CBS today announced a new expanded agreement with the CBS Affiliate Board to help grow CBS local affiliates’ presence on digital services.
The new deal covers continued participation in CBS All Access and extends opportunities for local broadcasters to participate in virtual MVPDs like Hulu’s live TV, Google's YouTube TV and “future new entrants.” CBS says the deal includes “additional revenue possibilities for all,” though it doesn’t specify whether that includes advertising revenue, distribution revenue or both.
Neither CBS nor the CBS Affiliate Board has disclosed the terms of the deal.
"Expanding distribution on these new platforms together with our affiliates has been a part of CBS' long-term digital strategy, and I am very proud we have reached this agreement with our affiliate board," said Ray Hopkins, president of television networks distribution at CBS, in a statement. "No broadcaster has made preserving the network-affiliate model a core tenet of their strategy like CBS. We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with our affiliates, and as these new forms of distribution continue to grow, including CBS All Access, so will our revenue together."
"We are pleased we have reached this agreement in partnership with CBS," said Chris Cornelius, chairman of the CBS Affiliates Board, in a statement. "Access to these new and emerging digital distribution platforms gives all CBS affiliates the opportunity to provide viewers with more accessibility to their favorite local programs as well as must-see, hit CBS programming such as the NFL, 'The Big Bang Theory,' 'NCIS,' '60 Minutes,' and so much more."
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CBS’s renewed agreement with its affiliate board is similar to deals that both ABC and NBC have recently put in place to help with terms for getting their affiliates into streaming services.
NBC and the NBC Television Affiliates Board have a new deal that will allow local TV broadcasters to opt in to NBCUniversal’s carriage agreements with new OTT streaming services and for TVE distribution rights.
“We are happy to once again reinforce NBC’s commitment to and recognition of the value of the affiliate partnership and that of local broadcasters. This agreement in the digital space reaffirms that commitment,” said Jean Dietze, president of NBC Affiliate Relations, in a statement.
ABC recently unveiled Clearinghouse, a program designed to streamline deals on streaming platforms for its local affiliates.