[opendtv] Re: news: ABC News Now Leaving Airwaves

At 11:01 PM -0800 1/26/05, johnwillkie@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>The sad fact here is that by just offering it as an interim service,
>several affiliates that I know of decided not to carry the service because
>there was no assurance that it would be operating after September 1.
>Doomed from the start.
>
>Oddly enough, at the tech retreat today, M. Streyn of ABC said that the
>future of ABC News Now was up in the air.  I wonder what their next
>multicasting attempt will be, or will they devote themselves to allocating
>18 mb/sec to HDTV?

Did Streyn also explain why ABC changed its story the day after the 
announcement?

The original story stated that the channel would be pulled from 
affiliates, then re-surface as a 24/7 cable net for which they can 
charge subscriber fees. The next day this explanation disappeared, 
replaced by new story, that ABC would create an online service 
instead.

Anyone in the news business is going to address multiple markets and 
distribution platforms, including broadcast (Radio and TV), 
cable/DBS, and online.

When it became clear that the FCC is not going to authorize 
must-carry for DTB multicasts, ABC had no choice but to change 
strategies. ABC News Now will re-surface as a cable news channel 
sometime in the next year.

Regards
Craig
 
 
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