ABC15 Launches Interactive News Talk program: Now@9

 (Phoenix, AZ) ABC15 launches Now@9, an innovative local news talk program, weekdays at 9 a.m., beginning Monday, August 30, 2010. Now@9 is a show like no other in the Phoenix television viewing area.

Now@9 is a combination of news, talk, buzz, and entertainment, including digital and social media. The local news talk program will incorporate viewer opinions and comments as the center of a live discussion everyday. Now@9 is interactive with viewers about the big stories of the day. This new program gets the viewer involved by giving them a voice in the debate about the day’s hottest topics and encourages them to join the conversation via abc15.com, Facebook, and Twitter.

The show will air on ABC15 television and streamed live at www.abc15.com. Viewers are able to follow Now@9 on Twitter using the hashtag #now15 and  Facebook.com/abc15.

Janice Todd, vice president and general manager of ABC15, says “Now@9 is ABC15’s new brand of local news, talk, and information. The show is designed to be interactive with comments and feedback from our viewers via social media and ABC15.com. Audience engagement is at the core of Now@9’s format. We will be giving a voice to our audience on all platforms. We are very excited about the opportunity to provide a new format of news programming and it is our hope that Arizona viewers will watch and tells us what they think”. 

Now@9 is anchored by Rebecca Thomas, Kirk Yuhnke, Susan Casper, and Daybreak meteorologist Amber Sullins.  Thomas and Yuhnke are co-anchors of Daybreak on ABC15 News, as well as multimedia journalists.  Casper, an award-winning multimedia journalist, co-anchors ABC15 News at 4 p.m. 

For a behind the scenes look click HERE. During the week of August 23, viewers can see real-time show rehearsals via a live stream at abc15.com, over the air on ABC15 digital channel 15.2 and Cox cable digital channel 95, starting at 9 a.m. 

Scripps Media, Inc. (www.scripps.com) is a diverse, 130-year-old media enterprise with interests in broadcast television stations, newspaper publishing, and licensing and syndication.

The company's portfolio of locally focused media properties includes: 10 broadcast TV stations, with six ABC-affiliated stations, three NBC affiliates and one independent; daily and community newspapers in 15 markets and the Washington, D.C.-based Scripps Media Center, home of the Scripps Howard News Service; and United Media, the licensor and syndicator of Peanuts, Dilbert and approximately 150 other features and comics.