As ABC News named Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff as co-anchors of “World News Tonight” last week, it also announced some major new technology initiatives at ABC’s news division.
When the new team begins January 3rd, ABC will provide live East Coast and West Coast versions each night — a first for a network newscast.
In addition to the anchored portions, reporter packages will be updated with the latest news for each feed. The change means that for the first time viewers in major markets such as Los Angeles and San Francisco will always see a live evening newscast.
In a bow to Internet viewers, Vargas and Woodruff will anchor a live daily Webcast for distribution on ABC News Now, ABCNews.com and wireless services. This marks the first time an evening newscast has produced a unique program for the Internet audience.
Also, many of the correspondent stories slated for a given night’s broadcast will be available throughout the day on the Internet. Some stories will get longer, extended play versions on ABCNews.com. There will be 24-hour updates on the latest news.
ABCNews.com will also launch a “World News Tonight” blog called The Blue Sheet. With contributions from Vargas, Woodruff and ABC News producers and writers, the blog will try to demystify the process of putting the broadcast together.
