ABC OWNED TELEVISION STATIONS FURTHER SOLIDIFY THEIR COMMITMENT TO SERVE THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY AND THEIR ALLIES WITH PREMIUM CONTENT AND COMMUNITY RESOURCES ACROSS ITS EIGHT STATIONS IN CELEBRATION OF PRIDE MONTH 2021
In a Range of Annual Pride Parade Coverage Across Linear—Including the Exclusive Streaming Special ‘Our America: Who I’m Meant to Be,’ Daily News Reporting, Educational Town Halls and Community Resources—Pride is on Display Across the Eight-Owned Stations’ Markets
ABC Owned Television Stations announce their content for Pride Month, with the addition of educational town halls and community resources for the LGBTQ+ community and viewers across their markets of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, San Francisco, Raleigh-Durham and Fresno.
Yesterday, ABC Owned Television Stations released the two-episode premiere of “Our America: Who I’m Meant to Be,” with full episodes of the series available for viewers beginning June 21 on the station group’s connected TV apps. The eight-episode short documentary series amplifies the voices of the transgender community across America through first-person narratives. OnJune 23, the “Our America: Who I’m Meant to Be”town hall will be available to stream across the station group’s connected TV apps. The post-documentary will discuss issues impacting the transgender community. The town hall will be co-hosted by transgender activist and award-winning writer Raquel Willis and KGO-TV reporter Reggie Aqui.
ABC7/KABC-TV Los Angeles, Southern California’s most-watched station, will exclusively air “Thrive with Pride Celebration,” SATURDAY, June 12, (9:00-10:00 p.m. PDT). The special is co-produced by ABC7 Los Angeles and Christopher West. Actress Raven-Symoné and ABC7 “Eyewitness News” anchors Ellen Leyva and Brandi Hitt host the one-hour special, with correspondents Karl Schmid and Eric Resendiz. Highlights from the special include how the LGBTQ+ community has evolved over the past five decades, where the community stands today in terms of equality, honors LGBTQ+ frontline heroes, and revisits the tragedy of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando on the fifth anniversary. The special also includes several pride performances from award-winning musicians such as the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles and the Backstreet Boys’ AJ McLean, performing his song “Love Song Love,” which celebrates the transgender community. Special appearances include “Grey’s Anatomy” star Jake Borelli, “Pose” stars Billy Porter and Mj Rodriguez, Freeform’s “Everything’s Gonna be Okay” star Adam Faison, and the cast of Hulu’s “Love, Victor.” Viewers can find uplifting pride content all year long HERE.
ABC7/WABC-TV, the most-watched station in the nation, is the broadcast partner for the “2021 NYC Pride March” for the fifth year in a row. Throughout the month, the No. 1 station will feature local LGBTQ+ leaders and provide resources and local news coverage celebrating Pride, leading up to a three-hour celebration of the “2021 NYC Pride March,” airing on SUNDAY, June 27 (12:00-3:00 p.m. EDT) and available on streaming platforms. Grand Marshals Wilson Cruz, Ceyenne Doroshow, Menaka Guruswamy and Arundhati Katju, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, and Aaron Philip are heading this year’s celebration. Viewers can find uplifting pride content all year long HERE.
An overview of Pride Month programming across linear and streaming includes the following:
ABC7/WLS-TV Chicago celebrates Pride month featuring extensive news coverage of LGBTQ+ issues, events and activities. ABC7 will air a half-hour special, “Our Chicago: Celebrating Pride” on SATURDAY, June 26 (6:30 p.m. CDT) with a rebroadcast on SUNDAY, June 27 (11:00 p.m. CDT).In addition, ABC7 Chicago hosts two streaming “Our Chicago: Voices of the Community” town halls hosted by WLS’s “I-Team” consumer investigator Jason Knowles. The first town hall, “Issues Facing the LGBTQ+ Community,” airs on THURSDAY, JUNE 10 (2:00-3:00 p.m. CDT). The forum will share programs to address anti-gay hate, legislation impacting transgender people, and whether the lesbian community feels heard within the general LGBTQ+ discourse. Expert panelists will discuss “Northalsted” (the new name for the historically gay neighborhood known as “Boystown”) and the petition to change the name, and the controversy surrounding current FDA (Food and Drug Administration) restrictions on blood donations from gay men. The second town hall,“LGBTQ+ Youth Town Hall” is available on THURSDAY, June 24 (2:00-3:00 p.m. CDT) and focuses on LGBTQ+ youth issues – including homelessness, coming out, transgender youth and trans-youth sports. Additional pride-focused content will air on ABC7’s “Windy City Live” which features weekly pride segments all month long. Viewers can find uplifting pride content all year long HERE.
6abc/WPVI-Philadelphia’s “FYI Philly” Pride episode airs on SATURDAY, June 19 (7:00 p.m. EDT) with a rebroadcast the next day. The following week, WPVI’s long-running diversity-focused community affairs program, “Visions,” will spotlight events happening in the LGBTQ+ community. Viewers can find uplifting pride content all year long at HERE.
ABC13/KTRK-TV Houston presents a streaming town hall “Protecting Our LGBTQ+ Youth” on TUESDAY, June 22 (7:00–8:00 p.m. CDT), followed by an ABC13 “Localish: Houston Pride” half-hour Pride special on SATURDAY, June 26 (6:30 p.m. CDT). Viewers can find uplifting pride content all year long at HERE.
ABC7/KGO-TV San Francisco plans to air weekly content that includes discussions about the transgender community, proper terminology, and a community-led town hall focusing on issues that impact the LGBTQ+ community. There will be ongoing news coverage of local pride events—leading up to the “San Francisco Pride 2021” celebration taking place on SUNDAY, June 27. Viewers can find uplifting pride content all year long at HERE.
ABC11/WTVD-TV Raleigh Durham will have ongoing news coverage of local pride events and initiatives throughout the month and will host a digital Pride town hall, “Why Terminology Matters,” on THURSDAY, June 24 (6:00 -7:00 p.m. EDT). Viewers can find uplifting pride content all year long HERE.
Each owned station will post resources on its websites that are relevant to the LGBTQ+ community and allies who would like to have more information or educate themselves. Additionally, all station websites have pride content that displays positive and uplifting stories about the LGBTQ+ community all year round.
Regardless of where viewers live, they can stream ABC Owned Television Stations pride content, including full episodes of “Our America: Who I’m Meant to Be” by downloading one of the following free news apps: ABC7/WABC-TV New York, ABC7/KABC-TV Los Angeles, ABC7/WLS-TV Chicago, 6ABC/WPVI-TV Philadelphia, ABC7/KGO-TV San Francisco, ABC13/KTRK-TV Houston, ABC11/WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham and ABC30/KFSN-TV Fresno on their mobile device or streaming platforms Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku
About ABC Owned Television Stations
Disney Media Entertainment & Distribution’s eight owned ABC stations are multiplatform leaders in local news and information. Collectively No. 1 across all U.S. television, reaching 23% of households and more than 34 million Total Viewers and 62 million digital visitors a month, the eight stations are comprised of WABC-TV New York, KABC-TV Los Angeles, WLS-TV Chicago, WPVI-TV Philadelphia, KGO-TV San Francisco, KTRK-TV Houston, WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham and KFSN-TV Fresno. The stations also deliver locally sourced storytelling to more than 17 million viewers across America through its multiplatform lifestyle network, Localish. In 2020, the stations received five Broadcast & Cable awards, including in the 2020 Best in Local TV Awards category as Station Group of the Year for its innovative and next-generation news reporting, and in the major market category for 2020: Best News Coverage, Best Digital Multiplatform or Website, Best Investigative Reporting Station Group and Best Public Affairs Programming, illustrating the group’s strength and ever-increasing growth and reach in the multiplatform space.
