YouTube now includes full-length CBS shows
updated 02:40 pm EDT, Fri October 10, 2008
YouTube streams CBS shows
The popular video-sharing portal YouTube has began running full length TV shows from CBS' archives in attempts to build revenue from advertising, according to a report on Friday. Typically, a YouTube video is no longer than 10 minutes, but the CBS agreement sees episodes that occupy normal TV-length episodes that last between 20 to 48 minutes each. Among the shows offered will be episodes of Star Trek, Young and the Restless and Beverly Hills 90210.
As part of the deal, CBS would sell ads for the streamed episodes, with the two companies sharing the resulting revenue, although no specific financial terms were announced. YouTube has previously experimented with full-length shows for the last few months with Time Warner Inc's HBO and CBS' Showtime TV shows.
Video-hosting rival Hulu already streams TV shows, although it focuses chiefly on newer episodes and offers a larger selection from content providers that include FOX, NBC Universal, MGM, Sony Pictures Television, Warner Bros. and others.
The move means anyone with a YouTube application on their devices, including iPhone owners, can access at least a partial selection of full-length TV shows without having to download or pay for the content.
