ABC - THAT'S INFOTAINMENT!

THAT'S INFOTAINMENT!

ABC News executive producer David Sloan has indicated that the network will be continuing to move toward the convergence of news and entertainment -- or "infotainment" as the controversial move has been branded. "My definition [of news] is limitless," he told Chicago Tribune TV writer Phil Rosenthal as he plugged next Monday's news special, Six Degrees of Martina McBride in which a group of six singers will try to connect with the country star in six steps or less. "It's a hybrid," Sloan said. "Look, ABC News is looking for new ways of interacting and engaging with the viewer. This represents that effort." A different sort of "hybrid," he noted, will be evident in the forthcoming six-week run of iCaught, using amateur videos posted on the Internet.

27/07/2007