BALTIMORE—Sinclair Broadcast Group has announced a new broadcast affiliate distribution agreement with ABC Owned Television Stations that will make Charge!, one of Sinclair’s free, over-the-air, national broadcast TV networks, available on ABC Owned Television Stations’ Diginet 3.

Beginning April 1, Charge! will launch on the following ABC Owned Television Stations: WABC-TV New York channel 7.3, KABC-TV Los Angeles channel 7.3, WLS-TV Chicago channel 7.3, WPVI-TV Philadelphia channel 6.3, KTRK-TV Houston channel 13.3, , KGO-TV San Francisco channel 7.3, WTVD-TV Raleigh Durham channel 11.3 and KFSN-TV Fresno channel 30.3.

Charge!’s move into the big 4 network channel positions in the country’s largest markets, adds over four million new, over-the-air TV households as well as 3.73 million new pay TV/cable households. With the addition of this distribution agreement, Charge! can now be seen over-the-air in 109 U.S. markets, including nine of the Top-10 markets, Sinclair reported. 

“We are thrilled to launch Charge! and broaden our partnership with ABC Owned Television Stations. Sinclair continues to grow our multicast networks and secure big- 4 network row positioning for the launch of Charge! on all eight ABC powerhouse stations was a key strategic initiative,” said Lee Schlazer, senior vice president of distribution.

More information is available here. 

BURBANK, Calif.— ABC Owned Television Stations announced that award-winning WABC-TV news executive Chad Matthews has been appointed to the position of president. Matthews will report directly to Debra OConnell, president, Networks, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, and have chief management responsibility for the eight ABC-owned television stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham and Fresno.

In a statement announcing the appointment, OConnell said, “His strategic vision, passion for local news, forward thinking roll-up your sleeves attitude and commitment to teamwork are among the many attributes that will ensure that under his leadership our Owned Television Stations will continue to thrive.”

Matthews assumes the role from his position as president and GM of ABC7/WABC-TV - New York. He had overall management responsibility for ABC7/WABC-TV and its ancillary businesses, including operational oversight of “Live with Kelly and Ryan.”

Under his leadership, the team transitioned the station to a remote workforce to produce “Eyewitness News” without interruption at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic; oversaw the station’s broadcast of New York City’s intensely followed mayoral debate; and produced countless stories and specials documenting social justice reckoning leading up to and then increasing after the murder of George Floyd.

To mark the anniversary of 9/11, his team produced “Eyewitness to 9/11: Behind the Lens,” a 50-minute documentary that featured interviews with WABC team members who were reporting and experiencing the horrifying events of 9/11 as they unfolded. 

He helped grow the station’s digital presence, overseeing its launch on connected TV apps on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku, and shepherding record growth across digital platforms. 

Over the last year, the station won 17 Emmys. They were also recognized with three regional Edward R. Murrow awards. Sister publication Broadcasting + Cable named Matthews GM of the Year for 2021.

Matthews started his career at WABC in 2000 and spent five years at NBC-owned WTVJ beginning in 2012 before returning to WABC in 2017.

NEW YORK—The ABC Owned Television Stations group has announced that it is expanding its true-crime and "Unsolved" slate and will start to make them available on Hulu on Dec. 21.

The station group's slate of documentaries highlights greed, murder and a mysterious disappearance, produced by 6ABC/WPVI-TV Philadelphia, ABC13/KTRK-TV Houston and ABC7/KABC-TV Los Angeles. 

The ABC Owned Television Stations' slate, set to be released Tuesday, Dec. 21 on Hulu, includes the following productions:

• 6ABC/WPVI-TV Philadelphia premieres the documentary "No Good Deed: A Crowdfunding Holiday Heist," about what started as a heartwarming 2017 holiday story that turned into the biggest scandal in GoFundMe history, which WPVI investigated and  reported. WPVI also created a detailed "No Good Deed" immersive experience site that takes viewers through a timeline of events. The immersive page shares actual social media posts, audio recordings, text messages, court documents and other factors of this scandal.
• ABC13/KTRK-TV Houston releases "Texas True Crime: The Candyman Murders" on Hulu about a case that haunted a Texas community nearly 50 years ago. ABC13 reporter Jessica Willey revisits killer Dean Corll's horrific mass murders that dubbed him a "serial killer" before the term was widely used. 
• ABC7/KABC-TV Los Angeles, the most-watched station in Southern California, releases "Unsolved LA: The Disappearance of Mitrice Richardson" on Hulu about a 2009 unsolved mystery of a young woman who vanished near Malibu Creek State Park.

 PHILADELPHIA & BURBANK, Calif.—Comcast and The Walt Disney Company have renewed a wide ranging content carriage agreement. As part of the new deal, which includes ABC owned stations, cable networks and streaming services, ESPN’S ACC Network will launch in coming weeks to Comcast’s  Xfinity customers, providing fans of the Atlantic Coast Conference access to the multiplatform network.

The multi-year agreement encompasses continued distribution of Disney’s cable channels, including the ESPN networks, the Disney branded channels, Freeform, the FX networks, and the National Geographic channels. The renewal also includes continued distribution of the SEC Network, now in its eighth season, as well as retransmission consent for the ABC Owned Television Stations in New York (ABC7/WABC-TV), Chicago (ABC7/WLS-TV), Philadelphia (6ABC/WPVI-TV), San Francisco (ABC7/KGO-TV), Houston (ABC13/KTRK-TV), Raleigh-Durham (ABC11/WTVD-TV) and Fresno (ABC30/KFSN-TV). 

Earlier this year, Comcast launched Disney+ and ESPN+ to Xfinity customers and those services continue to be available.

“We are very pleased to have reached this comprehensive agreement with Disney to continue providing Xfinity customers access to their content across our industry-leading platforms,” said Rebecca Heap, senior vice president, consumer products & propositions, Comcast Cable.

“We’re very happy to extend our longstanding relationship with Comcast and continue to provide their Xfinity customers with Disney’s best-in-class programming,” added Sean Breen, executive vice president, platform distribution, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution. “In addition to our news, sports and general entertainment offerings, the launch of the ACC Network in the coming weeks, paired with the renewal of the SEC Network, will give Xfinity’s college sports fans long-awaited access to their favorite games.”

The ABC Owned Television Stations Group said it is starting a new community journalist program that will create local content for audiences on multiple platforms.

The stations plan to hire more than 20 journalists in the first year of the program. The first 10 will be hired by KABC-TV, in Los Angeles. The others will be located in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Houston.

“We are always evolving how we inform and reflect the communities we serve based on the changes we see in our audiences,” said Wendy McMahon, president, ABC Owned Television Stations Group. “Interest in local content is growing rapidly and, at the same time, it’s becoming increasingly granular. With this commitment, we are re-imagining the future of local newsgathering to more strategically meet those demands and to ensure that we continue to be the leaders in our local markets.”

KABC is looking for participation from local universities and other institutions to identify candidates for the Los Angeles market who will live in the communities they cover. Applicants should be proficient in newsgathering and able to shoot, edit and publish stories for digital, social and linear distribution. The University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism has already committed to recruiting graduates to the program.

“Our idea is to ‘make SoCal small’ by enhancing and broadening our coverage to create a deeper, more authentic local connection,” said Cheryl Fair, president and general manager, KABC. “We want these reporters to truly engage with and be a part of the communities they cover.”

ABC Owned Television Stations recently launched the digital-first video brand Localish, which creates "good news" stories from local markets and distributes them nationally for viewers on mobile platforms.

Facing a generation that’s cutting the cable cord but is glued to its iPhones, the ABC Owned Stations Group is creating a new brand designed to appeal to mobile millennials.

The new brand, dubbed 'Localish,' focuses on hyper-local stories produced by the stations with a national appeal, distributed on digital and social platforms.

Like other traditional media organizations, the ABC stations are looking to remain relevant to younger, digital native consumers.

“Localish is built around the idea of producing content for this mobile-first audience whose interests might be a bit different than what we produce day-to-day,” said Wendy McMahon, president of ABC Owned Stations.

“This is a new venture to create an environment where we can experiment with new kinds of storytelling and new kinds of distribution.”

In addition to being among the top-rated broadcasters in their markets, the eight ABC stations have a big digital presence and massive social footprints. That makes them well equipped to serve what it seems as a demand for local programming and information.

McMahon says that nearly 50% of all Google searches have local intent and there’s been a 900% increase in search inquiries using the words “near me.”

”We believe in the mission of the ABC Owned Television Stations, which is to inform and reflect and to serve our communities.” she said. “We have so many amazing people in each of our communities. These fantastic stories of either hope or things to do with your family and your friends on weekends, that’s every bit as important to our communities on a day to day basis as some of the harder news stories that we produce.”

The first series produced under the Localish brand is More in Common, a series about celebrating unexpected connections between people. The show has been appearing on Facebook Watch’s new news section and attracted more than 9 million video views and 95,000 followers.

With the official launch this week of Localish, three more series are being added:

• Secretly Awesome, which introduces viewers to spots locals love

• My Go-To, which features local influencers bringing viewers into their favorite hangouts

• Worth the Wait, which tells whether the the long lines at the hotspots are really worth it.

“We often say this brand is very much created by for and about millennials. The content is produced in a way that is digital, mobile and video first. There’s an addressable audience of about 63 million people. So there is a real need and intent for this type of content,” says Jennifer Mitchell, senior VP content development, ABC Owned Television Station Group.

ABC did some research and found that millennials feel better about their communities they live in than the world at large. “We are better positioned to serve this need given the deep connections that we have and have had for decades in our local communities,” Mitchell said.

Other shows due to launch in October are based on data that shows that certain categories are interesting to Localish’s target audience. They include Staycation, a travel series, Bite Sized, about food and Pumped, a fitness series.

The content can be found on the the ABC.com website, the network’s iOS and Android apps and its over-the-top platforms including Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV. It will also be on Facebook Watch, Twitter, YouTube Instagram and syndicated via Oath and Apple News.

“We’re also thinking about a strategic play around over the top, meaning we may be thinking about popping up an OTT channel,” McMahon said.

Localish is looking to have a dual revenue stream. Some distributors, including Facebook Watch are paying for content and negotiations are underway to get fees from other platforms. Localish will also have national and local advertising,with enhanced targeting available on the local front.

“We are in the branded content business,” McMahon added. “That’s an opportunity for a product that wants to be a part of this very advertiser-friendly brand.

The ABC Stations will be promoting the new Localish content in its newscasts and other programming. Promotion and content will also appear on the stations’ digital sites, social handles and apps.

“In addition to being the market leaders in their respective DMAs they’re also a tremendous megaphone,” McMahon said. “Because of the connection that we have with our communities, our audiences trust that when we invite them to participate and be a part of something, we tend to get support there.”

Localish will also be supported by other Disney properties, including ABC’s Good Morning America, World News Tonight, Nightline and the Disney Digital Network.

There will also be paid media supporting the launch, with much of that social platforms.

“We’re talking about holding events in some of our markets and inviting people and businesses that have been featured in some of the content to attend, along with some of the influencers we’re working with as part of these series,” Mitchell added.