| ABC News' main objective on social media is to reach as many users as possible and give them the latest breaking news and most interesting stories in as unique a way and as fast as possible. A key part of that is delivering the best live news coverage we can. |
| ABC News uses a mix of live video on Facebook and Twitter to reach as many users as possible during major events. We incorporate experts as appropriate to provide context to stories in our live coverage, as well as stream live press conferences, live footage of major events and protests. In addition, we clip off major moments from live coverage to deliver key moments to our users in real-time. For example, on Election Night we clipped off all major moments, including both major candidates voting, all state-by-state results, Donald Trump's victory speech and more as native videos which received millions of views in addition to our live Facebook coverage. We were a pioneer in 2016 in social live coverage, streaming for 8 hours at a time for events like the DNC, RNC, Election Night and more with curated live feeds made specifically for a digital/social audience. The ABC News political team live streamed from the spin room and watch parties before and after presidential debates, David Muir live streamed from Cuba for President Obama's historic visit there, and our team interviewed several Olympic medalists in Brazil after their Olympic wins. We also streamed spontaneous events like the man climbing Trump Tower, and planned day-of events such as the Muhammad Ali funeral. ABC News went further in experimenting with Facebook Live by doing Q & A's, including one from Brazil with our very own Dr. Besser and the head of a local hospital the day after the WHO declared Zika a public health emergency. Other Q & A's we had were with UN Ambassador Power about the fight against Boko Haram, with our Supreme Court Analyst on the SCOTUS steps after major decisions on abortion and gun control and with NASA astronauts at the ISS. We pay very close attention to our users, and adapt our social practices to fit their needs. |
At the end of 2016 we accrued over 127 million live video views from Facebook Live alone.
