CBS streaming free TV programming to iPhone users

AppleInsider · February 26, 2009 8:08PM

CBS Mobile has released TV.com, a free new mobile application that allows iPhone and iPod touch users to watch full episodes of select CBS shows and other programming over WiFi or 3G mobile networks.

The new app (Free, App Store link) is the first example of an iPhone application providing free TV content directly from a TV studio in the US; the BBC already streams its free content to iPhone users in the UK using its iPlayer app.

TV.com currently offers a selection of CBS shows, including CBS News and CBS Sports programming and episodes of "Late Show with David Letterman, "Star Trek: the Original Series," "CSI," and "The Young and the Restless," among many others. The mobile application also serves up a selection of shows from the CW including "Smallville" and "90210," a half dozen shows from Showtime including "The L Word" and "The Tudors," and a variety of CNET and GameSpot podcasts.

While the current programming selection is rather limited, the app can accommodate all the new content CBS serves up as it works to make more of its library of content available. The app uses the iPhone's standard QuickTime player, and delivers pretty decent quality video.

Web TV vs TV

CBS is pushing TV.com in competition with the Viacom-backed Joost and Hulu, a joint effort between NBC and Fox, to reach audiences beyond the TV and deliver a "direct to users" model of web-oriented offerings. Hulu currently does not have a mobile app for the iPhone like TV.com's offering. Joost does provide a player app for its content, but it does not use the standard QuickTime player on the iPhone.

TV studios have rushed to set up their own web-based operations to create an alternative to seeing their content distributed (at no benefit to them) to web audiences via sites like YouTube. Joost, TV.com, and Hulu are supported by ads. Like YouTube, all three websites use Adobe Flash to deliver their video content on the web.

Moving beyond the web is still uncharted territory for the TV studios. Hulu recently stepped in to prevent TV appliance boxes such as Boxee from hooking into its web offerings to display on-demand content to users' TVs, a move that threatens the studios' contracts with cable TV providers, broadcast affiliates, and national advertisers. Similar licensing issues also prevent Hulu and other sites from streaming content to users outside the US.

TV on the iPhone

Like the web, the iPhone provides an additional potential audience, not an alternative, competing pipe that rivals the studios' existing TV business. Making video available to iPhone users requires providing open H.264 content (at least in order to use the standard QuickTime player with its hardware acceleration), as the iPhone supports neither Adobe Flash nor Microsoft's Windows Media DRM.

Google bridged that divide by streaming YouTube content via H.264 to iPhone users, a move followed by the BBC and now CBS. It's also possible to develop a custom player as Joost did for playing back proprietary video formats.

The other alternative to direct streaming TV programming on the iPhone is of course pay per view TV programming from iTunes, which CBS and most other networks already provide. The new TV.com application provides mobile users with free content, although it requires a decent network connection, ideally WiFi but it also works over 3G mobile networks.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

retroneo · February 26, 2009 8:29PM

Now we just need the TV-out cable to work in Apps......

It works great with the built-in apps.

nagromme · February 26, 2009 8:41PM

That site looks just like Hulu

Guess I'll feel right at home. I watch Galactica and Dollhouse on Hulu regularly.

Between TV.com, Hulu and ABC.com I can pretty much watch any US network show. I'm glad to see some of them come to my phone.

(I emailed Hulu requesting an iPhone version and got a "maybe" answer--which is the best you can hope for. Flash may or may not ever come to mobile Safari, but as a standalone app, Adobe and Hulu could deliver something specialized. NOTE: TV.com uses Flash video just like Hulu does. And it's on iPhone now.)

dizzy13 · February 26, 2009 8:57PM

Eh, quality isn't that great, but good enough if you need a time killer.

SpamSandwich · February 26, 2009 9:00PM

Now, when is Hulu going to make an app?

virgil-tb2 · February 26, 2009 9:00PM

Correction, title should be:

"CBS streaming free TV programming to USA iPhone users."

Edited

tenobell · February 26, 2009 9:11PM

Hulu gets its content largely from NBC and FOX. ABC nor CBS participate in Hulu. TV.com is owned by CBS. ABC has video downloads from its own website.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nagromme

That site looks just like Hulu

Guess I'll feel right at home. I watch Galactica and Dollhouse on Hulu regularly.

tenobell · February 26, 2009 9:17PM

Its projected that by 2012 people will access the internet with mobile devices just as much as computers. Hulu is going to have a mobile version.

Their is no need for a content wrapper like Flash on your phone, when you can play the video directly from the website.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nagromme

(I emailed Hulu requesting an iPhone version and got a "maybe" answer--which is the best you can hope for. Flash may or may not ever come to mobile Safari, but as a standalone app, Adobe and Hulu could deliver something specialized. NOTE: TV.com uses Flash video just like Hulu does. And it's on iPhone now.)

hiimamac · February 26, 2009 9:18PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retroneo

Now we just need the TV-out cable to work in Apps......

It works great with the built-in apps.

Has anyone googles why their is still no Flash for iPhone? If you do you will find most articles pointing out that Apple fears the creation of Flash apps against iPhone apps. Glad that millions of iPhone users are coming ip on their two year contract. Combine this with all the newer phones, future app stores, we hope that Apple gives in as having Hulu on the iPhone will be pretty cool.

tenobell · February 26, 2009 9:19PM

In the US we cannot view BBC iPlayer content. It is for a reason. Their are differing complex contracts and agreements for content distribution in each country.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

Correction, title should be:

"CBS streaming free TV programming to USA iPhone users"

Sigh. so rude, and for no reason at all.

kasper · February 26, 2009 9:39PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

Correction, title should be:

"CBS streaming free TV programming to USA iPhone users"

Sigh.

so rude, and for no reason at all.

Seriously? CBS is an American television network. Yes, there are some instances of satellite broadcasts internationally and an outreach to the Philippines but there is nothing rude or incorrect about the way we presented the story.

mark2005 · February 26, 2009 10:23PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hiimamac

Has anyone googles why their is still no Flash for iPhone? If you do you will find most articles pointing out that Apple fears the creation of Flash apps against iPhone apps. Glad that millions of iPhone users are coming ip on their two year contract. Combine this with all the newer phones, future app stores, we hope that Apple gives in as having Hulu on the iPhone will be pretty cool.

And most articles on the Internet are just wrong because they refuse to acknowledge what Jobs said. Simply, Flash is a CPU hog and kills the battery. Flash Lite doesn't do enough. Jobs asked Adobe for something in between.

So unless Adobe can provide Flash that isn't a CPU waster, I hope Apple doesn't give in. YouTube created an app, TV.com created an app, BBC created an app. Why doesn't Hulu just create an app?

Furthermore, Flash is proprietary. Apple has been pushing HTML 5 with CSS animation as an Internet standard replacement for pretty much everything that Flash can do. And much of that is already implemented in Safari 4 beta.

rpdwpb · February 26, 2009 10:24PM

This post is useless.

tenobell · February 26, 2009 10:39PM

You have to understand that the video that plays on TV.com website is too big to play on the iPhone. They will have to go through all of their content and repurpose it to play on the iPhone. This app just came out today and it will take some time to add content.

The racial slurs are unnecessary.

justincredible · February 26, 2009 11:07PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nagromme

NOTE: TV.com uses Flash video just like Hulu does. And it's on iPhone now.)

The "Adobe Flash Player" can play flash videos (FLV's) and H.264 encoded videos (MP4's or MOV's). Many sites are now converting their flash video from FLV's to MP4's because you get higher quality video in a smaller file size. But this conversion process takes a long time and many companies are just creating new content as an MP4 instead of converting the old content. So Hulu and TV.com might both use flash players, but they are completely different types of files. TV.com being iPhone compatible, Hulu not so much, not yet. But it will happen.

hyteprosector · February 27, 2009 1:00AM

I can't wait for IPTV. Why didn't AT&T go Fiber to the House like Verizon? Why'd they have to go Fiber to the Node. Thats lame. Man, can't their be at least one good telecommunications company? Just one? pff... Apple shoulda blew up the 700mhz auction. I know thats bad business, but it makes for nice dreams... right?

cycomiko · February 27, 2009 2:13AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kasper

Seriously? CBS is an American television network. Yes, there are some instances of satellite broadcasts internationally and an outreach to the Philippines but there is nothing rude or incorrect about the way we presented the story.

but the internet is not american, and this international outreach often brings the (false) hope that we may be allowed to access content provided onto the (world wide) web.

Creating headings that do not instill false hope woud always be preferable.

eai · February 27, 2009 4:26AM

BBC iPlayer doesn't have an app - it just works through the BBC iPlayer website.

The reason iPlayer content isn't available internationally is partly the rights issues, and partly because the BBC doesn't do advertising so they'd probably have to make a way to charge international users, or add advertising, neither of which are particularily easy to do - mainly due to the way the BBC is structured.

abster2core · February 27, 2009 6:20AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

Correction, title should be:

"CBS streaming free TV programming to USA iPhone users"

Sigh.

so rude, and for no reason at all.

What is rude is your "rude" demand that an American company, talking about an American 'made by' and 'made for' product should declare that it is for Americans only.

There is no reason for it.

Perhaps a lesson in etiquette is in order. Then you may have written it as,

"For clarity, the title would be better stated, "CBS streaming free TV programming to USA iPhone users, Thank you."

gregalexander · February 27, 2009 7:05AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

The other alternative to direct streaming TV programming on the iPhone is of course pay per view TV programming from iTunes

The next step, I HOPE, is a merger between what CBS etc are doing now with online TV and what iTunes does already.

ie:

Apple could give away TV episodes and have iTunes (or the iPhone or AppleTV) insert ads as specified by the networks. That's my best guess at the future of ad-supported TV.

No more program guides to search for a show - just search for a show on iTunes and download it to watch with ads.

This allows many interesting possibilities

1) Insert ads same way Hulu and CBS's tv.com do now

2) Have iTunes insert ads customised to our interests and location - ads are worth more if they're customised, so we might see far far less while still being financially viable.

3) Different ads if you watch a show again.

4) Ads stored locally, so showing a pre-downloaded ad can take pressure off downloads for internet connections that are borderline fast enough to watch immediately. Also watching a show can start with an ad while the show (or movie) starts caching.

5) Prevent ad skipping or limit fast forwarding in some way

6) Ads can link to longer ads, or "mark" something for a reminder (eg: upcoming TV shows, upcoming movies, or more info from car ads, beer ads, etc. Perhaps even "buy now" buttons.)

7) If lacking a distribution deal - insert the precise ads as seen on your local channel and allow manual ad skimming like any PVR

8) Allow users to pay a small fee (equivalent to ad revenue) to remove the ads for 1 viewing.

9) Sell the program as now.

minderbinder · February 27, 2009 7:12AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cycomiko

but the internet is not american, and this international outreach often brings the (false) hope that we may be allowed to access content provided onto the (world wide) web.

Your understanding of how TV networks work is pretty naive. The networks air their shows in the USA first and then license those shows for overseas broadcast, which makes millions of dollars for them (and in many cases is necessary to make some shows profitable). They are not going to do something that would undermine overseas distribution and potentially kill that revenue stream.

Maybe AFTER a show has aired overseas they will make it available online in those countries. But you'll never see it online before a foreign TV airing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cycomiko

Creating headings that do not instill false hope woud always be preferable.

You're not happy with CBS, yet you're blaming AI? Give me a break.

CBS streaming free TV programming to iPhone users

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