CBS has reached carriage agreements with several affiliate groups for its CBS All Access live streaming service. Gray Television, Nexstar, Raycom, Hearst Television, Dispatch, Meredith, Graham Media, Lilly Broadcasting, Morgan Murphy, Morris Network, Neuhoff Media and Withers have signed on to partner with CBS, and CBS says more are to come. Going live later this month, the groups, coupled with CBS's owned stations, will give the network 55% of U.S. households with its live linear feed.
"This is another key step in the company's long-standing strategy to grow our business in a way that complements our existing ecosystem," said Leslie Moonves, president and CEO, CBS Corporation. "Adding CBS affiliates to the mix will give viewers the opportunity to watch more CBS programming whenever they want on whichever device they choose. We look forward to adding more affiliate partners to build CBS All Access nationwide."
Specific terms of the arrangements were not revealed, though it's a revenue share between the network and affiliates.
"We are excited to have in place a groundbreaking agreement which begins a new era in distribution for CBS affiliates," said Michael Fiorile, vice chair and CEO of Dispatch Broadcast, and chairman of the CBS affiliates board. "CBS All Access is designed to take advantage of the growth in place-shifting by giving our viewers the utmost ease of accessibility to their favorite local programming. We see it as an opportunity to expand our reach to consumers by delivering our stations anywhere and anytime our viewers want to watch."
Last month, the CBS affiliates board negotiated an arrangement with CBS on behalf of station partners. Fiorile called it a "groundbreaking arrangement."
CBS announced its streaming video service, powered by Syncbak, in October. Station partners benefit by having live viewership in their markets applied to their Nielsen rating, said CBS.
