CBS Corp. announced today that it has forged a deal with Yahoo that will allow the media company’s programming to be shown online by Yahoo.
As part of the deal, Yahoo TV will gain access to CBS’s large online catalog of entertainment content, which CBS said has more full episodes and hours of network programming than any other broadcast television network. The CBS content will be added to the Yahoo programming lineup, which also includes programming from NBC, Fox and more than 15 cable networks.
With the deal, Yahoo joined the CBS Audience Network, which also includes sites such as Joost, Bebo, Veoh, YouTube, AOL and MSN.
The addition of Yahoo’s millions of users broadens the online reach of the CBS Audience Network. When adding Yahoo users to the more than 300 active partnering video sites currently making up the CBS Audience Network, the unduplicated total reach is 92 percent of the U.S.-based Web audience, according to CBS.
As part of the agreement, Yahoo will host and stream CBS’s entertainment content free to consumers in an ad-supported fashion.
While NBC Universal has chosen to partner with News Corp. to launch the Hulu Web site as an outlet for its video content, CBS has focused on forming partnerships with existing online entities.
“This announcement underscores the value of CBS’s open, non-exclusive, multi-partnership strategy for distributing our content online,” said Anthony Soohoo, SVP and GM of entertainment for CBS Interactive. “This is a win-win in that it bolsters the distribution of CBS content while giving Yahoo users access to programming that has proven to be among the most popular professional content online.”
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