March 18, 2014
ABC Television Network Affiliate Board of Governors
EndorseS New Wide-Ranging Agreement for ABC’s NewsOne
The ABC Television Network and ABC News announced today that a new, wide-ranging agreement for ABC’s NewsOne news service has been endorsed by the ABC Television Affiliates Association’s Board of Governors. The announcement was made today by John Rouse, senior vice president of ABC Affiliate Relations and Marketing; Ben Sherwood, president of ABC News; and Mike Devlin, chairman of the ABC Television Affiliates Association’s Board of Governors.
NewsOne is the affiliate news service of ABC News. NewsOne provides complete, 24/7 coverage of news and sports to ABC owned and affiliated stations, domestic programs and news organizations, foreign news agencies, as well as ABC News programs. The term of the new NewsOne Agreement is three years.
Financial details were not disclosed.
The agreement is groundbreaking in how it covers the use of news content on both the primary broadcast platform, as well as multiple other distribution methods. The new deal reflects the change in the way news is now distributed locally, nationally, and internationally, and represents a multi-year effort by the ABC Board of Governors and ABC News to update and standardize the Agreement for all participating affiliates.
“During the time that this agreement has been developed, the ways in which television stations and ABC produce news content has both expanded and changed in many ways,” said Rouse. “We have gone to great lengths to try to capture current uses, as well as anticipate future uses of video, with reciprocity as a guiding principle.”
“This important agreement – the culmination of years of work by so many people – enables ABC News, NewsOne and our strong ABC Affiliates to continue supporting outstanding news coverage nationally and in local markets,” said Sherwood. “From this flexible and creative foundation we will achieve growth and success in the future by delivering the best journalism on multiple platforms to our viewers.”
“NewsOne is a vital tool allowing affiliates and the ABC network to share high quality content,” said Devlin. “The Board is pleased that the new agreement preserves the historical NewsOne model and provides limits on content distribution, while still expanding rights to digital and social media platforms. Equally important, the affiliates and the network crafted an agreement that at its heart is symmetrical for both parties.”
ABC Media Relations: Susan Sewell 212-456-1508 [email protected]
Karen Hobson 818-460-7044 [email protected]
ABC News Media Relations:
Jeffrey Schneider 212-456-3587 [email protected]
