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Former ABCNews.com VP Jonathan Dube Joins Aol

Former ABCNews.com vice president Jonathan Dube joined Aol as senior VP and general manager of Aol News & Information, where he will oversee the Internet giant’s Aol News, Aol Tech, Aol Finance, and Aol Sports groups.

Dube accepted a buyout when ABC News implemented a reorganization in June. Prior to ABCNews.com, he served as senior digital media executive for Canadian Broadcasting Corp.’s news division and managing producer at msnbc.com.

Dube told paidContent he chose Aol because CEO Tim Armstrong‘s vision “is right in line with my personal passions” of transforming media through technology, adding, “I’ve been incredibly impressed by Tim’s vision for Aol and by his and (Aol Media & Studios president) David Eun‘s commitment to building the media network of the future. I’ve also met with a lot of people at Aol — executives and journalists — and been blown away with the quality of people they have been hiring. I can honestly say in my career I’ve never encountered an organization with such an amazing combination of both digital talent and journalism talent.”

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ABCNews.com Launches pre-GMA Webcast

This morning ABC’s “Good Morning America” launched what will be a daily 15-minute live webcast on the ABCNews.com homepage and “GMA” page. It’s called GMA@6:45 and streams from 6:45 to 7:00 a.m.

This web program, hosted from the GMA set in Times Square, offers a jump start on the top political stories of the day leading up to — and teasing — GMA. ABC News’ Political Director, Amy Walter is one of the hosts, and this morning ABC News’ John Berman co-hosted. Berman did his damnedest to wrap up the weekend’s political news in 60 seconds. Jonathan Karl then came on to talk in depth about them: shady fundraising, Obama campaigning, and Tea Party news.

Berman also took viewers for a walk into the GMA control room — “On the Internet, we have to walk backwards” — used the iPad to show a Kentucky Senate campaign ad, and had a special appearance from George Stephanopoulos.

Dan Harris, Bianna Golodryga, Juju Chang, and Ron Claiborne will be part of a rotating co-host team. If you’re a political junky this is a a quick, entertaining look at the state of midterms now just a week away. Here’s the first episode:

ABC News Nightline Launches Customization of Midterm Election-Related Tweets via NightlineNow.com

ABC News Nightline introduced a way for Twitter users to customize their feeds and follow key races in the upcoming midterm elections, via topic or location.

NightlineNow.com provides real-time Tweets, and users can also choose to follow what Nightline anchors Cynthia McFadden, Terry Moran, and Bill Weir, or correspondents John Donvan and Vicki Mabrey, are following.

Laiea Smith Named Managing Editor at ABCNews.com

ABCNewsLogo.jpgABCNews.com will have a new managing editor after the midterm elections Nov. 2: Laiea Smith, who has been with ABC News for more than 10 years, most recently as a senior producer for World News Weekend and special events.

She will lead day-to-day editorial efforts and help to further integration with other ABC News platforms. Smith reports to ABCNews.com executive producer Ed O’Keefe.

Smith has also served as a senior producer for ABC News Now and overseen the third hour of Good Morning America, and she has worked as a field producer in Amman, Jordan, and Baghdad after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and on the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina.

She has also worked on the coverage of stories including the inauguration of President Barack Obama, the 2008 presidential election, and the deaths of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Michael Jackson.

Facebook to Live-Stream ABC News' Midterm-Elections Coverage

ABCNewsLogo.jpgABC News will live-stream its election-night coverage Nov. 2 on Facebook starting at 8 p.m. ET, including some reporting from the social network’s headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., reports Caitlin Fitzsimmons of sister blog All Facebook.

In addition, Facebook will solicit members from key congressional districts to explore issues and interact with news broadcasts on the network, with questions, comments, and opinions, as well as questions for local debates, according to All Facebook.

World News anchor Diane Sawyer and chief political correspondent and Good Morning America co-anchor George Stephanopoulos will lead ABC News’ coverage of the midterm elections.

What’s on Oprah Winfrey’s iPad?

Apps from CNN and ABC News made the short list of favorite iPad apps from Oprah Winfrey, who discussed her use of the Apple tablet at the American Magazine Conference in Chicago Tuesday, AdAge.com reported.

Joining the two apps Winfrey uses for breaking news: Brushes and Sketchbook so she can express her creativity, and Scrabble, which she said changed her workouts, adding, “It keeps my mind off the treadmill … I can play Scrabble and listen to Bruce Springsteen all at once,” according to AdAge.com.

Every staffer at O, The Oprah Magazine received an iPad in June, and AdAge.com reports that the O App will debut Nov. 16.

Jake Tapper's Political Punch Now Packs Weekly Webcast

Three weeks following its fifth anniversary, ABC News political blog Political Punch, written by senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper, introduced a weekly Webcast, which Tapper said “will set the table for the week ahead in politics and launch an honest and witty discussion on the stories making news in Washington.”

The Webcast, also called Political Punch, will offer interviews and recurring features such as DC Ticker, an analysis of who is trending up and down in our nation’s capital, with contributions from Mother Jones Washington bureau chief and Politics Daily columnist David Corn; and Truth-O-Meter, in which PolitiFact editor Bill Adair “will set the record straight each week.”

Animated sketches by Tapper will also be featured.

'World News' Viewers Weigh in Online

Diane Sawyer regularly engages her ABC News viewers asking them to send in their stories and comments on controversial issues and topics in the news. And in two recent cases she’s turning the online comments into on-air stories.

“World News” ended Friday’s broadcast with Sawyer and correspondents David Muir, Sharyn Alfonsi, Ron Claiborne, and Bill Weir all together on set. The correspondents each featured one of the stories that viewers sent in throughout the week on the show’s webpage and Facebook as part of it’s “Going Home” series.

In addition, Sawyer’s “20/20″ special Friday night, “Islam – Questions & Answers,” was born out of questions she asked viewers to submit as the broadcast covered the controversy over the planned Islamic Center near ground zero and the controversial plan to burn Koran’s in Florida.

ABC No Longer Talkin' 'Bout My Generation, But What About iPad App?

The next time Disney/ABC Television Group goes through the trouble (and expense) of developing an interactive iPad app based on an ABC show, it might want to select a series that lasts more than two episodes.

ABC canceled My Generation Friday, after episode No. 2 drew just 3.82 million viewers, compared with 5.17 million for the premiere, Multichannel News reported.

The series — which followed the personal stories of nine friends through the camera of a documentary film crew — was shelved despite ABC’s My Generation Sync iPad App, which the network developed with Nielsen based on the ratings company’s Media-Sync Platform.

Depending on how much money was invested in ABC’s My Generation Sync iPad App, there might indeed be some talkin’ ’bout My Generation at a few meetings this week.

Nielsen Media-Sync Platform Backs ABC’s My Generation Sync iPad App

Nielsen is best-known for its TV ratings, but the information and measurement company showed its versatility by teaming up with Disney/ABC Television Group on ABC’s My Generation Sync iPad App, which adds synchronized interactive content and social-media functionality to the experience of watching My Generation on ABC. The primetime drama series debuts Sept. 23.

ABC’s My Generation Sync iPad App is built on Nielsen’s Media-Sync Platform, which allows mobile apps to automatically detect and synchronize with TV programming using audio watermarks, letting users unlock synchronized content and features, as well as interact via social networks.

My Generation follows the personal stories of nine friends through the camera of a documentary film crew, and it stars Michael Stahl David, Jaime King, Kelli Garner, Keir O’Donnell, Mehcad Brooks, Julian Morris, Daniella Alonso, Anne Son, Sebastian Sozzi, and Elizabeth Keener.

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