Cablevision Taps Into CBS’s Live TV Stream

Cablevision Systems said it is the first MVPD to provide authenticated access to CBS’s live streaming feed, so long as they’re accessing it in a market that is served by a CBS owned and operated station.

Cablevision subs can use their TVE credentials to view a live stream of CBS when in a market served by a CBS O&O, which today includes New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, Miami, Denver, Sacramento, Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

Cablevision’s authenticated access to the CBS live stream comes on the heels of a multi-year content carriage deal announced last August that covered retransmission consent for CBS-owned stations, continued carriage of Showtime, CBS Sports Network and Smithsonian Channel. It also made  Cablevision the first pay TV provider to announce plans to distribute CBS All Access and Showtime streaming services to broadband (Optimum Online) customers.

CBS noted on its Web site that it expects to add more providers to the streaming mix soon. 

Prior to the Cablevision agreement, CBS had limited access to those live streams to subscribers of the broadcaster’s subscription service, CBS All Access. 

“We are pleased to expand on our already robust relationship with CBS by becoming the first provider to launch the network’s new live streaming feature,” said Tom Montemagno, executive vice president, programming, Cablevision, in a statement. “Cablevision now holds distribution rights for all of CBS’s streaming platforms, demonstrating our commitment to providing customers with the ability to watch the high-quality content they desire on their own terms.”

“We applaud Cablevision in recognizing the value of delivering CBS programming to its subscribers outside the home, so they can watch CBS whenever they want on whichever device they choose,” added Ray Hopkins, president, television networks distribution at CBS Corp.