Advanced Television

CBS: 5m OTT subs

February 16, 2018

CBS says its OTT services now have nearly 5 million subscribers, well ahead of expectations. Speaking with analysts, CBS CEO Les Moonves said that subscriber growth for CBS All Access and Showtime’s OTT products are “far beyond where we expected them to be.”

Moonves added CBS expects to exceed its goal of 8 million subscribers by 2020.

The OTT services area is also attracting the next generation of viewers, Moonves said. The average age of viewers on CBS All Access is 20 years younger than viewers who watch on broadcast and cable. CBS’s OTT news service, CBSN, has a young audience, with 80 per cent of viewers between the ages of 18 and 49 and an average age of 38.

CBS will be following the CBSN model with two more products. CBS Sports’ direct-to-consumer service will launch later this month, just before the start of March Madness basketball and The Masters. Both new services will be free and ad-supported.

CBS All Access will also be going international, launching in Canada in June, and then in Australia and Europe.

Categories: Articles, OTT