ABC News To Upgrade Streaming News

ABC News is moving aggressively to boost its streaming service with the belief that these products will change the news business over the next decade the way cable channels CNN, Fox News and MSNBC did a generation ago.

The Associated Press reports the network said Thursday that it will hire some 50 new journalists, assign correspondents Linsey Davis and Tom Llamas to online leadership roles and increase the number of hours of live programming with the goal of becoming a round-the-clock service within a year. The rollout begins next month.

“I think this is the moment of greatest transformation for ABC News since the time of Roone Arledge,” said ABC News President James Goldston, referencing the legendary television executive who led the organization for more than two decades starting in 1977. “You will see a transformation that will be like the birth of cable.”

ABC isn’t alone in a race for dominance that includes old rivals like CBS and NBC, as well as new services like Cheddar and Newsy.

ABC has brought on Justin Dial, who worked on Vice News’ now-canceled daily news program on HBO, as senior executive producer of ABC News Live. He sees a service that combines plenty of live, breaking news coverage with longer-form reports and documentaries. “Guardians of the Amazon,” a film from the “Nightline” team about destruction of the rain forest, will premiere on the service next month.

Starting with the Iowa caucuses, Llamas will anchor breaking news coverage for ABC News Live, while Davis will host two separate one-hour newscasts to stream on weekday evenings.

Currently, ABC News streaming service shows live events and offers clips of broadcast stories.