NEW YORK—Late night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel has announced that he will be streaming his Sept. 10 interview with James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Texas, on YouTube rather than showing it on TV because of potential regulatory issues.

Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr has previously threatened ABC affiliate station licenses over comments made by Kimmel.

The FCC has also issued guidance that network late night programming and talk-shows are subject to political equal time rules and launched investigations into both ABC’s “The View” talk show and the broadcast licenses of ABC-owned stations, which have been required to go through an early renewal process.

“Tomorrow night, I'll be interviewing James Talarico tomorrow under unusual circumstances,” Kimmel said in his opening monologue on Sept. 9, adding that the interview would appear on YouTube rather than TV..

“You know, for a lot of years, for the whole 20-plus years of our show, in fact, I've been interviewing Americans who are running for office with no problem at all, just like Letterman did, Leno did, Arsenio, et cetera, et cetera,” he added. “I've interviewed a lot of political candidates, from Hillary Clinton to Ted Cruz, to Donald Trump himself. I interviewed Donald Trump when he was running for president in 2015, and at that time, when he was the one sitting next to me, he seemed to have no problem with the idea of talk show hosts interviewing candidates. In fact, he was very eager to come back for another interview, which he did just before he became the nominee in 2016.”

But “[s]omething has changed now that he's president,” Kimmel said. “His FCC is threatened me, threatened our show, threatened our network, ABC, our affiliates, our local stations based on simple traditional editorial decisions, guest bookings…[S]o out of consideration for our local stations, especially our ABC affiliates in Texas, who would have to deal with this nonsense, my interview tomorrow with James Talarico will not air on television. It will be posted on YouTube instead. It will not be on TV.”

“So if you want to learn about a candidate for the Senate tomorrow, you will have to go to the Jimmy Kimmel YouTube channel, where you will see it in its entirety,” he concluded. “And thank goodness we have that, because in the America we live in right now, that is the best that we can do.”

In response, FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez once again condemned the FCC’s attempt to enforce political equal times rules on talk shows and late night programming as an example of “just how far this Administration’s campaign of censorship and control has gone. This is now the second time in a matter of months that a late-night host has disclosed they had to bury an interview because of FCC intimidation, and there is no way to know how many other editorial decisions across the country have quietly been shaped by this same pressure.”

“No host, local affiliate, or network should have to weigh federal retaliation before booking a guest for a newsworthy interview,” she added. “Any attempt to pressure broadcasters into self-censorship undermines both press freedom and the public’s right to hear from candidates in their communities seeking public office.”

Gomez also repeated her longstanding arguments that “[t]he FCC has no lawful authority to threaten broadcast licenses over guest bookings or editorial decisions. Unlike other broadcasters who have quietly capitulated, Disney’s ABC has continued to fight this unlawful coercion in court, and episodes like this one only strengthen that case…I urge broadcasters everywhere to keep resisting this pressure, and I hope courts will soon make clear that the FCC has no place dictating editorial choices or what viewers are allowed to see.”

WASHINGTON—A federal judge has set a hearing in the ABC lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission for sometime in the week of October 5.

On August 18, ABC filed a lawsuit against the FCC in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit (Case #26-cv-2902). It also filed a motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction, saying the court’s intervention "is necessary to stop the [FCC’s] extraordinary assault on free speech."

FCC Chair Brendan Carr has called the suit “meritless.”

ABC had been seeking quick court action on the motion and had asked for a hearing as early as August 24.

U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan instead issued an order setting a hearing for sometime during the week of October 5. She said however that she would move the hearing on the Temporary Restraining Order up if the FCC took action in the proceedings.

The FCC took the ruling as a victory. “We are pleased that the judge has now rejected Disney’s meritless attempt to rush into court,” a FCC spokesperson said. “The court also sided with the FCC over Disney on the schedule going forward and has declined Disney’s request for an immediate injunction. The FCC will continue to follow the facts and the law wherever they lead.”

WASHINGTON—In response to ABC’s lawsuit seeking to block the FCC’s early license renewal proceedings for ABC-owned stations, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr has blasted the lawsuit as “a meritless case based on their own campaign of disinformation,” and insisted that “the FCC will follow the facts and the law wherever they go.”

In a post on X, which Carr regularly uses to make policy pronouncements, the agency’s Chair once again insisted that FCC rules regarding the public interest requirements of broadcast licenses give the agency authority to regulate programming.

“All broadcasters have an obligation to operate in the public interest—even Disney,” he posted. “Indeed, broadcasters made a deal with the American public—in exchange for free access to a valuable public resource (the airwaves) they agreed to meet their public interest obligations. This sets them apart from cable channels or podcasts or newspapers.”

In a video accompanying the post, he also stressed that the FCC has not made an official decision on its DEI investigation but added that the investigation must have unsettled Disney.

"We have made no decision, but now Disney has rushed to court to try to stop the FCC from moving forward," he said. "And apparently, I guess Disney must be very concerned and worried about that production."

[The video is available if you click on "see more" of the X post pasted below.]

On August 18, ABC filed a blistering First Amendment lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission, asking a federal court in the nation's capital to stop the controversial early broadcast license renewal proceedings ordered by the regulator.

The FCC instituted the proceeding as part of its investigation into DEI policies at the Disney and the ABC-owned stations in April, a decision that has drawn widespread condemnation from broadcasters, former FCC officials and others.

WASHINGTON—ABC has filed a blistering First Amendment lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission, asking a federal court in the nation's capital to stop the controversial early broadcast license renewal proceedings ordered by the regulator.

The FCC instituted the proceeding as part of its investigation into DEI policies at the Disney and the ABC-owned stations in April, a decision that has drawn widespread condemnation from broadcasters, including the NAB, the FCC’s lone Democrat Commissioner Anna Gomez, free speech advocates, 13 former FCC officials, some conservative groups and the public. Around 95% of 153,318 comments filed in the proceeding have been in support of the license renewals.

“All broadcasters have a legal obligation to operate in the public interest—even Disney. The FCC has been examining claims that Disney engaged in illegal DEI discrimination for over a year,” an FCC spokesperson told TheWrap. “Disney is obviously very concerned about the FCC’s proceeding, as evidenced by their ongoing campaign of disinformation as well as their decision to ask a court to stop the FCC from further pursuing matters. The FCC will continue to follow the facts and law wherever they lead.”

As part of the lawsuit, which was filed with U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit (Case #26-cv-2902), ABC also filed a motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction on August 18.

In the motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction, ABC said that “This case boils down to a simple question: can the Administration use its control over the federal regulatory apparatus to punish a media organization for editorial decisions and news coverage it dislikes? Because the First Amendment provides a clear answer—of course not—this Court’s intervention is necessary to stop the Federal Communications Commission’s extraordinary assault on free speech.”

In the full complaint, ABC stressed that “Government censorship is deeply un-American. That fundamental principle predates the Republic, with our Founders recognizing that “the freedom of the press is one of the great[est] bulwarks of liberty.’ And it is no less true today, as the Supreme Court unanimously reaffirmed only two years ago: the government may not `use the power of the State to punish or suppress disfavored expression.’ This case concerns the Administration’s sustained effort to do just that. Acting through the Federal Communications Commission, the Administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts.”

Citing social media posts from President Donald Trump and a long list of comments by the president and FCC Chair Brendan Carr, the complaint also alleges that the retaliatory campaign “began in this Administration’s earliest days and has only intensified since. Again and again, the Administration has attacked ABC’s speech—the stories its journalists report and the viewpoints its network programs air. Over time, those attacks have escalated into express demands that ABC be stripped of its broadcast licenses because of its speech.”

“Facing this existential threat, Plaintiffs have no choice but to seek redress from the judicial branch for the Administration’s blatant retaliation for their First Amendment speech,” the complaint said. “Plaintiffs come to this Court reluctantly with no alternative means to eliminate these ongoing and immediate threats other than total capitulation to the Administration’s demands.”

The Complaint also detailed how the FCC’s actions created “irreparable harm,” both to the company and the media industry.

“The pressure exerted by the Administration’s mounting campaign of retaliation against ABC has been deeply felt throughout the company,” the complaint said. “The campaign is also calculated to operate in terrorem upon the rest of the industry: ABC is the visible target and suffers the most immediate harm, but the message is addressed to every broadcaster in the country, and the ultimate cost is borne by the press as a whole.”

In addition, “the FCC’s demand for early renewal applications reveals its intent to either hold a hearing to deny the applications or simply to subject Plaintiffs to months—and likely years—of onerous litigation and regulatory uncertainty. Either way, the agency succeeds at continuing to punish Plaintiffs.”

In a separate motion, ABC argued that the “Court should grant Plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order preventing the Commission from taking any further action with respect to its retaliatory early renewal application order and enter a preliminary injunction that halts the early renewals proceedings—and associated threats of revocation in response to ABC’s protected editorial discretion—pending the resolution of this case.”

In response to the complaint, Commissioner Gomez said in a statement that “for months, the FCC has waged a campaign of censorship and control against Disney’s ABC stations, using the threat of broadcast license revocations to punish a company for speech this administration doesn’t like. I have long called on companies to push back against this kind of government intimidation, and I’m glad Disney has shown courage and stepped up. This should be a welcome sign for every broadcaster who has felt the weight of this overreaching government pressure in silence.”

“I am hopeful that this will mark the beginning of the end of this administration’s disregard for the Constitution and the law, and that the coming months will bring the costly legal defeat this agency has been asking for since it started down this path,” she added. “It is time this administration understands that the Constitution does not bend to political convenience, and that the First Amendment protects the news and commentary Americans see on their screens even when those in power wish it didn’t.”

Freedom of the Press Foundation chief of advocacy Seth Stern said, "t’s about time for someone to take Carr and his FCC to court over their endless campaign of intimidation and retaliation against journalism that displeases Carr’s thin-skinned boss. No matter what pretexts he asserts, Carr’s modus operandi is clear: to serve as Trump’s censorship czar and abuse his office to repeatedly and exclusively target Trump’s perceived adversaries in the media, whether through sham proceedings or threatening letters and X posts. Carr knows the FCC is not the journalism police and said so regularly himself before he decided to throw away any integrity he once had to kiss up to Trump. Countless others whose First Amendment rights have been chilled by Carr’s antics should follow Disney’s lead.”

David Inserra, a fellow for free expression and technology at the Cato Institute said in a statement that "the current FCC has repeatedly used its power over broadcast speech to jawbone, punish, and threaten censorship of its political opponents. Today's lawsuit by ABC Disney against the FCC directly challenges the broad and abusive powers that Congress and prior court decisions gave the FCC. No government agency should ever be empowered to restrict free expression based on what it thinks is fair, equal, or in the best interest of the public. In a world where the American people and press can speak through print, broadcast, cable, satellite, internet, and other forms of media, there is no justification for the FCC to continue to wield such significant power over broadcast speech."

[More comments will be added as they come in.]

WASHINGTON—In a new filing, the ABC-owned stations continued their blistering critique of the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to order eight stations to undergo an early license renewal process.

In a July 29 filing, the station group blasted the agency for attempting to censor news coverage critical of the Trump administration and for being part of a larger effort by the administration to create “a media industry too fearful of official reprisal to report the news freely”

In the filing, ABC calls on the FCC to “deny the Petitions to Deny, or alternatively, dismiss these early renewal proceedings as untimely and unwarranted.”

The filing also noted widespread public support for the stations, with around 95% of 153,318 comments filed backing the stations. Those included approximately 375 community organizations supporting the license renewals, and 236 elected officials in 81 letters of support.

The lawyers signing the July 29 filing also indicated that Disney continues to bulk up its legal team as it prepares to take the issue to the courts if the FCC takes action against the stations.

Beth Wilkinson as a signatory in this filing alongside Paul Clement and Jennifer Tatel. The legal team is led by Horacio Gutierrez, senior executive vice president, chief legal and global affairs officer of The Walt Disney Company.

“For the first time in history, the Federal Communications Commission has ordered an entire group of local television stations commonly owned with a broadcast network to undergo simultaneous license renewal proceedings well before their current licenses expire,” the filing complained. “That makes these proceedings extraordinary and unprecedented. There is no question why the Commission is singling out these eight stations: Each is owned by ABC, and the Administration has openly and repeatedly called for the revocation of ABC’s licenses, because it dislikes the content and viewpoints expressed on ABC network programs.”

The filing also stressed that the “outpouring of support for the Stations has been unprecedented for a license renewal proceeding [with]...over 95% support [for] the Stations” and noted that more than 275 community organizations and advocacy groups have filed in support of ABC’s broadcast license renewals or urging the FCC to preserve the routine process, compared to around five or six groups opposing the renewals.

The filing also devoted considerable space showing that “these Stations have established deep connections with their local communities—New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, San Francisco, Raleigh-Durham [N.C.] and Fresno [Calif.]—and serve millions of viewers with award-winning original journalism, life-saving coverage during emergencies, local news stories, and locally tailored programming…Seven of the eight Stations rank first in viewership in their local markets for local news, and WABC has consistently been the most-watched local television station in the country.”

It also complained that the early license renewal is part of an effort by the FCC to crack down on content critical of the Trump Administration.

“[T]he FCC has spent the last 18 months searching for some pretext for revoking the Stations’ licenses,” it said. “The Commission has found none, because the Stations easily meet the standard for license renewal—which under the law means that the Commission cannot revoke their licenses or order a hearing on their renewal applications.”

“The retaliation against ABC is a signal to every media company in the country: accommodate the Administration’s view of what news coverage should look like or pay the price,” the filing said. “Across the government, regulatory and contracting carrots and sticks have been trained on other disfavored speakers. The tools vary; the objective does not: a media industry too fearful of official reprisal to report the news freely.”

It also stressed that denying the licenses for violations of FCC rules is an “extreme sanction.”

“Even if any violation were ever substantiated, the Commission has a graduated set of well-established remedies far short of the corporate death penalty of license non-renewal,” the stations complained. “That the agency reached first for the most extreme sanction in its arsenal, before making any finding at all, reveals its true objective: to chill not only ABC, but every broadcaster watching.”

In separate comments, Demciratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez also noted the widespread public support for the stations. As previously reported, more than 150,000 comments were received in the docket, with more than 100,000 in the last 30 days.

“When given the chance to weigh in on whether to allow the FCC to continue its campaign of censorship and control, the American public showed up in a big way, and the vast majority who spoke up delivered the same message," Gomez said. "They believe in the value of their local news, they trust those who cover their communities, and they understand that the FCC has no business deciding who is a journalist and what counts as real news. A small number of partisan voices tried to hijack this process into a referendum on a network they dislike, but the public refuses to let local stations become collateral damage in the FCC's political games. The FCC has no authority to police the ideological balance of the airwaves, and no matter what this Commission does next, the record now makes clear that this was never a genuine search for the public interest.”

WASHINGTON—The National Association of Broadcasters has filed comments rebutting arguments made by a variety of groups who have urged the FCC not to renew the broadcast licenses of eight ABC-owned stations.

The filing stressed that denying the ABC-owned stations their licenses would violate First Amendment rights, potentially censor news coverage and threaten the financial future of the broadcast industry.

NAB's filing was made in response to "petitions to deny" filed by outside organizations seeking to block the license renewals of ABC's eight owned-and-operated television stations

FCC Chair Brendan Carr has repeatedly said that the FCC would like to strengthen the financial stability of local broadcasters so they can expand their local news coverage. He has also regularly cited that goal in announcing FCC initiatives relating to broadcast sports rights, the power of broadcast networks over affiliates and the need to end ownership caps on station groups.

“Contrary to many renewal opponents’ claims, [the station renewal process]...is not designed to be an open-ended vehicle for reviewing every aspect of a licensee’s or its corporate affiliates’ businesses, resolving claims committed to other agencies and courts, or second-guessing constitutionally protected editorial decisions,” the NAB complained. “The filings opposing renewal of the ABC stations’ licenses stray well beyond these statutory boundaries. They invite the Commission to evaluate whether and how the stations covered news and public affairs, which is precisely the type of editorial judgment protected by the First Amendment and Section 326’s prohibition against censorship. Yet none of the filers makes the prima facie showing required to establish that any programming aired by the stations violated the Communications Act, the FCC’s rules, or the stations’ public interest obligations.”

“The Commission expressly limits its consideration of non-FCC misconduct to four specific areas of adjudicated conduct, none of which are implicated by the renewal opponents,” the NAB added. “Additionally, Section 309(k)(1) directs the Commission to evaluate the performance of each station during its license term – not unrelated activities involving a station owner’s theme parks, film and television studios, streaming platforms, or other non-station operations. Allowing such allegations to influence the renewal determination would disregard the statutory text and established Commission precedent and would transform a focused review of station performance into a wide-ranging investigation of an entire corporate enterprise, outside the FCC’s jurisdiction. This is exactly what the Commission wanted to avoid when denying challenges to FOX 29 Philadelphia, WTXF-TV’s renewal application just two years ago.”

“Importantly, the uncertainty engendered by use of early license renewals will inevitably discourage investment in the broadcast industry,” the filing also stressed.

“Broadcasters already struggle to obtain needed investment capital for a variety of reasons, including their lack of tangible, physical collateral, given that their primary assets are government licenses that must be periodically renewed. Even a limited number of early license call-ins will appear to investors and lenders as undermining the stability of those broadcast industry assets necessary for all stations to remain functioning businesses…No license had been called for early renewal since 1972, demonstrating that this procedure is unnecessary to ensure effective enforcement of and broadcaster compliance with FCC rules. For these reasons, the FCC should reconsider its use of the rule in this instance and consider eliminating the rule altogether.”

“In short, NAB urges the Commission to apply existing FCC precedent and the governing constitutional and statutory limits and to focus the proceeding on the question Congress made dispositive: whether each station served the viewing public in its community over the term of its license,” the NAB concluded.

The full filing is available here.

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.