Whom can I call for Technical Help?
Password and Permissions – 212-456-5100
Technical questions – 212-456-5000 option 4

How do the user accounts work?
Every affiliate is provided ONE username and one password for abcnewscall.com or abcsportscall.com. Each station receives the newscalls or sportscalls that are included in the proper affiliate package. All ABC News Radio affiliates receive ABC Newscall, ABC Sportscall, and What Else is News. ABC Sports Access feeds require extra inventory.

How do I request an account?
Click on the REQUEST ACCOUNT tab on the abcnewscall.com or abcsportscall.com homepage and fill in all fields. Submit and ABC Radio will process and create an account.
***Please note only one username and password will be created per affiliate. Passwords will change on a yearly basis.

What setup and tools do I need to use ABC Newscall and ABC Sportscall?

Internet connection
28.8 required - 56K, DSL, T1 or faster recommended.

Browser
IE 5.5 on the Microsoft Windows platform or above is recommended. Other platforms and browsers (including Mozilla, Netscape, Safari, etc.) should work but are not officially supported.

MP3 plug-in
Download your choice from: http://www.mp3.com
Winamp recommended for Windows systems.

Java Runtime
Most computers will already have a working Java implementation installed. If your machine does not have it installed, you can download Java software for your desktop. A Java applet is used to facilitate multiple file transfers from Newscall to your desktop computer.

What time is audio posted on ABC Newscall and ABC Sportscall?
The service is updated 24 hours a day. When an audio item is approved for air by our staff, the audio is posted on the website. This includes audio in five categories: News, Sports, Entertainment, Features, and Long Form. Depending on your affiliation agreement, you may receive all or some of the audio provided on this site. Please call your affiliate representative for more information.

How do I receive updated audio files?
The website will refresh every five minutes, which will allow you to log in and leave the site on your computer all day. You may also hit the REFRESH button on your browser or F5 (in windows) to refresh the site at any time.

How to navigate ABC Newscall or ABC Sportscall?
When you log into the website, your account will default to the ALL category. In the ALL Category, you will find ALL of the audio that your station has access to per your affiliation agreement. You may click on the other four categories to receive the corresponding content: NEWS for all news material, SPORTS for sports audio, ENTERTAINMENT for the latest news on Hollywood, FEATURES for all ABC NEWS RADIO features, and LONG FORM for one hour specials and podcasting/internet audio.

How to search for Audio in ABC Newscall and ABC Sportscall?
There are three options in the search feature. You may SEARCH by KEYWORD (type in the person or event you are looking for) TYPE (by the type of audio you are looking for: Actuality, Natural Sound, etc) or by DATE (If you know the DATE the audio was produced). You may use all three search features together to narrow your search. One note about the keyword search - It will search either the WHO or the TITLE field of the audio.

Will ABC Newscall and ABC Sportscall continue to feed on the ABC Satellite?
Yes, but on the following MODIFIED schedule. You may find the rundowns for these feeds on ABC DATA, and via email, if requested. To request satellite newscall rundowns via e-mail, please send an e-mail to Jeffrey.T.Fitzgerald@abc.com

What do the characters under "TYPE" mean?
F – Feature
I – Internet/Podcast
M – Music
N – Natural Sound
P – Promo
Q – Question & Answer
S – Show (Long Form)
V – Voicer
W – Reporter Wrap

What is the usage and distribution policy for the content downloaded from ABC Newscall?
"ABC NEWSCALL" IS THE PROPERTY OF ABC RADIO NETWORKS AND IS INTENDED FOR THE SOLE USE OF ITS DESIGNATED AFFILIATES. ANY UNAUTHORIZED USE OR DUPLICATION OF THE MATERIAL CONTAINED IN "ABC NEWSCALL" BY ANY MEANS, BROADCAST, PRINT, INTERNET, OR OTHERWISE, IS EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED.

What is the usage and distribution policy for the content downloaded from ABC Sportscall?
"ABC SPORTSCALL" IS THE PROPERTY OF ABC RADIO NETWORKS AND IS INTENDED FOR THE SOLE USE OF ITS DESIGNATED AFFILIATES. ANY UNAUTHORIZED USE OR DUPLICATION OF THE MATERIAL CONTAINED IN "ABC SPORTSCALL" BY ANY MEANS, BROADCAST, PRINT, INTERNET, OR OTHERWISE, IS EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED.

How do I download selected audio files?
Select files to download by clicking the check boxes next to each item. You may download either by using the download manager or by creating one ZIP file. Then press DOWNLOAD SELECTIONS. This will allow you to select where on your local workstation you would like to save the audio files.

If using the download manager, why am I prompted to accept a plug-in to download files? Will I have to download it every time?
To make it easier to download multiple audio files at one time, ABC Newscall and ABC Sportscall use a signed Java applet. You will be asked to "trust" this applet, so that it can save the files to your local computer. You can either trust the applet for this session by clicking "Yes" or you can trust the applet for this browser session and all future browser sessions by clicking "always". If you only trust the applet for this session, you will be presented with the dialog again the next time you restart your web browser or your computer.

Can I preview audio files before I download?
Yes, click the PREVIEW button next to the title of the download you would like to hear.

How do I download an individual audio file?
Right-click on the preview icon, click "save target as" and select a directory to save the file in. (Mac users use command+click)

How long will it take to download audio content?
Download times can depend on many variables that are out of the control of ABC. This includes the users Internet connection, their geographic location, their local LAN restrictions, etc. However here is a basic guide for downloading 1 minute of audio content. All times are approximate:

What audio file format is used?
All audio files use the MP3 format. Specifically, the audio file format is MPEG1, Layer 3 at 128kbps, stereo. The sampling rate and resolution is 44.1K at 16-bit. This will result in file sizes of approximately 1 mega-byte per minute. Other than the TITLE, there is no other Idv1 or Idv2 META data associated with the file. These files are standard MP3 files and will play using WINAMP, WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER, and most standard audio file players.

What if my broadcast system uses a format other than MP3?
Most professional digital broadcast systems are capable of ingesting and converting from the MP3 format. ABC does not endorse any one product that can be used for converting digital audio formats. However products such as Adobe Audition (formerly Cool Edit) will support conversions from MP3 to WAV, MP2 and other broadcast formats. A less expensive, but good sounding converter (MP3/MP2 to WAV, or WAV to MP3 only) is the Acoustica MP3 to WAV converter.

Why does the PREVIEW audio sometimes "hiccup"?
The ABC Newscall site is NOT a real time "streaming " website. When you click on the PREVIEW audio icon, the audio actually begins to download to your local system and activate your player. We cannot guarantee that audio played this way will stream smoothly and of course, should NEVER be used as a live feed.

Is ABC using any form of Digital Rights Management (DRM) on the audio content?
Currently we are not. If you are prompted for any DRM elements by any audio player application then please check the configuration on the audio player itself.

What protocols are required to use ABC Newscall and ABC Sportscall?
ABC Newscall and ABC Sportscall are basically web-sites like any other web-site that you visit. If you can browse sites like Google and Yahoo then you can browse Abcnewscall or Abcsportscall too!

Why do my MP3 files have a video icon after I download them?
Our files are standard MP3 files and will play using WINAMP, WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER, and most standard audio file players. Most of the issues encountered with downloaded audio files are due to which application the audio file is associated with on the local users computer. Our files are standard MP3 audio files and should download with the MP3 file extension in tact. Be sure that you have your system set up to VIEW ALL FILE EXTENSIONS (Windows: Tools > Folder Options > View > No check in "hide file extensions for known types"). In addition, you can change what application is used to open your audio files (Windows: Right mouse on the file > Open With > Choose Program > Select the program in the list > check on "always use this program..." > OK). Many audio player applications are fairly insistent on taking control of all audio files. Please review the settings on all of your audio players to see that they are "playing nice" together.

What if I still have questions?
If you have an emergency please call 212-456-5100 24 hours/day. For other technical questions email Jeffrey.T.Fitzgerald@abc.com