CBS To Accelerate Launch Of CBSN Local

CBS Television Stations and CBS Interactive on Thursday announced their intention to accelerate the rollout of CBSN Local, the company’s local direct-to-consumer streaming news services, in all 13 major U.S. markets where CBS Television Stations have local news operations.

CBSN New York debuted in December 2018 and CBSN Los Angeles went live in June 2019. CBSN Boston is expected to launch soon, with CBSN San Francisco Bay Area scheduled to make its debut during the fourth quarter of this year.

The company today for the first time confirmed its plans to launch a CBSN Local service in the nine remaining markets where CBS has a local television news organization. All nine markets will debut their CBSN Local services by early 2020.

The nine markets included in this expanded launch plan are Chicago (local news content provided by WBBM), Dallas-Ft. Worth (KTVT), Philadelphia (KYW and WPSG), Minneapolis-St. Paul (WCCO), Denver (KCNC), Miami (WFOR), Sacramento (KOVR and KMAX), Pittsburgh (KDKA and WPCW) and Baltimore (WJZ).

CBSN Local services feature 24/7 anchored programming, coverage of live breaking news events in the region, as well as a library of local news content that is available for on-demand viewing.

“The early success of CBSN New York and CBSN Los Angeles has exceeded our expectations,” said Peter Dunn, president, CBS Television Stations. “It is clear there is significant demand for high-quality local news coverage on streaming services, and we are moving forward with excitement as we prepare to launch CBSN Local services in all 13 of our local news markets. Our accelerated rollout schedule ensures launches in all of these markets ahead of the 2020 political primaries and elections.”

“The collaboration between CBS Television Stations and CBS Interactive, coupled with the enthusiastic response from the teams at our local stations, has created a winning combination, both for CBS and the millions of viewers we serve,” said Adam Wiener, EVP-GM of CBS Local Digital Media. “We are excited to address the rising demand for local, relevant and useful information on all platforms by leveraging our existing local news assets to dramatically expand the distribution of CBSN Local services.”

“Access to reliable local news is a priority for our audiences from coast to coast,” said Christy Tanner, EVP-GM of CBS News Digital. “The ability to now provide our viewers with authoritative reporting on communities across America through individual streaming channels as we head into 2020 is a pivotal milestone in CBSN’s evolution as the premier 24/7 streaming news service.”

CBSN Local services are available through CBSN, onCBSNews.com and on the CBS News apps for mobile and connected TV devices. In addition, the services is available through CBS Television Stations’ local websites and the CBS Local mobile app.

CBSN Local services build on the success of CBSN, the pioneering 24/7 streaming news service from CBS News and CBS Interactive that delivers live national and global news coverage and in-depth reporting from CBS News’ team of journalists. Launched in November 2014, the platform delivered nearly 400 million total streams in 2018.

CBSN Local services are ad-supported. They complement CBS’s other streaming services, CBSN, CBS Sports HQ and ET Live, and will ultimately be included as live channels in CBS All Access in their respective markets.