CBS Shows Free On-Demand, New NBC Fare Free On Web

Rising viewer demand driving Nets—and Advertisers—to newer
delivery platforms this fall

Backing away from plans to sell on-demand episodes of Survivor and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation for 99 cents, CBS announced yesterday that the net will instead offer these shows to Comcast customers for free.

Just last month, the company said it would stream those and other key programs online. And not a moment too soon either: Forrester Research, Inc. released a new study illustrating that the more time people spend online, the less traditional television they watch—and that web time is increasing across every generation, including seniors.

Further, as broadband hits more homes, more viewers tune into web channels for studio- as well as user-generated content. Fox said that last week's seven-minute online preview of The Simpsons premiere garnered about 1.4 million looks at MySpace.com, IGN.com and its own site during its three-day run. The Sept. 10 broadcast ultimately pulled 11.6 million viewers ages 18 to 49, TV Week reported, with a 5.3 rating and 14 share.

"Viewers are responding to programming being made available on emerging platforms for free, supported by advertising," CBS chief Leslie Moonves said.

CBS' latest on-demand development arrived on the heels of NBC's news on Wednesday that it would stream ad-supported episodes of new fall series for free on the Web.

NBC Hopes for
Buzz-Builder in
24/7 Player

Once the debut of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip airs Sept. 18, that episode will be available to view after 2 a.m. for seven days via the NBC 24/7 player at NBC.com.

The player will be upgraded for higher resolution screening Oct. 1, NBC said.  

More a buzz-builder, this web streaming initiative is a separate promotional effort from NBC's program download sales at the Apple iTunes Store. The first season download of NBC Emmy-winner The Office currently holds the number one chart position for top TV series sales.

Programs set for free streaming are primarily first-season titles, such as 30 Rock, starring longtime SNL-er Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan, and Twenty Good Years, with John Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambor. NBC is set to stream the first four episodes of both comedies, as well as eight entries of dramas Kidnapped, Friday Night Lights and Heroes.

Cast and/or production crew members of these new series are also set to post blogs at nbc.com following each program's debut.

Expanding its presence across other web channels as well, NBC inked a deal with AOL to stream the pilots of both Studio 60 and Twenty Good Years ahead of their broadcast debuts.

The net, which has launched special broadband sports and syndicated content programming divisions to serve the web, offered free downloads of Heroes at iTunes. The Peacock also offered Netflix subscribers a free DVD rental of either Studio 60 or Kidnapped during August. Sophomore comedy My Name Is Earl has benefited from significant promotion across Myspace.com.

ABC's Anne Sweeney: Give Viewers Content "Any time
Any Way and Anywhere They Want"

Anne Sweeney, head of ABC—the first traditional broadcaster to sell shows via iTunes and stream ad-supported programs online—said Wednesday at a conference in Pasadena, California, that the net sealed deals with affiliates to include local advertising within online broadcasts.

Unlike DVRs, which famously enable viewers to zoom past commercials, ads embedded within streaming episodes typically cannot be skipped. No specific revenue targets were offered, only that the company has "high hopes."

Noting that ABC continues its march forward into multiplatform delivery, Sweeney said more shows will be available on the web, mobile phones and emerging platforms. The network aims to expand innovative digital promotions that worked last season, and—like everyone else in the entertainment industry—search for new revenue streams in a technology-driven, on-demand climate.

"The digital revolution has unleashed a consumer coup," she explained. "Today, we don't only have to create in-demand content, but on-demand content so consumers can get it any time, any way and anywhere they want to."

Hit ABC drama Lost still sits high atop iTunes TV series sales chart, following several recent weeks of free, ad-supported download promotions. Lost season two holds at number four, with season one in the eighth chart position, in the company of various popular Comedy Central programs, hit serial drama 24 and an ever-expanding pool of television content offerings.