CBS AND YAHOO! BRING "60 MINUTES" TO THE INTERNET'S MOST POPULAR DESTINATION
A Preview of the Service Launches Sunday with Rare Tiger Woods Interview, Full Offering Starts This Fall
CBS and Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) today announced a partnership to bring 60 MINUTES video content and robust news packages to Yahoo!'s media properties. The relationship was announced by Sean McManus, President, CBS News and Sports, and Lloyd Braun, Head of the Yahoo! Media Group. This arrangement brings together the most watched broadcast program in television history and the world's most trafficked Internet destination.
The content will be available this fall when 60 MINUTES begins its 39th season. A special preview of the free video programming on Yahoo! will be available starting Sunday, March 26, and will feature a rare interview with Tiger Woods. When the service launches, users will have access to 60 MINUTES content throughout Yahoo!, including on the News, Sports and Entertainment sites, as well as on a newly created "microsite" on Yahoo! dedicated to 60 MINUTES content.
"This deal with Yahoo! will bring the rich storytelling of television's Number One news magazine to a new and younger audience while offering loyal viewers extended features and content online," said McManus. "We believe this is an important step toward establishing 60 MINUTES as the news magazine of the future."
"With the addition of 60 MINUTES video to Yahoo!, our users will have access to one of the most respected news franchises, programmed and edited with Yahoo!'s audience in mind," said Braun. "We're focused on creating an experience that gives users a complete picture of the stories and issues important to them."
Each week following the Sunday night broadcast of the news magazine, the microsite will be updated with two news packages. One package will expand on a segment featured that week on the television broadcast of 60 MINUTES. The second will be based on a topical news theme for that particular week. Both offerings will include never-before-seen 60 MINUTES video footage, as well as interactive elements such as maps, a reporter's notebook, blogs and photo galleries. Most packages will be a combination of new video footage, and video content pulled from the rich archives of 60 MINUTES.
Yahoo!'s 126 million monthly domestic users* will have access to the original, highest quality storytelling of television's most respected news program, and 60 MINUTES' 14 million average weekly viewers will be able to enjoy their favorite stories on a platform affording a unique interactive experience. 60 MINUTES content will continue to be available at CBSNews.com.
"We are thrilled to be bringing 60 MINUTES to an Internet powerhouse like Yahoo!," said Larry Kramer, President, CBS Digital Media. "This offering underscores our strategy of bringing our best content, whether it's news, sports or entertainment, to every possible platform. Working with Yahoo! to create a robust and unique microsite exposes our news content to a broader audience of online users."
In addition to the two weekly news packages, the microsite will also include previews of the upcoming Sunday night program. All 60 MINUTES content made available on Yahoo! will be archived on the site to ensure users can view the packages at their leisure.
This is the second online partnership between Yahoo! and CBS. In December, Yahoo! streamed full episodes of CBS comedies TWO AND A HALF MEN and HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER.
*Source: Comscore MediaMetrix, January 2006
About Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo! seeks to provide online products and services essential to users' lives, and offers a full range of tools and marketing solutions for businesses to connect with Internet users around the world. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
About CBS
CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS) is a mass media company with constituent parts that reach back to the beginnings of the broadcast industry, as well as newer businesses that operate on the leading edge of the media industry. The Company, through its many and varied operations, combines broad reach with well-positioned local businesses, all of which provide it with an extensive distribution network by which it serves audiences and advertisers in all 50 states and key international markets. It has operations in virtually every field of media and entertainment, including broadcast television (CBS and UPN), cable television (Showtime and CSTV Networks), local television (CBS Television Stations), television production and syndication (CBS Paramount Television and King World), radio (CBS Radio), advertising on out-of-home media (CBS Outdoor), publishing (Simon & Schuster), theme parks (Paramount Parks), digital media (CBS Digital Media Group and CSTV Networks) and consumer products (CBS Consumer Products). In Fall 2006, UPN will cease operations and The CW, a new fifth broadcast television network, will launch as a joint venture between Warner Bros. Entertainment and CBS Corporation. For more information, log on to www.cbscorporation.com.
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