According to Deadline, ABC will be debuting its first daily news series on Disney+ called What You Need to Know. The show’s two anchors will be James Longman (Live with Kelly and Mark) and Rachel Scott (2025 White House Correspondents Dinner). The series will make its premiere on July 21, and each episode will be on at 6 am Eastern Standard Time. The Network describes the show as “a fast, fresh way to stay ahead of the conversation as viewers start their day.”
Deadline states that each episode will be available on demand for 24 hours before a new episode becomes available. Once a new episode drops, the previous episode is no longer accessible for viewers.
Interestingly, Good Morning America has used the tagline for the past five years, according to Deadline. Executive producer Simone Swink (Two Men at War, ABC News: Your Voice, Your Vote 2014) changed the tagline to simply GMA3, overseeing the third hour of the ABC News series. Both Longman and Scott previously worked and hosted GMA. Longman served as chief international correspondent, and Scott as a senior political correspondent.
President of ABC News, Alvin Karamehmedovic, said in a statement, “This new effort expands ABC News’ significant footprint on Disney+, allowing us to reach and connect with new and diverse audiences,” via Deadline. Disney+ has featured multiple other news series, including ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir, and Nightline. It also features a live streaming news channel.
ABC News is not the only network that will be shifting their focus on the way viewers will get the news. According to mxdwn.com CNN announced that they will be changing their focus as well. SInce 2023 CNN’s CEO, Mark Thompson has been improving and developing the website to improve their streaming platform.
What You Need to Know premieres on July 21 on Disney+.