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Signaling a shift in its strategy for digital originals, ABC’s digital media division has cut back sharply on plans for its ABCd platform, which the network unveiled nine months ago on ABC’s streaming app as a digital-first brand for short-form comedy, talk, cooking and other formats.
“Right now, we’ve got about 40 shows in various stages in the development pipeline,” Karin Gilford, ABC’s executive vice president for digital media, told Decider in July 2016 when ABCd launched. “The plan is to launch a fresh batch of five to seven shows each month starting September 1.”
The ABCd platform began with seven original shows, added six in September and two more in October. The only other additions have been short-form spinoffs of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in December and Scandal in January. ABC declined an interview request, but a spokesperson told Decider that ABCd originals will continue to be available on ABC’s streaming app and that two new projects — the Viola Davis-produced American Koko and the animated Ginger Snaps — would premiere this summer.
The ABC spokesperson noted that one of the network’s goals for ABCd is to incubate talent and that six creators and actors from ABCd shows are involved in ABC pilots that are currently in production. ABC would not elaborate on why it had cut back on short-form projects, but the spokesperson emphasized that the network planned to continue developing short-form shows for ABCd and other platforms.
ABC’s decision to scale back ABCd may reflect more of a shift in where the network directs its short-form shows than whether it will continue producing digital-first content. ABC launched a short-form spinoff of The Bachelor called Watch Party on Snapchat in January, and the ABC spokesperson said the network has other Snapchat shows in development.
Short-form originals are alive and well on websites like Comedy Central’s TripTank and streaming services like Verizon’s Go90, AT&T’s Fullscreen and Google’s YouTube Red. and Netflix launched its first short-form series — Small Shots, a dramedy about two New York actors — last week. Snapchat and Facebook are expected to launch their own original scripted short-form shows laster this year.
Scott Porch writes about the streaming-media industry for Decider and is also a contributing writer for Playboy. You can follow him on Twitter @ScottPorch.
