CBS and Hulu make content deal, stream back catalog shows starting in January 2013
CBS has been the lone Hulu refusenik among the biggest US broadcasters -- even with rumors of licensing discussions underway at least two years ago, we've usually had to visit the network's own site if we wanted a CSI fix without paying by the show. The deadlock is over at last now that CBS and Hulu have struck a deal. The agreement isn't quite what we'd hope for, focusing almost exclusively on back catalog titles like Medium and Star Trek, although celebrity gossip junkies will like knowing that Entertaintment Tonight segments will be viewable the day they air on regular TV. We'll have to wait until January 2013 for the selection to be ready -- not to mention shell out for Hulu Plus to get full access -- but there's at least an end in sight to one of the longer content droughts in streaming video.
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CBS And Hulu Announce Licensing Agreement For Library Content On The Hulu Plus Subscription Service
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS) and Hulu announced today a non-exclusive, multi-year licensing agreement to stream programs from CBS's rich television library on the Hulu Plus subscription service. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The CBS content will begin to appear on Hulu Plus in January 2013, and over the following months, Hulu Plus subscribers will have access to more than 2,600 episodes from library series such as "Medium," "Numb3rs" and "CSI: Miami," as well as classics such as "Star Trek," "I Love Lucy" and "The Twilight Zone." Clips from ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT will also be available the day of broadcast on Hulu and Hulu Plus. A selection of CBS library shows will also rotate through the free Hulu.com service, and additional titles will be announced.
"We're excited to deliver CBS library programming to Hulu Plus subscribers," said Scott Koondel, Senior Vice President of Corporate Licensing, CBS Corporation. "This marks another agreement that meets the growing demand for our content on new platforms while establishing other incremental ways to get paid for our library."
"CBS has a long history of producing truly great TV. Hulu Plus subscribers are entertainment lovers who spend their time watching shows they love, versus shows they might only just like. Those two facts make for a fantastic combination, because this collection of CBS titles are shows that people revere and that really matter to fans of great TV like our subscribers," said Andy Forssell, Senior Vice President of Content for Hulu.
CBS and Hulu also have previously announced licensing agreements for CBS-produced programming that airs on The CW and for CBS content on Hulu's subscription service in Japan.
