World news is the jargon term used by journalists to refer to news that comes from abroad or about global issues. This type of news is usually sent to local newspapers, radio and television stations by foreign correspondents or by news agencies. It may also be gathered or researched using distance communication technologies such as telephone, satellite TV or the Internet.
In addition to the serious news stories, the show featured odd features such as the “World News Now Polka” – performed on occasion by comedian Barry Mitchell on accordion – and video footage of dancing camels on Wednesdays (for “Hump Day”). On some nights, the World News Now anchors would check in with the news producers at various ABC affiliates around the country to see what stories were being reported in their markets, or the first few minutes of the ABC affiliate’s late local newscast was broadcast during a breaking story such as a blizzard or major disaster.
The program often ran into conflicts with network programming contracts, causing some ABC stations to preempt the show at times; for example, in September 2020, WNBC-TV in New York City chose to drop World News Now and replace it with a simulcast of home shopping channel Jewelry Television until their local news began at 5:30 PM. However, the program was eventually reinstated at KTWO-TV in Casper, Wyoming and WVII-TV in Bangor, Maine when those stations ended their simulcasts. In an effort to ensure that the show could be seen by as many people as possible, ABC’s network O&Os WPVI-TV in Philadelphia and WABC-TV in New York City teamed up to air the same live feed of World News Now at the same time.
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