CBS is eyeing another streaming product launch, this time turning its long-running program “Entertainment Tonight” into a VOD offering.
Speaking at Variety’s Innovate Summit, CBS CEO Les Moonves said his company is weighing whether to turn ET into a 24-hour entertainment news service.
That streaming service would join CBS’s other digital platforms including CBS All Access, the Showtime OTT product, the ad-supported CBSN streaming news network and the upcoming streaming sports platform CBS previously announced.
Moonves during the conference reiterated that CBS’s sports streaming service, dubbed CBS Sports HQ, will not be a home for live sports. His comments support what CBS Interactive President and COO Marc Debevoise told the audience at the Next TV Summit in October. He said there’s a “big play” in the sports news and talk market if you can deliver to mobile devices and stand behind a trusted name like CBS.
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CBS Sports HQ, like CBSN, will be a free, ad-supported streaming service.
“What we see is an appetite of demand for consumers that want news and highlights of sports where we see a void in the marketplace, and they want it on their terms, on their time. And so we're going to give that to them. And again, we think it's attractive, but we think the demographic is very attractive for advertising. And we will tuck it in as part of All Access as well to bolster that offering in addition to CBSN, which will also be part of All Access,” said CBS CFO Joe Ianniello during the company’s most recent earnings call.