You’re reading it here first ... ABC News Digital Group has signed an exclusive deal with BBC Worldwide to distribute BBC News broadband and wireless in North America. The official announcement could come as early as today. No, not the long-form so many lust for but still short-form news reports, features and the like probably will show up in many of the same broadband and wireless venues where ABC News now appears. That’s a lot of venues given the Disney outlet’s penchant for ubiquity and new ventures. I’d expect revenue sharing is the business model, particularly with the history of cross-Atlantic partnership between the two news outlets.
Speaking of ABC News’ early-in status with new ventures (think PSP, iTunes, etc.) I was mildly surprised when ABC News wasn’t part of Larry Page’s Google Video announcement. I’d heard Google was hoping for a deal—its first with Disney—by then but gather it’s still in lawyer limbo and could take until much later this quarter ... if it happens.