CBS to sell new “Survivor” episodes on CBS.com

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New episodes of the popular “Survivor”
reality television series will be made available for download
directly from CBS Corp.’s Web site, a first in network TV, the
company said on Wednesday.

CBS, which split from Viacom Inc. in January, has been
trying since last year to appeal to new viewers, who now turn
to the Internet and portable media devices for entertainment.

The New York-based owners of the CBS television network and
radio stations group already offers its top rated shows
including “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” on Google Inc. video
service for $1.99 and on Comcast Corp.’s on-demand system for
99 cents.

Its latest plans now cuts out the distributor. The company
said it plans to share an undisclosed portion of the revenue
with broadcast affiliate stations, as it has done with other
new media deals.

“It’s been our strategy to exploit content across as many
platforms as possible,” Leslie Moonves, chief executive of CBS,
said in a statement.

New episodes will be available shortly after midnight
following the airing of new episodes on TV. Customers will be
able to watch the episode for a 24-hour period after paying.