CBS Revamps News Web Siteas a 24-hour news platform, including streaming

[Jon8503]

A WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE NEWS ROUNDUP


Viacom Inc.'s CBS plans to reposition its CBSNews.com site as a 24-hour news platform, including streaming video of CBS news programming and other submissions from correspondents. As part of the effort, CBS News will move from a mainly television and radio news-based operation to a 24-hour, on-demand news service, available across many platforms, the network announced Tuesday. CBS executives said they are deliberately bypassing cable television to focus on high-speed Internet users.

"It's increasingly clear that the future of CBS News is not just as a practitioner of broadcast journalism but of broadband journalism,'' CBS News President Andrew Heyward said. The advertiser-supported Web site will give consumers free access to more than 25,000 video clips. CBS journalists will be encouraged to frequently contribute video reports to the site instead of simply waiting for the next television broadcast. CBS Evening News anchor Bob Schieffer will host a daily online version of his TV broadcast.

CBSNews.com will also introduce a blog called "Public Eye," where CBS News executives and journalists respond to questions and complaints from the public. The blog will be edited by media writer Vaughn Ververs, most recently editor of The Hotline, a daily Web briefing on politics published by the National Journal. CBS also said its redesigned site will feature an on-page video player, dubbed "The EyeBox," which allows viewers to build their own newscast from exclusive Web video, material already broadcast on the network and archival material.

CBS hopes the redesign can also help attract more young people to its news product. Television news viewers tend to skew old, and CBS generally has the oldest audience. CBS News is also still seeking a new format and replacement for Dan Rather on its struggling flagship broadcast, the ``CBS Evening News.''

"This major expansion of CBSNews.com is designed to capture an audience that is increasingly looking for news and information at all times of the day, not just during scheduled periods, and using the Internet for that purpose," said Larry Kramer, president of CBS Digital Media, in a statement. As part of the change, CBS said that Betsy Morgan, vice president of business development for CBS News, will become senior vice president and general manager of the new CBSNews.com.