James Goldston on Expanded Deal with DATG and Yahoo

Disney/ABC Television Group and Yahoo today announced an extension and expansion of their long-standing relationship. ABC News President James Goldston sent the following note to the news division this morning.

Team -

I'm thrilled to announce this morning that we're expanding our relationship with Yahoo, an unrivaled alliance that has made the Yahoo-ABC News Network the #1 source for news and information online for a staggering 34 months.

When we announced our first deal in 2011, we quickly vaulted from #8 to #1 online, reaching a Super Bowl-sized audience online. Now, in the months ahead, we'll supercharge the relationship once again and, as a result, we expect to reach a substantially greater audience every day.

On Monday, March 16th, Good Morning America will launch a new daily "Yahoo Your Day" series, featuring Yahoo's line-up of top editors and experts. Flickr images will be integrated into GMA's weather reports, and we'll feature Tumblr in the Social Square. And we'll continue to collaborate on major news events, including the 2016 presidential election.

Our talented friends and partners across DATG produce some of the most incredible and popular programming on television. We're thrilled, as part of this new deal, that fans hungry for more will find sneak peeks and video clips from Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, Pretty Little Liars, Grey's Anatomy, Jimmy Kimmel Live and Dancing with the Stars on Yahoo alongside content from ABC News starting today.

Since joining forces in October 2011, our powerful partnership has delivered the exceptional journalism of ABC News to more than 129 million people across digital platforms every month. Our partnership with Yahoo has thrived in the 3 three years, creating a rich blend of live breaking news, major special events, historic newsmaker interviews and compelling digital original series. We drew a massive 10 million live streams on Election Night 2012, produced hundreds of original videos from "Power Players" to "Second Tour," and co-produced Taylor Swift's global 1989 album launch event, just to name a few. We've had a terrific run at the top thanks to all the outstanding work all of you do each day and in particular the hard work of our Digital team. A special thanks to Joe Ruffolo, Colby Smith and their team for helping us take this partnership to the next level.

The combination of ABC News' world-class journalism, DATG's hit programming and Yahoo's vast digital network, talent and technology is an unstoppable force. I'm incredibly excited about what the future will bring.

James