- CBS News is offering more free news content: They launched a 24/7 news channel that you can watch without paying for cable.
- The name is changing: Previously called the CBSN Streaming Network, it’s now CBS News 24/7.
- New shows are coming: CBS is adding more live news programs to give it a continuous news channel feel.
Earlier this month, Paramount announced that CBS News would be offering more live 24/7 news coverage for free on Pluto TV and other apps.
Now, yesterday April 22, CBS News started to increase its free 24/7 news coverage and changed the name of the CBSA Streaming Network to CBS News 24/7.
Along with this change, CBS will introduce new shows to make the coverage feel more like live news.
Wendy McMahon, president and CEO of CBS News & Stations and CBS Media Ventures, said,
“CBS News 24/7 is a big step forward in our streaming efforts.We’re confident that fresh, timely, and unique news coverage is what our audience wants, and we’re ready to provide it.”
-Wendy McMahon
New shows will include a live newscast called “CBS News 24/7,” an overnight show called “CBS News Roundup,” and “CBS News Confirmed,” which will tackle misinformation.
Existing shows like “America Decides” and “The Daily Report with John Dickerson” will also be expanded.
Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, President of CBS News, said, “We’re committed to bringing the same high-quality reporting and analysis from our TV broadcasts to our streaming platform.
Shows like ‘America Decides’ and ‘CBS News Confirmed’ are part of our efforts to engage a new generation of viewers with top-notch journalism.”
These are the new shows:
- “CBS News 24/7” A core newscast with all-day coverage, the latest reporting, and behind-the-scenes looks at newsgathering.
- “The Daily Report with John Dickerson” A longer version of John Dickerson’s political analysis show.
- “America Decides” More in-depth political coverage and analysis.
- “CBS News Roundup” Overnight news round-up with highlights from CBS stations around the country.
- “CBS News Confirmed” A new show dedicated to fighting misinformation and helping viewers separate fact from fiction.
Why is CBS doing this?
As per their statement, more viewers want free, up-to-date news, so CBS is responding to this demand.
However, the thing is, CBS wants to stand out.
They aim to provide high-quality news and compete in the streaming news market.
Big deal. They’re just repackaging what’s already on their network and trying to sound cool and digital.
Honestly, I don’t care…
It might be similar content, but the big deal is making it available 24/7 and for free. Not everyone has cable, so this opens up news to a much wider audience.
True, it’d be more groundbreaking if they suddenly started reporting the news with puppets or something. But I’ll take expanded access to information over gimmicks any day.
I like John Dickerson, so expanding his show is a good move. I’m curious to see how the longer format will work.