CBS All Access

History

On October 28, 2014, CBS launched CBS All Access, an over-the-top subscription streaming service – priced at $5.99 per month ($9.99 with the no commercials option) – which allows users to view past and present episodes of CBS shows. Announced on October 16, 2014, (one day after HBO announced the launch of its over-the-top service HBO Now) as the first OTT offering by an USA broadcast television network, the service initially encompassed the network's existing streaming portal at CBS.com and its mobile app for smartphones and tablet computers; CBS All Access became available on Roku on April 7, 2015, and on Chromecast on May 14, 2015. In addition to providing full-length episodes of CBS programs, the service allows live programming streams of local CBS affiliates in 124 markets reaching 75% of the United States (including stations owned by Tribune Broadcasting, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Hearst Television, Tegna Media, Nexstar Media Group, Meredith Corporation, Griffin Communications, Raycom Media, Weigel Broadcasting and Cox Media Group and the launch group of CBS Television Stations), including SEC sports and the NFL; however due to the absence of streaming rights, a few sports events are not streamed on the service (mainly involving PGA Tour events and select brokered shows through the CBS Sports Spectacular), along with limited syndicated and paid programming where only a local broadcast license to carry the program is allowed and web airing rights are retained by the syndicator or infomercial producer.

On December 1, 2016, CBS announced an agreement with the National Football League to allow clearance of NFL games carried by CBS on CBS All Access from Week 13 of the 2016 NFL season on, though they will continue to be blacked out on non-Verizon Wireless mobile devices due to that provider's exclusivity agreement as part of their 'official wireless provider' sponsorship of the league.

Original programming

On November 2, 2015, it was announced that the first CBS All Access original series will be a new Star Trek series in summer 2017, which will be unrelated to the 2016 feature film Star Trek Beyond.

On May 18, 2016, it was announced that The Good Wife would get a spin-off featuring Christine Baranski's character Diane Lockhart. The series, titled The Good Fight, launched with a CBS broadcast premiere on February 19, 2017, with the remaining nine episodes exclusive to CBS All Access.

On August 2, 2016, the announcement was made that an online version of Big Brother would air on CBS All Access in the fall of 2016. The announcement marked the first CBS television series set to air exclusively on the platform. It is also expected to be the first reality game show set to air exclusively on any streaming platform. On August 10, 2016, CBS announced that Julie Chen would continue to serve as host, and then revealed the season to be called Big Brother: Over the Top.

Syndicated and archived programming

The most recent episodes of the network's shows are usually made available on CBS.com and CBS All Access the day after their original broadcast.

CBS All Access provides complete back catalogs of most of its current series, including full-season "stacking rights" (with the exception of certain series, such as The Big Bang Theory, to which CBS only holds "last five" episode rights to as Warner Bros. retains all other rights as the show's distributor), as well as a wide selection of episodes of classic series from the CBS Television Distribution program library – including shows previously owned by Paramount Television made for both CBS and other networks prior to CBS's acquisition of its program library through the CBS-Viacom split (including the complete episode catalog of shows like Star Trek, Cheers, MacGyver, Twin Peaks and CSI: Miami) to subscribers of the service. CBS All Access also carries behind-the-scenes features from CBS programs and special events, and (beginning with the 17th season in June 2015) live feeds and special content from the reality series Big Brother.