Sometimes CBS shows just want to be free

Filed in archive Video on Demand on September 19, 2006

Good news for all you Comcast VOD users out there -- CBS prime time content will now be free and more widely available!

CBS and Comcast have been laboring under a 10-month old agreement whereby the cable company would charge $0.99 for each VOD request of CBS prime time shows. The original shows were only shown on Comcast systems in markets where CBS owned TV stations. At the time the deal was struck, CBS didn't have a long-term digital revenue-sharing deal in place with its TV stations. Recently, CBS created such a deal.

The eight CBS shows in the deal are: "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "CSI:Miami," "CSI:NY," "Survivor," "NCIS," "Numb3rs," "jericho" and "Big Brother." The deal will also extend to all Comcast markets. All shows will be available for four weeks after their initial CBS airing.

Nearly 95 percent of the 7,500 programs on Comcast's On Demand service are available at no charge to cable subscribers.