FiOS Update: Verizon Will Pay CBS For Retrans; Claims More Than 30 Percent Of First Market

When CBS was joined at the hip with Viacom’s MTV nets, retransmission rights for the network’s owned-and-operated stations were usually tied to cable distribution. In addition, distributors usually balk at any idea that freely distributed broadcast signals should cost them anything. But with CBS on its own — Showtime and CSTV are its only cable channels — CEO Les Moonves has been open about his desire to get paid in cash for those rights and, if the leaks seeping out are any indication, it sounds like Verizon is doing just that. The WSJ reports that Verizon will pay about 50 cents per sub; the deal includes local and national VOD content. No official confirmation but the press release includes this quasi-coy statement from Moonves: “With each subscriber that Verizon’s FiOS TV adds, CBS will directly benefit.”

Multichannel News: Last November, CBS reached a deal to provide Comcast with some of the same programs it is offering to Verizon, such as CSI and Survivor, for on-demand use. But Comcast is charging its subscribers 99 cents per episode to watch those shows. As part of a retransmission-consent pact, Comcast also has access to local programming from CBS stations for its on-demand platform.

In contrast to Comcast, all subscribers to Verizon’s FiOS video services with a set-top box will receive the CBS network VOD content, as well as the local on-demand programming in markets where CBS owns stations, at no incremental cost.

Keller numbers: Meanwhile, Verizon Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg told attendees at TelecomNext Monday that the first FiOS rollout in Keller, Tex. has captured more than 30 percent of the market and “exceeded even our most aggressive forecast.”
Related: Verizon, Disney Announce Wide-ranging Video Deal; Interney Copyright Agreement Included

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