CBS | Revamp of TV.COM
Here is a good overview of CBS’s revamp its acquisition of tv.com
CBS Tries to Out-Hulu Hulu with TV.com
As was expected, CBS is revamping TV.com to be a video-viewing destination. The well-URLed site, which six months ago started featuring Hulu content, has added CBS shows, and Monday is announcing deals for shows from MGM, Sony, PBS, Endemol USA and Showtime, according to reports tonight.
CBS is pitching the site as a video portal that’s already social. That’s because competitors like Fox and NBC’s Hulu, Comcast’s Fancast, and Joost are trying to build online communities from scratch, with none-too-impressive results. Not to say people don’t show up at those sites to watch video, they just don’t necessarily show up to chat with other video watchers.
CBS gained control of TV.com through its acquisition of CNET last year. Up till now, the site has been an information source and community for television fans. Personally, I’ve only ever visited TV.com to check out its show guides to make sure I was watching TV episodes in the right order. Not a terrifically social activity! But the site has millions of users — though, weirdly, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal disagree on how many unique visitors comScore said the site had in November; the NYT says 16 million, while the WSJ says 4.8 million.
