CBS Corp. made a broad push further into online distribution Thursday with a series of deals with Internet companies to carry CBS shows such as «CSI» and «The Late Show With David Letterman.» CBS already distributes many of its shows online through Yahoo Inc., Apple Inc.'s iTunes online music and video store and its own Web site, according to AP. The new deals represent the latest effort by traditional broadcasters and other media companies to harness the power of the Internet to show video and to combat the unauthorized viewing of TV shows on video-sharing sites such as YouTube, which is owned by Google Inc. CBS said it would begin distributing current shows including the evening news broadcast with Katie Couric as well as other programs from its TV library through online partners including Microsoft Corp.'s MSN; Time Warner Inc.'s AOL unit; CNET Networks Inc. and several others, including a new company called Joost, which was founded by the creators of the Internet-based phone service called Skype. Advertising revenues will be shared between CBS and its partners. CBS has also been in discussions with a separate company created by News Corp., owner of the Fox broadcast network and many other media businesses, and General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal. That company, which has not yet been named, intends to distribute shows from NBC, Fox as well as movies through its own network of online partners. CBS has so far balked at a requirement by the new company that any venture have exclusive rights to work out online deals for distributing video. The deals that CBS announced Thursday are non-exclusive. Unlike the company created by NBC and News Corp., which will create a central online destination, CBS plans to let the shows be carried on its various online partners instead, said Quincy Smith, the head of CBS's interactive unit. «Why mandate where the people go when you already know where they are?» Smith said. Notably absent from the group were YouTube, where CBS already has an existing relationship, and MySpace, a major social networking site owned by News Corp., which is also a partner in the venture with the company created by News Corp. and NBC. Smith said CBS was continuing to have talks with various potential partners. The Wall Street Journal had reported Thursday that CBS was close to announcing a series of deals with online partners.
