“The View” launches a new weekend edition on ABC News Live this month

ABC News is taking a little more time to enjoy “The View.” The long-running daytime chat show is set to expand to weekends starting January 11th. “The Weekend View” is a half-hour program that airs on the streaming platform ABC News Live and features the show’s Friday panel, which also includes host Joy Behar, along with co-hosts Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro.

“The Weekend View” will premiere Saturdays at 7:30 a.m. on ABC News Live and then run throughout the weekend. The show will feature an expanded “Hot Topics” segment that will be taped sometime in the week following the regular broadcast of “The View.” There will also be clips from the talker’s companion podcast, “Behind the Table,” in which executive producer Brian Teta and “The View” co-hosts discuss the top pop culture stories of the week.

“It’s an opportunity for us to expand the conversation and give viewers more of what they love about the connection they feel with the show,” said Karin Gilford, senior vice president of digital media, ABC News Group and Disney Entertainment Networks. “We really believe that ‘Weekend View’ represents the next frontier, so to speak, in addition to what we’ve done in podcasting – we’ve always had a great short form and social presence for the show.”

“The Weekend View” is produced by “The View” team including Teta, broadcast executive producer Robin Hommel and director Sarah de la O.

“In addition to the most-watched linear season in four years, ‘The View’ is thriving, hitting viewers wherever they get their content, from podcasts to YouTube, and now with new exclusive streaming content for the weekend on ABC News Live.” said Teta.

As for the content mix of the new half-hour, Gilford said “The Weekend View” will not be as politics-heavy as weekday “View,” taking a page from other ABC News Live weekend programs. This includes “GMA Life,” a more lifestyle-oriented weekend edition of “Good Morning America.”

“We follow what we have seen successfully on ABC News Live on the weekends,” she said. “It’s a little more relaxed on Saturdays and Sundays. They still cover all the stories of the week, but in a slightly different tone. So it will be the same show format. We’ll cover current topics, but on the weekends it’ll be a little more pop culture-oriented.

“I think people enjoy hearing what the hosts have to say on different topics,” she added. “Everyone generally takes a break on the weekends. So it’s an opportunity to highlight some of the things that the show covers throughout the week, which may not always be the case in some of these political areas.”

As part of the launch, RoC Skincare signed on as the exclusive sponsor of The Weekend View. This is the first time ABC News Live has secured an integrated brand sponsorship.

“I actually think it’s super innovative to find ways to bring in advertisers who are excited about the content,” Gilford said. “Take popular shows, talent you know, who have interesting points of view, and give viewers more access to that talent in places and formats that excite them.”

In addition to ABC News Live — which is available on Disney+, Hulu, YouTube, ABCNews.com, the ABC News and ABC News Live apps and elsewhere — “The Weekend View” streams on ABC-owned networks’ streaming channels. There’s a chance it could become available on other platforms, Gilford said.

“We will start with streaming, but we are looking at the ecosystem,” she said. “Check what the right strategy is to release it on VOD and on which platforms. And how we take these things and intelligently atomize them across social networks based on user demand. You’ll see a lot more of that from us next year.”

In addition to “The Weekend View” and “GMA Life,” other ABC News Live programs include “Prime with Linsey Davis,” “ABC News Live Reports,” “ABC News Live First” and “ABC News Live Weekend.”