Unlike ABC which is rumored to be courting a deal for an equity stake in Hulu, CBS has reaffirmed that it will go it alone when it comes to streaming full-length episodes. According to a ClickZ article, CBS is in no rush to work exclusively with one aggregator above another. In fact, CBS finds itself in a considerable position of power given it’s recent ratings dominance and relaunch of TV.com.
Up until this point, CBS has had a much more “closed door” policy when it comes to broadcasting its content online compared to other networks. While they make full episodes and clips available on CBS.com and it’s other web properties such as TV.com, the network has elected not to provide rights for non-CBS entities to stream its content. On the other hand, NBC and Fox have received numerous kudos for embracing and funding Hulu and it’s “video as a widget” strategy, while ABC has also ventured outside the Magic Kingdom’s realm if only with one foot instead of two. NBC, in fact, just announce that it has streamed over 1 billion videos in two years.
The biggest question here is whether CBS is making the right strategic decision when it comes to the streaming of its shows. On one hand, the network is able to concentrate all web traffic for its shows to its respective Web properties. But on the other hand, a common tennet of the social Web is to take your content where your users are. Will CBS’s insistance on maintaining absolute control hurt it in the end? Only time will tell, but you, but as Forrester Analyst, Bobby Tulsiani, said in the ClickZ article: “They are the network in most demand on TV. If content is king, CBS will be in this game for a while.”
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