The Eye on America now eyes Internet VOD

Filed in archive IPTV on July 13, 2005

Yawn. Another broadcast news group is going to offer up free video clips on the Internet? This time it is CBS News. They, like other traditional media companies, want to capture TV viewers who are flocking to the Internet. OK, really they want to capture advertisers who are noticing that viewers are flocking to the Internet.

This news story in the WSJ comes on the heels of Nickelodeon 's beta test of TurboNick, which will offer both repurposed television show and original content as VOD.

CBS says CBSNews.com will offer more frequent updates, with more videos available than on competing sites.

"The video will be much more timely; we may update stories six or seven times during the day," said Larry Kramer, president of CBS Digital Media. [quote appeared in the WSJ]

By allowing Web surfers to call up videos on demand, CBSNews.com will do more than cable networks, Mr. Kramer said. He added that the cable-news business is "a burden" and not one he'd want to venture into these days.

That last quote must be why I am making a note of this story to you. fox news, ABC, and NBC started offering news video content on the Internet a while ago, so adding CBS news is nothing earthshaking. But I think that Mr. Kramer may be right: leapfrogging directly to Internet-based VOD seems like a smarter move than starting another cable network.