Last year, the two CBS OTT services reached almost five million subscribers, reaching the target originally set for 2020.
CBS currently has two OTT services, CBS All Access and Showtime, but plans to roll out two more in the US, a CBS Sports service will launch just before the start of March Madness [a basketball event] and The Masters golf tournament. Before the end of the year, an Entertainment Tonight OTT service will also launch.
“The CBS Corporation produces many of the most-valuable programming franchises in the world, reaching more viewers than anyone else. This gives us a tremendous advantage as streaming becomes more central to our distribution strategy,” said Leslie Moonves, chairman and CEO, CBS Corporation.
“As a result, we now have nearly five million subscribers at CBS All Access and Showtime OTT combined. When you add this to our retrans and skinny bundle subscribers, our total subscriber base continues to grow at an accelerated pace.”
Moonves revealed that CBS expects to pass a goal of eight million subscribers by 2020. On the demographics side, the network is attracting a millennial audience for its direct-to-consumer platforms; the average age of viewers on CBS All Access is 20 years younger than linear viewers.
This year, CBS All Access, will also be going international, launching in Australia, Canada and Europe.
“By going direct-to-consumer around the world, we will facilitate new connections between the global audience and our industry-leading premium content. I look forward to introducing CBS All Access to Canada in early 2018, followed by a number of other markets in multiple continents around the world.”