CBS announced a new subscription Internet streaming service on Thursday that allows people to watch its live television programming and thousands of its current and past shows on demand without paying for a traditional TV subscription.
The new “CBS All Access” service, costing $5.99 a month, is the first time that a traditional broadcaster will make a near-continuous live feed of its local stations available over the web to non-pay-TV subscribers. At its start, the live stream will be available in 14 markets in the United States.
The moves by CBS and HBO signal the arrival of a new age of web-delivered television, where viewers have more options to pay only for the networks or programs they want to watch — and to decide how, when and where to watch them.
Indeed, people have long been able to watch broadcast television networks for free via antennas. But quickly fading away are the days when people pay an average $90 a month for a bundle of networks from a traditional cable, satellite or telecom provider.
After much anticipation, this new era of à la carte TV has suddenly arrived — all at once and more quickly than many industry executives, observers and television fans had expected. And with it, the virtual monopoly that cable, satellite and telecommunications companies have had over TV programming is dissipating.
“Everybody is talking about it,” Leslie Moonves, chief executive of the CBS Corporation, said in an interview. “It is an important part of our future. Our job is to do the best content we can and let people enjoy it in whatever way they want. The world is heading in that direction.”
The push into web-only offerings by HBO and CBS, two networks that have enjoyed billions of dollars in profits from the traditional system, highlights how rapidly the television landscape is shifting.
Their moves are largely a reaction to the success of Netflix, whose popular streaming service has more than 50 million global subscribers. Along with Netflix, a host of other insurgents like Amazon and Hulu now offer on-demand programming that can be watched anytime and anywhere on a laptop or a smartphone.
Culled from: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cbs-offer-stand-alone-subscription-130026588.html