News is a little old but I haven't seen anyone post about this...
7/21/2004 8:03:00 AM
ABC News On Demand Video and ABC News Live Launch Today on Comcast.net
Comcast Announces Its Online Kids Channel, to Include Disney Family Content
PHILADELPHIA, NEW YORK and NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Jul 21, 2004 /PRNewswire via
COMTEX/ -- -- Comcast, the nation's leading broadband Internet provider, ABC News and
the Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) today announced one of the industry's most
comprehensive broadband content distribution deals to date.
This agreement makes ABC News on demand video and ABC News Live, 24/7 live streaming
news programming, immediately and easily accessible to Comcast's 5.7+ million
High-Speed Internet customers, at no additional cost.
Comcast also announced today that it plans to launch an online Kids Channel. Disney
will provide Disney Connection, its broadband entertainment destination for kids ages
3-11, to support Comcast's launch planned for later this year. This will mark the
first North American launch of the internationally popular Disney Connection.
ABC News on Comcast.net
Reports from across all ABC News broadcasts are now available on Comcast.net's
Internet News Channel - the site's most popular channel. Comcast High-Speed Internet
customers can now watch Nightline in its entirety, as well as on demand news reports
from World News Tonight, Good Morning America, This Week, 20/20 and Primetime Live.
In addition to this expansive offering of on demand programming, ABC News Live also
launches today on Comcast.net. ABC News Live, a built-for-broadband streaming
application, delivers live breaking news events, hourly news briefs, and reports from
ABC News correspondents. Beginning July 26, ABC News Live will provide unprecedented
coverage of the national conventions, with Peter Jennings anchoring nightly
gavel-to-gavel programming from Boston and New York. Regularly scheduled programming
includes a daily political newscast, Politics Live, airing at 1:00 p.m. ET and a
one-hour special, Vote 2004, at 7:00 p.m. ET during the conventions.
Comcast's Kids Channel with Disney Connection
Comcast will leverage the premier content of Disney Connection for its upcoming
online Kids Channel, a safe interactive environment designed for today's broadband
family. This channel is designed to further extend Comcast's broadband offering,
with content that parents trust to educate and entertain their children. Forty
percent of Comcast High-Speed Internet households include kids.
Disney Connection includes a regularly updated slate of games, activities and video
from Disney, as well as select access to premium Disney offerings: Disney's Blast
(http://www.disneyblast.com), and Disney's Toontown Online (http://www.toontown.com).
Disney Connection basic and premium content will evolve over time. A premium,
interactive educational service for preschoolers, in development now and slated for
launch in 2005, will be added to Disney Connection.
"Delivering content from well-known and well-trusted brands over a true broadband
network is key to providing our customers the best possible broadband Internet
experience. This agreement with Disney and ABC News enables us to add significant
value to our customers' lives - specifically in areas of high interest including,
kids, news, and entertainment. Furthermore, by providing our customers with a
dedicated kids channel and offering built- for-broadband services such as ABC News
Live, we can continue to provide an unparalleled broadband Internet experience," said
Greg Butz, senior vice president, marketing and business development for Comcast's
online business.
"Our agreement with Disney marks one of the most comprehensive broadband agreements
in our industry to date. The power of combining best-in-class content with
built-for-broadband applications cannot be underestimated," Butz concluded.
"Broadband offers exciting new opportunities for us to bring quality news
programming to our audiences in new ways at a time when the interest in news and
politics couldn't be greater. We're delighted to team with Comcast, the number one
broadband provider, and to introduce Comcast's more than 5.7 million current
customers to ABC News Live and our video on-demand programming," said David Westin,
President of ABC News.
"We are very happy to extend our Company's relationship with Comcast from cable
television content to broadband Internet," said Steve Wadsworth, president, Walt
Disney Internet Group. "With the rapid growth in broadband to the home, families are
now enjoying appropriate rich-media content, and we are pleased to be working with
Comcast to answer this need. The consumer wins through access to advanced content
from brands they know and love, which can both help attract new broadband access
subscribers and provide existing subscribers with a premier broadband experience."
About ABC News
More Americans get their news from ABC News than from any other source. Through its
platforms on television, radio, and the Internet, ABC News reaches an average of more
than 200 million people each week. ABC News programs are seen in 88 countries
worldwide. David Westin was named president of ABC News in March 1997.
ABCNEWS.com and ABC News Live are part of the ABC News Digital Media Group. ABC
News launched ABC News Live on ABCNEWS.com in March 2003. Bernard Gershon is senior
vice president and general manager of the ABC News Digital Media Group.
About Disney Toontown Online
Disney's Toontown Online is the first massively multiplayer 3D online game created
for kids and families and combines elements of traditional video games, online
community and strategic role playing games. Among other awards, it has been named
2004 Game Industry News Family Game of the Year and the Massively Multiplayer Online
Role Playing Game (MMORPG) Game of the Year 2003 by Computer Gaming World. Disney's
Blast is an online world of games, stories and activities for kids 3-9. Comcast
customers will be offered special rates for full subscriptions to these premium
products.
About Comcast
Headquartered in Philadelphia, Comcast Cable is a division of Comcast Corporation ,
a developer, manager and operator of broadband cable networks and provider of
programming content. With a presence in 22 of the top 25 U.S. markets, Comcast is one
of the leading communications, media and entertainment companies in the world.
Providing basic cable, Digital Cable, high-speed Internet and telephone services,
Comcast is the company to look to first for the communications products and services
that connect people to what's important in their lives. The company's 59,000
employees serve more than 21 million customers.
About Comcast.net
Comcast's premier broadband online service, http://www.comcast.net features news,
weather, and stocks, plus exclusive broadband content with streaming video and
high-quality sound. This agreement adds even more valuable on-demand content that
can be easily searched and viewed on the site through The Fan(TM) which contains news
clips, interview segments, short animations and movie trailers. Comcast.net was
recently ranked the No. 1 most-used broadband portal (May 2004 Nielsen/NetRatings*).
Comcast.net features include:
-- The Fan, an innovative broadband video player. Since its launch on
http://www.comcast.net, video usage on the site has increased by a
factor of 15.
-- The Assistant, a personalized toolbar with always-on utilities such
as weather, sports scores, stock watch lists, horoscopes and much,
much more.
-- Content from leading providers such as E!, G4, The Weather Channel,
IFC, Planeta Networks, Atom Films, and others
-- Comcast Rhapsody, the country's leading Internet jukebox service that
provides subscribers with unlimited access to a vast library of music
from all five major labels plus more than 200 independent music
labels.
-- "AskComcast," an interactive help tool developed using technology
from Conversagent. This interactive agent "chats" with Comcast High-
Speed Internet customers in a conversational personalized way,
helping them find information they desire about their service and its
features.
About Walt Disney Internet Group
Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) provides strategic leadership and operational
management for The Walt Disney Company's Internet properties including category
leaders Disney.com, ESPN.com and ABCNEWS.com. A market leader in developing and
distributing entertainment and informational content to new platforms, WDIG is
committed to creating and delivering products for broadband distribution including:
ABC News On Demand, a subscription video news service that offers the Internet's
first 24-hour, live Internet-only news channel and top ABC News programs for on
demand viewing; Disney Connection; and WDIG Motion, a proprietary video technology
for broadband users. Through relationships with some of the world's largest wireless
carriers, WDIG distributes content and services to wireless users under the Disney,
ESPN and ABC brands. Additionally, WDIG has led the way in developing interactive
content for televised programming through its Enhanced TV service. Steve Wadsworth is
president of WDIG, which is headquartered in North Hollywood and has operations in
Seattle, New York, Orlando, Fla., Tokyo and London.
*Nielsen/NetRatings, May 2004 - broadband portal defined designed for broadband
users and drawing more than 90% of visits from broadband connections
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/tools/quotes/newsarticle.asp?print=1&symb=DIS&guid={41DA7BD6-2ACE-4D64-93B0-137F77F65302}&siteid=mktw
7/21/2004 8:03:00 AM
ABC News On Demand Video and ABC News Live Launch Today on Comcast.net
Comcast Announces Its Online Kids Channel, to Include Disney Family Content
PHILADELPHIA, NEW YORK and NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Jul 21, 2004 /PRNewswire via
COMTEX/ -- -- Comcast, the nation's leading broadband Internet provider, ABC News and
the Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) today announced one of the industry's most
comprehensive broadband content distribution deals to date.
This agreement makes ABC News on demand video and ABC News Live, 24/7 live streaming
news programming, immediately and easily accessible to Comcast's 5.7+ million
High-Speed Internet customers, at no additional cost.
Comcast also announced today that it plans to launch an online Kids Channel. Disney
will provide Disney Connection, its broadband entertainment destination for kids ages
3-11, to support Comcast's launch planned for later this year. This will mark the
first North American launch of the internationally popular Disney Connection.
ABC News on Comcast.net
Reports from across all ABC News broadcasts are now available on Comcast.net's
Internet News Channel - the site's most popular channel. Comcast High-Speed Internet
customers can now watch Nightline in its entirety, as well as on demand news reports
from World News Tonight, Good Morning America, This Week, 20/20 and Primetime Live.
In addition to this expansive offering of on demand programming, ABC News Live also
launches today on Comcast.net. ABC News Live, a built-for-broadband streaming
application, delivers live breaking news events, hourly news briefs, and reports from
ABC News correspondents. Beginning July 26, ABC News Live will provide unprecedented
coverage of the national conventions, with Peter Jennings anchoring nightly
gavel-to-gavel programming from Boston and New York. Regularly scheduled programming
includes a daily political newscast, Politics Live, airing at 1:00 p.m. ET and a
one-hour special, Vote 2004, at 7:00 p.m. ET during the conventions.
Comcast's Kids Channel with Disney Connection
Comcast will leverage the premier content of Disney Connection for its upcoming
online Kids Channel, a safe interactive environment designed for today's broadband
family. This channel is designed to further extend Comcast's broadband offering,
with content that parents trust to educate and entertain their children. Forty
percent of Comcast High-Speed Internet households include kids.
Disney Connection includes a regularly updated slate of games, activities and video
from Disney, as well as select access to premium Disney offerings: Disney's Blast
(http://www.disneyblast.com), and Disney's Toontown Online (http://www.toontown.com).
Disney Connection basic and premium content will evolve over time. A premium,
interactive educational service for preschoolers, in development now and slated for
launch in 2005, will be added to Disney Connection.
"Delivering content from well-known and well-trusted brands over a true broadband
network is key to providing our customers the best possible broadband Internet
experience. This agreement with Disney and ABC News enables us to add significant
value to our customers' lives - specifically in areas of high interest including,
kids, news, and entertainment. Furthermore, by providing our customers with a
dedicated kids channel and offering built- for-broadband services such as ABC News
Live, we can continue to provide an unparalleled broadband Internet experience," said
Greg Butz, senior vice president, marketing and business development for Comcast's
online business.
"Our agreement with Disney marks one of the most comprehensive broadband agreements
in our industry to date. The power of combining best-in-class content with
built-for-broadband applications cannot be underestimated," Butz concluded.
"Broadband offers exciting new opportunities for us to bring quality news
programming to our audiences in new ways at a time when the interest in news and
politics couldn't be greater. We're delighted to team with Comcast, the number one
broadband provider, and to introduce Comcast's more than 5.7 million current
customers to ABC News Live and our video on-demand programming," said David Westin,
President of ABC News.
"We are very happy to extend our Company's relationship with Comcast from cable
television content to broadband Internet," said Steve Wadsworth, president, Walt
Disney Internet Group. "With the rapid growth in broadband to the home, families are
now enjoying appropriate rich-media content, and we are pleased to be working with
Comcast to answer this need. The consumer wins through access to advanced content
from brands they know and love, which can both help attract new broadband access
subscribers and provide existing subscribers with a premier broadband experience."
About ABC News
More Americans get their news from ABC News than from any other source. Through its
platforms on television, radio, and the Internet, ABC News reaches an average of more
than 200 million people each week. ABC News programs are seen in 88 countries
worldwide. David Westin was named president of ABC News in March 1997.
ABCNEWS.com and ABC News Live are part of the ABC News Digital Media Group. ABC
News launched ABC News Live on ABCNEWS.com in March 2003. Bernard Gershon is senior
vice president and general manager of the ABC News Digital Media Group.
About Disney Toontown Online
Disney's Toontown Online is the first massively multiplayer 3D online game created
for kids and families and combines elements of traditional video games, online
community and strategic role playing games. Among other awards, it has been named
2004 Game Industry News Family Game of the Year and the Massively Multiplayer Online
Role Playing Game (MMORPG) Game of the Year 2003 by Computer Gaming World. Disney's
Blast is an online world of games, stories and activities for kids 3-9. Comcast
customers will be offered special rates for full subscriptions to these premium
products.
About Comcast
Headquartered in Philadelphia, Comcast Cable is a division of Comcast Corporation ,
a developer, manager and operator of broadband cable networks and provider of
programming content. With a presence in 22 of the top 25 U.S. markets, Comcast is one
of the leading communications, media and entertainment companies in the world.
Providing basic cable, Digital Cable, high-speed Internet and telephone services,
Comcast is the company to look to first for the communications products and services
that connect people to what's important in their lives. The company's 59,000
employees serve more than 21 million customers.
About Comcast.net
Comcast's premier broadband online service, http://www.comcast.net features news,
weather, and stocks, plus exclusive broadband content with streaming video and
high-quality sound. This agreement adds even more valuable on-demand content that
can be easily searched and viewed on the site through The Fan(TM) which contains news
clips, interview segments, short animations and movie trailers. Comcast.net was
recently ranked the No. 1 most-used broadband portal (May 2004 Nielsen/NetRatings*).
Comcast.net features include:
-- The Fan, an innovative broadband video player. Since its launch on
http://www.comcast.net, video usage on the site has increased by a
factor of 15.
-- The Assistant, a personalized toolbar with always-on utilities such
as weather, sports scores, stock watch lists, horoscopes and much,
much more.
-- Content from leading providers such as E!, G4, The Weather Channel,
IFC, Planeta Networks, Atom Films, and others
-- Comcast Rhapsody, the country's leading Internet jukebox service that
provides subscribers with unlimited access to a vast library of music
from all five major labels plus more than 200 independent music
labels.
-- "AskComcast," an interactive help tool developed using technology
from Conversagent. This interactive agent "chats" with Comcast High-
Speed Internet customers in a conversational personalized way,
helping them find information they desire about their service and its
features.
About Walt Disney Internet Group
Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) provides strategic leadership and operational
management for The Walt Disney Company's Internet properties including category
leaders Disney.com, ESPN.com and ABCNEWS.com. A market leader in developing and
distributing entertainment and informational content to new platforms, WDIG is
committed to creating and delivering products for broadband distribution including:
ABC News On Demand, a subscription video news service that offers the Internet's
first 24-hour, live Internet-only news channel and top ABC News programs for on
demand viewing; Disney Connection; and WDIG Motion, a proprietary video technology
for broadband users. Through relationships with some of the world's largest wireless
carriers, WDIG distributes content and services to wireless users under the Disney,
ESPN and ABC brands. Additionally, WDIG has led the way in developing interactive
content for televised programming through its Enhanced TV service. Steve Wadsworth is
president of WDIG, which is headquartered in North Hollywood and has operations in
Seattle, New York, Orlando, Fla., Tokyo and London.
*Nielsen/NetRatings, May 2004 - broadband portal defined designed for broadband
users and drawing more than 90% of visits from broadband connections
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/tools/quotes/newsarticle.asp?print=1&symb=DIS&guid={41DA7BD6-2ACE-4D64-93B0-137F77F65302}&siteid=mktw
