After having attempted a 20-minute online news program three times a week hosted by Sam Donaldson in 1999, ABC News launched a forerunner of ABC News Now in March 2003. The service was fee based except for the customers of America Online, Comcast, and a few other Internet providers. Later, mobile phone users could access the programming through Sprint's MobiTV. The ABC News Now service launched on July 24, 2004, with extended coverage of the Democratic National Convention and Republican National Convention. It was offered via digital television, broadband and streaming video at ABCNews.com and on mobile phones. It delivered breaking news, headline news each half hour, and a wide range of entertainment and lifestyle programming.