Some more CBS web series news today, this time out of CBS Interactive which is bowing two new original series for TV.com and CBSSports.com. Former Wallstrip host Julie Alexandria is coming back to the web as host of TV in a Flash, a new primetime TV recap series that will live on TV.com starting today.
The two-minute recap series is weekly, so it’s less about hitting the details of last night’s shows instead bouncing on the top hits of the week. With a Sportscenter-style sidebar ticker of what she’s covering, it’s easy to keep up despite fast talking Alexandria as she rolls through speedcaps of House, NCIS, Modern Family and others. Still the two minutes seem rushed, more suited for on-the-go mobile content than a late 2009 weekly web series.
That could be something to do with lead sponsor AT&T, which developed the series alongside CBS Interactive through its ad agency Mediaedge:cia. For now the series will live on TV.com with new episodes every Tuesday. And unfortunately, episodes of the show are not embeddable despite pre-roll ads and watermarked AT&T branding that would come along with the videos. No word yet of any plans for mobile distribution though we wouldn’t be surprised to see that coming.
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Also announced today was a related sports web series Sports in a Flash set to run on CBSSports.com with host Lauren Shehadi. Similar to TV in a Flash, it’s also a two-minute breezer through top sports news of week.
“Both of our In a Flash series are a great way for television and sports fans to quickly get up to speed with fresh, original content from the experts,” said Dave Morris of CBS Interactive. “This series is a great example of how CBS Interactive can work with a client to create original content that resonates with our diverse communities.”
There’s some irony in using a web series to catch viewers up on what they missed by not watching television, but it seems to have worked, in a big way, for Yahoo with its Primetime in No Time series. The daily TV recap series was already at over 208 million views and counting when we talked to host Frank Nicotero this spring. While TV.com isn’t quite the traffic behemoth that Yahoo.com is, it still commands about 11 million monthly visitors according to Quantcast, meaning this one should get its share of snackers.
Alexandria’s predecessor on the now-cancelled Wallstrip (which was also a CBS Interactive series), Lindsay Campbell has also recently returned to the web with her Small Business Rules series for Next New Networks. While the new gig for Alexandria isn’t the cheeky style of Wallstrip, it still gives her a little playing room for color bits roasting TV duds. Still, we do miss Wallstrip though:
