SAN FRANCISCO — CBS doesn't plan to pursue an 8-day online windowing strategy for its TV shows as Fox has done, said Marc DeBevoise, senior VP and general manager for CBS Interactive, during a recent Beet.TV interview at the OMMA Video conference.
'When the market tell us to do that, we'll consider it, but it doesn't make sense now," he said. That's because Web viewing of full episodes that go online the next day don't compete with the broadcast of a show; they compete with DVR viewing or other catch-up viewing, he explained. As such, CBS has found a robust business in offering the online viewing option soon after the on-air broadcast. Plus, the ads in streaming episodes online aren't skippable, so that's a positive shift, he said.
DeBevoise also discussed the different value propositions in CBS's online video. Extensions of existing shows serve fans of those shows, and Web originals can help bring in a new audience. He said CBS found success with its "Around the World for Free" show, sponsored by AT&T, that followed someone around the world who didn't have the money to do so, and plans to do more shows of that ilk.
This is the second of two interviews with him.
-Daisy Whitney
Posted on 10/30/2011 at 6:40 AM by Daisy Whitney
