Yahoo TV Gets Full Episodes of CBS Primetime

CBS Expands Relationship with Yahoo; CBS Audience Network Now Reaches 92% of U.S.-Based Web Audience

By John Eggerton & Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/4/2008 2:31:00 PM

CBS expanded its relationship with Yahoo to include full episodes of primetime entertainment programming.

The network joined NBC, Fox and more than one-dozen cable networks that have made their programming available to Yahoo TV, which already has access to 60 Minutes content and local news and sports from 16 CBS-owned TV stations. 

Yahoo! will use its own media player to host and stream the CBS programming. The Yahoo! Video Player is supported by online ad/video platform company Maven Networks, which Yahoo! bought earlier this year.

The deal is a huge boon for CBS, which is adding millions of eyeballs. According to the network, with the new deal factored in, the CBS Audience Network now reaches 92% of the U.S.-based Web audience.

Anthony Soohoo, senior vice president and general manager of CBS Interactive, said the decision to work with Yahoo came from the reach the company has online.

“They are one of the top 10 sites around, Yahoo TV. They drive a huge amount of audience [to the featured content],” Soohoo said. “It also expands our distribution to a desirable demographic.”

The announcement comes just a few days after CBS announced plans to upgrade its video player, including the ability to embed video on outside sites. Networks are increasingly using embeddable clips as a means of promoting their shows, hoping to drive viewers to their own sites for full episodes, or to the network itself.

Soohoo said the approach CBS takes when partnering with online distributors has less of a focus on promotion.

“With the Yahoo partnership there is a bigger element then just getting your shows out there,” he added. “How we strike deals with CBS Audience Network partners is more of a symbiotic relationship.”

CBS has more than 300 streaming partners for its entertainment and news content, including AOL, Microsoft, Joost, Fancast and Sling.