Stephanie Ramos will help Walt Disney Co. and ABC News deliver more than fireworks during a weekend many television companies spend celebrating the Fourth of July.

During a special Saturday broadcast of “Good Morning America” on ABC, Ramos, an ABC News national correspondent who has served for many years in the country’s military reserves, will rappel down a wall live from Fort Campbell, a U.S. Army base near Nashville. “She’s a badass,” says Simone Swink, an ABC News executive who oversees the Disney news outlet’s morning and late-night programming.

Ramos’ fight against the wall makes Swink “a little nervous,” but it will be one of many different shows showing on ABC, Disney+, ESPN, Hulu, National Geographic, Freeform, FX and ABC News Live starting Friday night and running through Saturday. Viewers may think they are simply watching hours of current programming driven in large part by ABC News staff fanning out across the country. What they may not know is that the programming has been part of a year-long project that in many ways will enhance the company’s experience in offering live programming at a time when Disney is more reliant on that type of material to boost its economy.

“The first meeting I had about this was in April of last year,” says Seni Tienabaso, vice president of ABC News Live.

Disney kicks off the event with coverage Friday night at 10 pm with “World News Tonight” anchor and editor-in-chief David Muir offering a rare look inside the Statue of Liberty. Muir will lead coverage of the event, which will run overnight into Saturday morning and afternoon, then wrap up with special primetime programming. MrBeast, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Brandi Carlile and Nick Jonas are among those scheduled to appear.

Disney has been stocking its programming portfolio with a broader range of sports rights and specials, and is counting on the increased power of live events in the streaming era to win larger audiences and the advertising dollars that will hopefully follow. Over the course of eight weeks in early 2027, Disney’s broadcast and television properties will feature the College Football Playoffs, the Oscars, the Grammys and Super Bowl LXI — the first time ABC will show the Big Game since 2006.

Other media companies are also testing these waters. CNN has tapped Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen to host a July 4 telecast that will likely evoke the work they do for Warner Bros. Discovery on New Year’s Eve. Fox News Channel will provide coverage of the US 250th anniversary from various locations across the country on Fox News, Fox Business Network. Fox News Digital and Fox Weather, among other media. NBC News and CBS News will also present primetime specials on Saturday night. MS NOW earlier this week held a live event in Philadelphia that included Rachel Maddow, Jen Psaki, and Ali Velshi, as well as guests like Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.

Staff across Disney have been working to organize a series of events that will take place over the next 24 hours. Linsey Davis, Lara Spencer and Sam Champion will host late nights from across the United States, followed by a special “Nightline” broadcast. The night will be filled with images of the visits that “GMA” has made in recent weeks to all 50 states. Saturday will feature a morning special hosted by Muir; the “GMA” special; and ESPN’s annual coverage of “Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest,” among other programs. Ryan Seacrest will host “Nashville’s Star-Spangled Bash” live at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.

For ABC News producers Swink and Tienabaso, the ambitious effort comes with unorthodox schedules. Both will work late into the night on Friday and will have to return to the control room early on Saturday. Tienabaso expects to work from 5 a.m. Saturday until 11 p.m.

“There’s a lot more live than recorded in this,” he says. “We’re cherry-picking every live take, every piece of tape.” he says. “With all the people deployed all over the country,” he adds, a correspondent will undoubtedly say, “Hey, I’ve got what I need,” which can make for an exciting live moment. “That’s one of the fun things too,” he adds.

“With all the live feeds and shots,” Swink explains, “we want to be able to analyze our summary.”

The project has been led by Debra O’Connell, president of Disney Entertainment Television, and Almin Karamehmedovic, president of ABC News, who have encouraged staff across the company to “collaborate and tell more stories together,” says Swink. If Disney’s Fourth of July coverage appears, there may be similar calls in the future.