Back in November 2014, CBS announced its plan to launch a free yet ad-supported, 24-hour news channel called CBSN. The cable network now has some exciting statistics to show off from its digital news initiative, including the fact one-third of all CBSN’s tuned-in consumers watch the channel on a big screen via a connected TV or by way of a set-top box.
According to International Business Times, CBS had no idea so many viewers would prefer to watch CBSN on their TVs. “While we knew that connected TV devices would be important drivers of usage for CBSN, we didn’t anticipate just how engaged the viewers on those platforms would be, consuming over half of all streams and spending the longest amount of time per stream,” said CBS Interactive Executive Vice President, Marc DeBevoise.
CBS isn’t revealing how many people are tuning in to CBSN at any given time (much like how the Eye Network has kept the subscriber count of its All-Access streaming service under wraps). However, the broadcaster did hint that “millions” watch the digital news channel. This number may not be far off, as past studies have shown 62% of Americans are at least willing to sit through ads to access free television content through an internet connected device.
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CBS News President David Rhodes clarified how hard it is to gauge viewer metrics since CBSN is distributed digitally across multiple platforms, and is therefore out of the reach of ratings company Nielsen (who has yet to update the way it tracks digital programming). Roku, however, noted CBSN was the number one news outlet on its set-top box with viewers watching an average of two hours per week.
CBSN’s current format is more casual and less sensationalist than other news channels. This is because CBS doesn’t have to worry about ratings. Plus, the Eye doesn’t have many costs associated with CBSN; the network just had to foot the bill for the technology to run CBSN and currently garners content from already-established CBS newsrooms and anchors across the country. “If we wanted to get into cable news, we would have started a cable news channel,” said Rhodes. “We think this is a bigger opportunity and that’s what this product is for.”
CBSN is currently developing an Android app, as well as working on deals with more connected TV and set-top box companies. “As of now, CBSN is stand-alone and we think there is demand for it this way, especially since it’s free,” said DeBevoise. “Long-term we would like to see it more places, depending on the ways these devices promote and package channels.”
