The Walt Disney Company has made local news programming from several of its owned ABC television stations available on the Disney+ streaming platform for U.S. subscribers, effective February 25, 2026. The service now includes continuous 24/7 livestreams from eight ABC Owned Television Stations located in major markets across the country. These stations are WABC-TV in New York, KABC-TV in Los Angeles, WLS-TV in Chicago, WPVI-TV in Philadelphia, KTRK-TV in Houston, KGO-TV in San Francisco, WTVD-TV in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, and KFSN-TV in Fresno, California.
Each livestream delivers content tailored to its specific local market. This encompasses regularly scheduled newscasts, coverage of developing or breaking news events, weather information and forecasts, and reports on local community happenings and celebrations. The feeds aim to provide ongoing updates relevant to viewers in those geographic areas.
Access to these local news streams is provided through designated sections on the Disney+ platform, specifically within the ABC News Hub and the Live Hub. The arrangement allows subscribers to tune into these live broadcasts as part of the broader news offerings on the service.
Over an extended period, the company plans to implement additional personalization features. Subscribers whose location corresponds to one of the eight covered markets will gradually see their respective local station highlighted or prioritized in various places throughout the Disney+ interface beyond the dedicated news areas.
This development builds on Disney+’s existing news-related content, which consists primarily of national programming from ABC News. That lineup features daily and weekly shows such as World News Tonight, ABC News Live Prime, 20/20, Good Morning America, Nightline, This Week, and What You Need to Know. The addition of local station feeds represents an expansion of live, regionally focused journalism available directly through the streaming service.
Disney+ operates as a subscription-based platform that primarily offers entertainment content, including films and series from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. The integration of ABC News material, both national and now select local streams, positions the service as a single destination that combines entertainment with information and current events coverage.
The eight stations involved are part of the ABC Owned Television Stations group, which Disney controls in these large metropolitan areas. By bringing their continuous broadcasts onto Disney+, the company extends the reach of these traditional broadcast operations into the streaming environment, where viewers can access them alongside other on-demand and live programming without needing separate cable or over-the-air reception.
No additional subscription beyond a standard Disney+ membership is required for U.S. users to view the local news feeds. The move aligns with broader efforts by media companies to adapt legacy broadcast assets for digital streaming audiences, particularly as viewing habits continue to shift toward on-demand and app-based consumption.
This launch occurs amid ongoing developments in Disney’s streaming strategy, which has incorporated more news and live content in recent years to diversify beyond family-oriented and franchise programming. The availability of these specific local markets covers a significant portion of the U.S. population concentrated in urban centers on both coasts and in key Midwestern and Southern regions.
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