CBS said it has reached a multi-year carriage agreement with Verizon Communications' Fios TV, a deal that includes retransmission consent of its CBS and The CW broadcast stations and the right in the future to stream authenticated content from the broadcaster.
The pact also includes carriage of CBS pay TV properties Showtime, The Smithsonian Channel and CBS Sports Network.
In the near future, Verizon will also provide access to live authenticated streaming on CBS.com, the CBS App and Verizon’s authenticated platform, giving Verizon Fios’ TV customers the ability to stream CBS live online and on mobile devices. CBS and Verizon have agreed to expand the partnership to future digital platforms, with specifics to be released at a later date. Financial terms were not disclosed.
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“We are very pleased to expand our terrific partnership with Verizon,” CBS President, Television Networks Distribution, Ray Hopkins said in a release. “The renewal of our Fios content carriage agreement for various CBS networks and our expanded rights for future digital platforms is in line with our Company’s strategy to deliver industry-leading content to viewers across multiple platforms and screens, while also achieving both our short and long-term economic goals.”
CBS-owned stations in Verizon Fios markets, including New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore and Pittsburgh, and CBS-owned The CW affiliates in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, will continue to be distributed to Fios TV subscribers. This includes more than 3 million subscribers served in markets where CBS owns television stations and almost one million subscribers in markets where CBS owns The CW affiliates. (Fios has approximately 4.7 million subscribers in total.) Fios TV will also continue to provide – free to the viewer – network video-on-demand content for the Fios TV platform, plus the continued carriage of the CBS networks named above.
“With every carriage agreement we focus on achieving an outcome that best serves Fios customers based on the way they view today and the way they may want to view tomorrow, including across future digital platforms,” Verizon SVP, Product and New Business, Brian Angiolet said in the release. “Providing customers with choice remains at the core of all of our video offerings, and this agreement with CBS fits squarely into our strategy of expanding rights to fill out our emerging vertically integrated media portfolio.”
