ABC live TV app now requires a cable subscription

You have to pay to play these days.

Back in May, we reported that ABC rolled out a new WATCH ABC app that enabled users in New York and Philadelphia to watch free live streaming of ABC channels.

Now that July is upon us, those same users must verify, with a username and password, that they are cable subscribers. To be fair, it was always part of ABC's plan to hinge access to the live streaming app on a cable subscription.

The upside, though, is that the WATCH ABC app is now available to users in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Raleigh-Durham (who also must confirm a cable subscription).

If you're not a cable subscriber and want to check out live ABC programming, you'll just have to do it the old-fashioned way -- with a TV.