By David B. Wilkerson
CBS Corp. (CBS) said Tuesday it will participate in Comcast's
trial of a new service that offers online content exclusively to
the cable operator's customers.
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) will soon begin a national technical trial
of the service it calls "On Demand Online," carrying programming
from Time Warner Inc.'s (TWX) TNT and TBS.
Comcast and Time Warner teamed up last month on a plan called
"TV Everywhere," in a reaction to concerns that the wide
availability of free, ad-supported television shows online through
sites like Hulu, Veoh and others may one day lead many consumers to
stop paying for video subscriptions - whether from cable, telephone
or satellite providers.
The service will utilize an authentication system to verify that
the user is a Comcast subscriber before allowing access to
streaming content and, in the future, downloads to mobile
devices.
CBS said it would make various types of current and library
television shows available to Comcast's trial. A CBS spokeswoman
said the specifics are "still being worked out."
CBS shows such as "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and
"Survivor" are already available on-demand on television over
Comcast's cable systems. The company also makes many of its shows
of the past and present, such as "Ghost Whisperer" and "Hawaii
Five-O," available at CBS.com and other online venues.
-David B. Wilkerson, 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com