinctive and admired executive whose unique experiences, strengths and strategic vision made her the ideal choice to lead the outstanding team at ABC News and build on their incredible success,” said Rice. “Throughout Kim’s career in global news organizations and local newsrooms, she has distinguished herself as a fierce advocate for excellence, collaboration, inclusion and the vital role of accurate and transparent news reporting.”

Over her career, Godwin has been honored with six National News and Documentary Emmy Awards and two Edward R. Murrow Awards.

Much like everything else that has transpired in 2020, election-night coverage promises to test news organizations as they have never been tested before. 

“I’ve been part of election teams since the 1980s,” said David Bohrman, executive producer of CBS News’s 2020 election-night coverage. “I’ve run election coverage at CNN and NBC, and now here at CBS, and this is the most complicated election I’ve ever been part of.” 

Marc Burstein, senior executive producer of ABC News Special Events, agreed, citing the difficulties of producing a major election-night special in the middle of a major pandemic: “We are having to prepare for anything and everything. It could be the longest night or it may not be. No one knows and we have to prepare for every possible contingency.” (NBC News, the other Big Three broadcast network news arm, did not provide executives to be interviewed.)

Or, as "PBS NewsHour" executive producer Sara Just observed: “It’s like trying to tie your shoes while riding a bicycle. We are confident we have a good plan for keeping everyone safe, but it is challenging. This is going to be a night like none other.”

Much of this reflects a 2020 news cycle that has produced a slew of once-in-a-lifetime stories and tragedies. “I’ve been at CNN for almost 30 years and this is the most intense news environment I’ve ever seen,” Sam Feist, senior VP and Washington bureau chief at CNN, said during B+C’s News Technology Summit. “We are covering an election, maybe the most anticipated election in our lifetime, along with a pandemic and a national reckoning over race.”

“When we look back on 2020 we will think, ‘Wow, that was the most extraordinary news year ever,’ and we did it with an arm and a half tied behind our back,” Feist added.

These national calamities and controversies have also spiked viewer interest in the results and significantly raised the competitive stakes for news organizations. 

“There are more eyes on this election than we’ve had in our lifetimes,” Cherie Grzech, VP of politics and the Washington bureau at Fox News, said. 

THE MOST UNUSUAL ELECTION NIGHT

The heightened scrutiny comes as news organizations are grappling with what might on Nov. 3 be the most unusual election night in television history.  

Unlike other presidential elections, where networks covered voters casting ballots and reported the results the same day, early voting this year is hitting record levels. Mail-in voting is also expected to hit record levels, and many votes might not be counted until after Nov. 3. That, in turn, could delay results and make the process of reporting and calling races a much more complex and uncertain process. 

Technology and production plans have also been upended by a pandemic that has killed more than 220,000 people. In addition to having many people work from home, networks are using more studios and control rooms to spread out employees and are revising coverage plans by recruiting additional legal experts to explain potential voting irregularities and rethinking how to deploy journalists. Many typical election-night gatherings are likely to be canceled and travel restrictions will make it more difficult to get boots on the ground. 

One thing that hasn’t changed is election night’s importance. All the major commercial TV news organizations are investing millions of dollars in new sets and technology to stand out from the competition and attract new viewers.

“Election night, for us and for all the news networks, is our Super Bowl,” Fox News senior VP of news and politics Alan Komissaroff said. “It is our biggest night and we are determined to put our best foot forward. There isn’t a nook and cranny of the building that we are not using. We’ll be using every piece of technology we have been using in the past and a few new ones as well.”

As in earlier years, many networks will broadcast their coverage from new sets, studios or facilities that feature the glitziest graphics and massive, high-resolution, floor-to-ceiling walls and screens for data and results. 

Coverage will include big touch screens where correspondents and anchors take deep dives into results and augmented reality systems. Some networks, such as Fox News, will even be debuting virtual reality systems. 

The challenges facing news organizations this year may also improve the quality of coverage. For example, COVID-19 restrictions limiting in-studio guests will result in using a much wider array of sources and voices from remote locations, network executives said. “This has been kind of a breakthrough moment this year in terms of adding more people to the conversation,” Fox News’s Grzech said. 

Another positive development is the rapid expansion of streaming services. Their growing availability means viewers will be able to easily access a much wider array of stories and coverage, both on digital media and on broadcast networks, where TV anchors can draw on the expertise of digital teams.

The difficulties of election coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic have also forced news organizations to integrate their operations more tightly with local stations, digital outlets and even radio organizations rather than fly reporters into key battleground states. This reporting from seasoned local journalists could provide national audiences with a better understanding of the results in those locales. 

CBS, for one, will add extensive coverage to CBSN by streaming 10 local feeds, while Newsy will draw on coverage from parent company Scripps’s 60 TV stations. 

“We have a team of four or five people who will be monitoring the local stations and we’ll be able to carry their feeds at key times,” said Matt Simon, supervising producer for PM content at Newsy, who is also overseeing election-night initiatives.

"PBS NewsHour" will also be drawing on the expertise of local reporters. “One of the great advantages of public broadcasting is that there are over 350 stations across the country that we work with,” Just said. “They know their communities best, and throughout our programming we will be turning to a lot of those reporters for their expertise.”

BUILT FOR PRIMETIME

The complexity of predicting races and explaining voting trends is likely to make networks even more cautious and thoughtful when providing context or caveats in their reporting. 

“Transparency is the watchword for us,” ABC’s Burstein said. He said coverage will explain what is known as well as what isn’t known, so viewers understand why certain information or vote totals aren’t available. “The decision desk [which calls races] is always careful and conservative, but this year we will be more conservative than ever.” 

For its election-night coverage, ABC News will use a renovated studio that has been expanded to 5,500 square feet. It features 28 new video screens with about 35 million pixels, including a high-resolution video floor. 

A variety of features that enables moving video walls and screens will provide more flexibility to tell the story from different angles. Enhanced capabilities for augmented reality and other graphics are also part of the mix. 

“We will have tools to tell the story in ways we’ve never had before,” Zach Toback, VP of news and nonfiction production and studio operations at ABC News, said. “There is video everywhere, there is video on the ceilings, all across the walls, that creates a very immersive space. It is the largest renovation that we’ve done in any facility since the early 1980s.”

"PBS NewsHour" will be upping its production values with new LED walls that allow anchors and reporters to better display graphics and analyze results, VP of operations Matt Speiser said.

Univision will show off a new set that improves its graphics capabilities and helps it follow COVID-19 restrictions. “We are trying to simulate as much as possible the expansiveness of the coverage we’ve had in the past and do an even better job this year,” said Lourdes Torres, senior VP of political coverage and special projects for the Spanish-language broadcaster. “We have a huge newsroom and the idea is to expand the set into the newsroom and basically have all the elements—video walls, touch screens—embedded in the newsroom.” 

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, many Univision staffers have been working from home, with only about 25% of the typical newsroom staff on-site. For election night, though, Univision will be bringing more people into the building to supplement the remote workers. 

To keep staff safe, Univision will place staff in additional control rooms and spaces to maintain social distancing, a strategy many other networks and news organizations are adopting. “We will have training, special cleaning teams, security to remind people about masks to keep people safe,” Torres said. “It is really a pretty elaborate plan.”

SAFETY MUST COME FIRST

Since the start of the pandemic, the Associated Press has decentralized video production operations and set up systems for people to work at home, AP deputy managing editor for visual and digital journalism Derl McCrudden said. But for the final days of election coverage, AP will be bringing a small video production crew back into the New York and London hubs. 

That will allow AP to provide live election coverage for customers with the curated AP Direct channel and four other live channels that provide outlets with HD-quality video. “Many broadcasters air these feeds live around the world,” McCrudden said. 

ABC will be spreading out staff over four control rooms and three studios. “We are being very careful with our COVID protocols,” Katie den Daas, executive producer at the streaming service ABC News Live, said. “We will have more control rooms than we’ve ever had, so we can be socially distant. We have added HEPA filters to our control rooms. Everyone wears a mask and some people in the control rooms will be getting the N95 masks of the sort used by medical professionals,” she said.

Said CBS’s Bohrman: “Everyone involved is being tested every day, everyone in the studio, everyone in the control room.” Network coverage will originate in a new high tech set at the ViacomCBS headquarters in Times Square, a first for the news division on election night. “The studio is zoned off to separate people and to make sure there is not any movement between the zones,” Bohrman said. “This is the biggest team effort in broadcast news, but we are finding ways to do it in a COVID-safe way.”

All of these efforts, executives said, will help to keep staff members safe as they report on the most unusual election of our lifetimes. Bohrman stressed the importance of overcoming obstacles and getting the story right—both for the networks and for the country. 

“We and all the broadcast networks know that we need to help restore the faith in the electoral system,” he said. “It has been put under a lot of doubt by a lot of people and we need to be open and above board and clear as to the numbers to provide viewers with information they can trust.”

“This is our night,” den Daas at ABC News Live said. “That night might drag on for a while, but that’s OK, because this is what we do. This is why we got into journalism: To make sure we are here when Americans need someone to bring them the big story.” 

NEW YORK--ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz will to discuss her career, on Thursday, Oct. 18 at NAB Show New York at the Javits Convention Center. The four-time Emmy Award winner will join NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith to talk about her time as a war correspondent, White House reporter, moderator of both presidential and vice presidential debates and the role of broadcast journalism in the age of social media unrest.

Raddatz’s Emmy-winning work includes coverage of the inauguration of Barack Obama, the attacks of September 11 and the killing of Osama Bin Laden. She also penned a “The Long Road Home—a Story of War and Family,” which made The New York Times and Washington Post bestseller lists.

In 2011, Raddatz delivered exclusive coverage of the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden. That same year, she travelled with the last major convoy out of Iraq. In 2015, she received exclusive access to an anti-ISIS command center at an undisclosed location in the Middle East. She is the only television reporter allowed to fly in an F-15 fighter jet on combat missions over Afghanistan, spending nearly 10 hours in the air on two separate missions.

Before working at ABC News, Raddatz served as the Pentagon correspondent for National Public Radio. Prior to that, she was a reporter at Hearst-owned ABC affiliate WCVB-TV Boston.

“For decades, Martha Raddatz has provided Americans with in-depth reporting from some of the world’s most perilous locations,” said Smith. “We look forward to hearing her stories from the field and learning her perspectives on how broadcast journalism impacts our understanding of the world.”

To register for the show, visit https://www.nabshowny.com/

LOS ANGELES: Television is smack in the midst of a technological rebirth on the order of a Mars mission, and Disney|ABC is mapping the trajectory with Renu Thomas at the engineering helm. The media giant is on the forefront of virtualization, both in terms of virtualized distribution and virtual reality content, thanks in large part to her predecessor, Vince Roberts, who retired last month after 33 years on the bricks.

She gamely obliged TV Technology’s questions about her game plan for running one of the largest media engineering organizations in the world.

TV Technology: First of all, congratulations on the promotion. Any thoughts on being the first woman to lead the Disney ABC Television Group engineering team?

Thomas: Disney|ABC Television Group—and Disney overall—does a great job of cultivating diverse talent. They recruit the best and the brightest and then they invest in them. I’m extremely proud to have risen through the ranks in this environment. And I’m very much looking forward to what I’ll be able to do to support women and people of color in this field. “Lift as you climb,” has long been one of my core professional tenants. I couldn’t be more excited to see how that will manifest in this new role.

TV Technology: What will be your goals and priorities?

Thomas: The television industry is going through fundamental changes right now—everything from what the consumer watches to how. From building the foundations of our TV everywhere products to moving us to an all IP-based, virtualize master control, Vince Roberts did so much in his time here at the company to position us for success in this every-evolving landscape. I intend to continue building on those successes and also forging new technological frontiers. I hope to further raise Broadcast Operations’ profile as a creative partner—an internal resource that network leads can rely on to help solve problems and also create new opportunities.

TV Technology: ABC is leading the industry with its development of an IP-based master control and playout system running in a virtualized environment. How is that system working out? Any realized benefits?

Thomas: We are still in early days, but I’m definitely optimistic and looking forward to sharing our experience with others in the industry.

TV Technology: How do you see the future of live media over IP and virtualized, software-based live media processing in the studio and plant moving forward?

Thomas: More and more media infrastructure is migrating away from SDI to IP technologies. Production, both live and pre-recorded is no exception. We have begun this migration with ABC New York.

TV Technology: What are the DATG’s plans for 4K production and distribution?

Thomas: We don’t have any immediate plans. There are still some fundamental challenges in terms of actual production design and also workflow, but we’re definitely going to continue to watch how it evolves.

TV Technology: What about HDR, HFR and more color?

Thomas: Currently, we are more focused on what’s possible with FHD [full 1080p high definition]. It’s fantastic viewer experience and also more practical from an implementation standpoint.

TV Technology: What about virtual reality?

Thomas: Disney/ABC Television Group is very interested in virtual reality. This past September,ABC News launched ABC News VR on desktop and mobile devices with an immersive, 360 [degree] virtual reality experience from inside Syria. ABC News’ Alexander Marquardt took viewers to the streets of Damascus, a city now largely cut off from the outside world, and documented the city’s endangered treasures. 

Just recently, they launched the second experience with Bob Woodruff, who took viewers on a rare trip inside North Korea as the country marked the 70th anniversary of its Worker’s Party.
Both are examples of how already compelling stories are made that much more powerful using VR.
In the coming months, you can expect to see a lot more experimentation across the DATG portfolio, beginning with ABC. They will be offering a VR experience in conjunction with Elton John’s performances during “The Wonderful World of Disney: Disneyland 60” special in February. We look forward to transporting fans at home to this once in a lifetime show.

TV Technology: What engineering innovations do you see next for ABC TV?

Thomas: We’re not ready to announce any new projects, but I’m obviously excited to oversee the final transition of our master control to the cloud and to realize the benefits that come along with that kind of flexibility and scalability.

TV Technology: How can big media companies change as fast as viewers’ habits and interests?

Thomas: We have a long history of embracing new technologies and adapting to change, and will continue to do so.

TV Technology: Does Disney believe there is a future for terrestrial broadcasting?

Thomas: Yes, absolutely.

TV Technology: Will ABC participate in the TV spectrum incentive auction?

Thomas: No comment due to FCC mandated quite period.

TV Technology: What is likely to be the “next-generation” delivery platform for premium content, and do you expect ATSC 3.0 to provide a suitable platform?

Thomas: We’re looking at a lot of exciting options, including ATSC 3.0.

TV Technology: Will any ABC stations get involved in ATSC 3.0 testing?

Thomas: We have no immediate plans. For now, we are looking forward to digging into the results of both the VHF and UHF testing.

TV Technology: How will the DATG most likely obtain its technologies going forward—in-house development, vendor contracts or via company acquisitions?

Thomas: It will continue to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

TV Technology: How will Disney promote the next-generation engineer/technologist?How do you suggest the industry, as a whole, train this next generation of personnel?

Thomas: In addition to developing the necessary technical skills, future technologists will have to learn how to be creative problem solvers and good partners. At Disney|ABC Television Group, we have used what is referred to as a “stretch assignment” to let employees take on a project with a group outside of their own. This expands their understanding of the business, and also reinforces the need to work together in teams.
I’d also advise that both up-and-coming and senior executives learn from everyone in an organization, not just those in senior levels. My greatest learning experiences have been from the operators on a manufacturing floor to the control room operators. They helped me truly understand the industries I was working in.

TV Technology: What will be most relevant to your planning for the next few years?

Thomas: Again, we’re not ready to announce any new projects, but I’m obviously excited to oversee the final transition of our master control to the cloud and to realize the benefits that come along with that kind of flexibility and scalability.

Also see…
December 7, 2015
“Renu Thomas Steps Into Vince Roberts’ Role at Disney”
Renu Thomas has been promoted to executive vice president of Media Operations, Engineering and IT at Disney|ABC Television.

November 3, 2015
“Getting Immersive With VR”
From the standpoint of ABC News, the 360-degree camera is a welcome new tool in its arsenal that gives the network “the ability to tell great stories,” said Dan Silver, executive producer

July 6, 2015
“Disney|ABC CTO Vince Roberts to Retire”
“To say I have been incredibly lucky to have been a part of DATG since the birth of Disney Channel would be an understatement,”