Live linear news is coming to the ad-supported Roku Channel next month, including the launch of 24/7 news network ABC News Live, Roku announced Tuesday.
While ABC News Live will be the first live news feed to debut on the Roku Channel through a phased software rollout beginning in May, Roku also inked partnerships with Cheddar and PeopleTV to add their live programming to the channel.
“Today, we’re working with some of the industry’s most forward-looking news organizations such as ABC News, Cheddar, People TV, and others, to deliver yet another customer-requested feature to The Roku Channel – live and linear news,” Rob Holmes, VP of Programming at Roku said in a statement. “ABC News has been at the forefront of producing and delivering live news for OTT viewing and we’re excited to have them on-board as one of our anchor news partners.”
ABC News Live will focus on breaking news and live even coverage that will utilize the global resources of ABC News and its employees to show – not tell – users what’s going on in the world, the company said.
“Now more than ever people want to find out what’s happening in the world from a straightforward news source they know and trust,” said Colby Smith, VP of ABC News Digital, in a statement. “After experimenting with thousands of livestreams and analyzing the data, we’re excited to launch ABC News Live for younger viewers who increasingly rely on Roku and non-linear platforms for their news.”
The new channel will be exclusive to the Roku channel, but the ABC News website may carry some of the same programming for breaking news events, according to Variety.
“It’s a lot like a CNN moment for OTT,” Smith told the outlet in a briefing.
The upcoming software rollout will also include a new ‘Collections’ feature that lets customers explore content based on curated themes, as well as a ‘Continue Watching’ update making it easier for users to pick up where they left off.
Roku said its OS 8.1 will add multicast private listening to multiple devices through the Roku mobile app.
Roku launched its free streaming channel last September, with access to Hollywood classics and feature length films, and has since become the number three ad-supported channel and the fifteenth top channel on the Roku platform.
