As one of CBS’ biggest events of the year, March Madness, gets underway, Verizon and CBS agreed to a new multi-year carriage deal. The agreement gives Verizon the continued rights to air CBS-owned CBS and CW stations in local markets as well as premium cable network Showtime, Smithsonian Channel and CBS Sports Network.
All of those content feeds will air on Verizon Fios TV, which competes with cable and satellite TV providers in different markets.
As part of the new deal, Verizon also will be able to offer subscribers authenticated access to live streaming on CBS.com, the CBS app and Verizon’s authenticated platform. The agreement will ultimately expand to future digital platforms, with specifics to be released at a later date.
“With every carriage agreement we focus on achieving an outcome that best serves Fios customers based on the way they view today and the way they may want to view tomorrow, including across future digital platforms,” said Brian Angiolet, SVP product and new business, Verizon, also in a statement. “Providing customers with choice remains at the core of all of our video offerings, and this agreement with CBS fits squarely into our strategy of expanding rights to fill out our emerging vertically integrated media portfolio.”
CBS-owned stations in Verizon Fios markets, including New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore and Pittsburgh, and CBS-owned The CW affiliates in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, will continue to be distributed to Fios TV subscribers. This includes over three million subscribers served in markets where CBS owns television stations and almost one million subscribers in markets where CBS owns The CW affiliates. Fios has approximately 4.7 million subscribers in total.
READ MORE: Variety
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