{"id":338569,"date":"2017-04-18T03:19:51","date_gmt":"2017-04-17T19:19:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1477478"},"modified":"2017-04-18T03:19:51","modified_gmt":"2017-04-17T19:19:51","slug":"cbss-streaming-service-cbs-all-access-gains-movies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/cbss-streaming-service-cbs-all-access-gains-movies\/","title":{"rendered":"CBS\u2019s streaming service CBS All Access gains movies"},"content":{"rendered":"

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CBS has quietly expanded the scope of its streaming and on-demand TV service, its own competitor of sorts to Hulu, to now include movies. The lineup at launch is fairly small with just 18 films becoming available, on top of its existing library of 8,500 on-demand episodes of current shows, prior seasons and classic shows from the network\u2019s archive, as well as its CBS All Access original programming.<\/p>\n

The movie selection includes a selection of \u201cStar Trek\u201d films, plus other titles like \u201cUp in the Air,\u201d \u201cElection,\u201d and some older movies, like \u201cFunny Face\u201d and \u201cRosemary\u2019s Baby.\u201d The titles were licensed from Paramount, the company tells us.<\/p>\n

However, CBS says that it plans to add more movies\u00a0over time, as the service grows.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s streaming strategy so far has been to hold out on selling its content to larger, more popular services like Netflix and Hulu, to instead offer its programming on its own subscription product it calls CBS All Access.<\/a><\/p>\n

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The trouble with that strategy is that CBS only has a handful of top\u00a0shows \u2013 like \u201cThe Good Wife\u201d or \u201cBig Bang Theory,\u201d for example \u2013 when compared with how many quality shows are available on a rival service, like Netflix. And CBS\u00a0won no Emmys last year for its programming \u2013 just a few \u201cCreative Arts\u201d awards \u2013 while Netflix and HBO cleaned up.<\/p>\n

Asking cord cutters to pay for yet another subscription just to watch a couple of good shows is a steep request, especially when there are other ways to buy those TV seasons as a one-off \u2013 like through Amazon or iTunes.<\/p>\n

Plus, several seasons of \u201cThe Good Wife\u201d are\u00a0included with an Amazon Prime membership, which makes CBS\u2019s own subscription service less compelling.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But CBS has been expanding its focus beyond just what it\u2019s airing on TV to round out its service for cord cutters. It recently wrapped its first scripted original series, \u201cThe Good Fight\u201d \u2013 a spinoff of \u201cThe Good Wife,\u201d which was met with praise from critics. And of course, CBS All Access will be the exclusive home in the U.S. to the upcoming new \u201cStar Trek\u201d series, arriving this fall<\/a>, that should attract a good-sized\u00a0audience of \u201cStar Trek\u201d super fans.<\/p>\n

The hope is that the millions of existing fans will be willing to pay for CBS All Access primarily to be able to watch this one show. And\u00a0once there, CBS is thinking about how to engage them in its service more broadly, as well as how to\u00a0keep them around when the show is in between seasons or when it wraps.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview<\/a>, CBS\u00a0said there are 20 million U.S. households without a cable TV subscription \u2013 the market it believes it can convince to try its streaming product.<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0for that service\u00a0to be worthwhile, it needs to have a mix of content \u2013 meaning, more than just TV.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve begun to expand CBS All Access\u2019s content offering to include a selection of film titles relevant to our audience, such as a number of films from the Star Trek franchise,\u201d explains Marc DeBevoise, President and COO of CBS Interactive. \u201cOur goal for CBS All Access is to provide and continually build a well-rounded service for our subscribers.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to TV shows, CBS All Access Originals, and now movies, CBS\u2019s bet on live streaming TV means its viewers can also watch live events, including sports, through the\u00a0CBS All Access service. Live TV is an area where many of the newer live TV services are now competing for viewers, including Sling TV, DirecTV Now, PlayStation Vue, YouTube TV and soon, Hulu live TV.<\/p>\n

The movie lineup at present is fairly unremarkable compared with the vast selections on Netflix and Amazon, but it signals CBS\u2019s intent to be more than just a port of CBS television content\u00a0to an over-the-top offering.<\/p>\n

CBS didn\u2019t officially announce the addition of films, but the blog Cord Cutter News<\/a> spotted them in the app. CBS confirms that they are indeed new, and hit the service on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The company would not say how often it plans to add more movies, but its focus at launch is bringing the films\u00a0to those who are watching on\u00a0their iPhones and TVs. Initially, the movies will be available on iOS and Windows mobile devices and tablets, plus Roku, Xbox, PS4, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Chromecast. In the coming weeks, they will also arrive on Android (mobile) and Apple TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\" CBS has quietly expanded the scope of its streaming and on-demand TV service, its own competitor of sorts to Hulu, to now include movies. The lineup at launch is fairly small with just 18 films becoming available, on top of its existing library of 8,500 on-demand episodes of current shows, prior seasons and classic shows from the network’s archive, as well as its CBS All Access… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"\/ <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5817,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,25],"tags":[59,66,26],"class_list":["post-338569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media","category-technology","tag-media","tag-techcrunch","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5817"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338569\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}