CBS Television Stations and CBS Interactive Accelerate Launch Plans for CBSN Local Services Across the Country

Aug 08 2019

CBSN Local Services Will Be Live in All 13 Major Markets Where CBS Has Local News Operations by Early Next Year

NEW YORK - August 8, 2019 - CBS Television Stations and CBS Interactive today announced their intention to accelerate their rollout of CBSN Local, the Company's local direct-to-consumer streaming news services, in all 13 major U.S. markets where CBS Television Stations have local news operations.

CBS became the first major media company to launch local OTT news services when CBSN New York debuted in December 2018 and CBSN Los Angeles went live in June 2019. CBSN Boston is expected to launch soon, with CBSN San Francisco Bay Area scheduled to make its debut during the fourth quarter of this year.

The Company today for the first time confirmed its plans to launch a CBSN Local service in the nine remaining markets where CBS has a local television news organization. All nine markets will debut their CBSN Local services by early 2020.

The nine markets included in this expanded launch plan are Chicago (local news content provided by WBBM-TV), Dallas-Ft. Worth (KTVT-TV), Philadelphia (KYW and WPSG-TV), Minneapolis-St. Paul (WCCO-TV), Denver (KCNC-TV), Miami (WFOR-TV), Sacramento (KOVR and KMAX-TV), Pittsburgh (KDKA and WPCW-TV) and Baltimore (WJZ-TV).

CBSN Local services feature 24/7 anchored programming, coverage of live breaking news events in the region, as well as an extensive library of local news content that is available for on-demand viewing.

The early success of CBSN New York and CBSN Los Angeles has exceeded our expectations, said Peter Dunn, President, CBS Television Stations. It is clear there is significant demand for high-quality local news coverage on streaming services, and we are moving forward with excitement as we prepare to launch CBSN Local services in all 13 of our local news markets. Our accelerated rollout schedule ensures launches in all of these markets ahead of the 2020 political primaries and elections.

The collaboration between CBS Television Stations and CBS Interactive, coupled with the enthusiastic response from the teams at our local stations, has created a winning combination, both for CBS and the millions of viewers we serve, said Adam Wiener, Executive Vice President and General Manager of CBS Local Digital Media. We are excited to address the rising demand for local, relevant and useful information on all platforms by leveraging our existing local news assets to dramatically expand the distribution of CBSN Local services.

Access to reliable local news is a priority for our audiences from coast to coast, said Christy Tanner, Executive Vice President and General Manager of CBS News Digital. The ability to now provide our viewers with authoritative reporting on communities across America through individual streaming channels as we head into 2020 is a pivotal milestone in CBSN's evolution as the premier 24/7 streaming news service.

CBSN Local services are available through CBSN, on CBSNews.com and on the CBS News apps for mobile and connected TV devices. In addition, the services is available through CBS Television Stations' local websites and the CBS Local mobile app.

CBSN Local services build on the success of CBSN, the pioneering 24/7 streaming news service from CBS News and CBS Interactive that delivers live national and global news coverage and in-depth reporting from CBS News' team of trusted journalists. Launched in November 2014, the platform continues to drive strong and sustained viewership growth, delivering a record nearly 400 million total streams in 2018.

CBSN Local services are ad-supported. They complement CBS' other streaming services, CBSN, CBS Sports HQ and ET Live, and will ultimately be included as live channels in CBS All Access in their respective markets.

About CBS Television Stations

CBS Television Stations consists of 28 owned-and-operated stations, including 15 that are part of the CBS Television Network, eight affiliates of The CW Network, three independent stations and two MyNetworkTV affiliates. Among its stations are WCBS-TV and WLNY-TV (New York), KCBS-TV and KCAL-TV (Los Angeles), WBBM-TV (Chicago), KYW-TV and WPSG-TV (Philadelphia), KTVT-TV and KTXA-TV (Dallas-Ft. Worth), KPIX-TV and KBCW-TV (San Francisco), WUPA-TV (Atlanta), WBZ-TV and WSBK-TV (Boston), KSTW-TV (Seattle), WTOG-TV (Tampa-St. Petersburg), WWJ-TV and WKBD-TV (Detroit), WCCO-TV (Minneapolis-St. Paul), WFOR-TV and WBFS-TV (Miami), KCNC-TV (Denver), KOVR-TV and KMAX-TV (Sacramento), KDKA-TV and WPCW-TV (Pittsburgh) and WJZ-TV (Baltimore), as well as WCCO-TV's satellite station KCCW-TV (Walker, Minn.).

About CBS Interactive

CBS Interactive, a division of CBS Corporation, is the world's largest publisher of premium digital content and a perennial top 10 internet company. CBS Interactive's brands span popular categories like technology, entertainment, sports, news and gaming. Properties include the websites, apps and streaming services of the CBS Television Network such as the CBS All Access subscription service, the 24/7 digital news network CBSN, and CBS Sports' digital brands as well as digital-first properties in key content verticals, including CNET, TVGuide.com, GameSpot, Last.fm, Metacritic and Chowhound. Follow CBS Interactive on Twitter at twitter.com/cbsi and on Facebook.

Press Contacts:

Mike Nelson (CBS Television Stations) 818-655-2156 mnelson3@cbs.com

Rachel Zuckerman (CBS Interactive) 212-380-0261 rachel.zuckerman@cbsinteractive.com

Posted in Featured News, Press Release

LINK:	https://www.cbscorporation.com/cbs-television-stations-and-cbs-interac...
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