Verizon announced earlier this month that it will launch local television channels in selected markets in 2007, starting with the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area in the first quarter.
Michelle Webb, a former ABC News producer, will produce and manage the project. The announcements were made at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Verizon will offer the local channels, to be called FiOS1, on its Verizon FiOS TV service.
FiOS1 will include round-the-clock traffic and weather, local news and community sports. Verizon will partner with professional news organizations to deliver some of the content. It will also televise original features shot and produced by citizen journalists using high-definition camcorders and provide a platform for local user-generated content. Verizon says it plans to announce more details as the launch date approaches.
Webb joined Verizon last spring as executive producer and general manager, FiOS1 local channels. Prior to her current position, she served for four years as a producer of the ABC News program "Primetime Live," where she did preproduction planning, research and storyline development for features and segments presented on the network's television-magazine shows.
