ABC Television Group has introduced livestreaming, via its WATCH ABC app, enabling users to observe its channels on their mobile devices live for the primary time ever.

Livestreaming will initially be available to users in Big apple and Philadelphia, starting today, as portion of a pilot/preview running until the top of June. Over the process the summer, it should also roll out to La, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham, and Fresno, and ABC has signed a handle Hearst Television to launch the service in a further 13 markets.

“WATCH ABC is a game-changing innovation for the published television industry. Were extremely excited to provide this open access preview to our WABC and WPVI viewers in Manhattan and Philadelphia. This announcement represents a defining moment in technology and distribution, in addition to for our advertising and affiliate partners, as we guantee that our high-quality content is accessible to viewers on a number of devices,” said Anne Sweeney, president of the Disney/ABC Television Group. “Our mission with this special preview is to collect key learnings concerning the service and the shoppers who put it to use to ensure that our WATCH products to be the most excellent experience of authenticated multiplatform viewing.”

The WATCH ABC app is currently available for iOS and Kindle Fire devices, with a Samsung Galaxy version being added this summer.