Jun 23, 2020 - Economy & Business

Exclusive: CBSN launches global expansion

CBSN

CBSN, the 24/7 digital streaming news service for CBS News, is expanding internationally to pull in more digital TV ad dollars, while also expanding its audience.

The big picture: The company has brokered over-the-top (OTT) TV carriage partnerships with connected TV providers in over 89 countries outside of the United States.

  • "It's always chicken and the egg with international," says Christy Tanner, Executive Vice President & General Manager of CBS News Digital.
  • "We need to build the audience first in order to have the volume to turn it into a robust AVOD (advertising video on-demand) advertising businesses."

Be smart: The international expansion comes on the heels of the CBS merger with Viacom, which closed late last year.

  • Tanner says that the international sales forces at both companies can combine their efforts to sell more ads for CBSN.
  • "We do think that will be one of the benefits of the merger. There are strong international ad sales teams at Viacom and we now have more relationships to tap into and capabilities in international sales."

Details: The company has brokered partnerships with several smart TV manufacturers and smart TV software platforms to make its CBSN app available across the world.

  • Those platforms include Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast and Chromecast built-in devices, iOS mobile apps, LG Smart TVs, and VIZIO SmartCast.
  • Because CBSN had previously launched behind a paywall in Canada and Australia, the company has already done the heavy legwork to secure global content rights for things like background music.
  • "When we did that we created a process for everything we do day-to-day to make sure everything cleared globally so we wouldn't have to worry about global rollout," says Tanner.
  • The actual product, a 24/7 streaming channel in English, will be the exact same in every country abroad as what's aired in the U.S.

Between the lines: CBSN' has been planning this expansion prior to the pandemic and the protests, but Tanner says that traffic has skyrocketed in recent months, as the world grapples with those two events.

The company is expanding its OTT app to:

  • 34 EU countries (plus UK), including France, Germany and Sweden
  • 55 non-EU countries, including China, Brazil, Peru, and South Korea

By the numbers: CBSN's audience growth internationally year-over-year:

  • Canada (+129%), UK (+320%), Australia (+1,389%), India (+268%), Mexico (+104%), Philippines (+237%), Japan (+92%).

What's next: The product has been rolling out around the world in beta for a few weeks, but the official launch on most of these new platforms will be this week.

Go deeper

Fadel Allassan
Jun 30, 2020 - Health

European Union extends ban on U.S. travelers as borders reopen

Photo: Thierry Monasse/Getty Images

The European Council said Tuesday it has adopted a recommendation to allow a list of 14 countries to enter the EU's external borders beginning on July 1, but left off travelers from the U.S., Russia, Brazil and other countries that have failed to control the spread of the coronavirus.

Why it matters: It's an international rebuke of the Trump administration's handling of the pandemic. While the recommendations will be reviewed every two weeks, the guidelines suggest that U.S. residents won't be allowed to travel to the EU until the spread of the coronavirus is under control domestically.

Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow
Axios
Updated 1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 12 p.m. ET: 12,772,755 — Total deaths: 566,036 — Total recoveries — 7,030,749 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 12 p.m. ET: 3,269,531 — Total deaths: 134,898 — Total recoveries: 995,576 — Total tested: 39,553,395 — Map.
  3. Politics: Trump wears face mask in public for first time.
  4. States: Florida smashes single-day record for new coronavirus cases with over 15,000.
  5. Public health: Trump's coronavirus testing czar says lockdowns in hotspots "should be on the table" — We're losing the war on the coronavirus.
  6. Education: Betsy DeVos says schools that don't reopen shouldn't get federal funds — Pelosi accuses Trump of "messing with the health of our children."
Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow
Fadel Allassan
2 hours ago - Health

Florida smashes single-day record for new coronavirus cases

Data: Covid Tracking Project; Chart: Axios Visuals

Florida reported 15,299 confirmed coronavirus cases on Sunday — a new single-day record for any state, according to its health department.

The big picture: The figure shatters both Florida's previous record of 11,458 new cases and the single-state record of 11,694 set by California last week, according to AP. It also surpasses New York's daily peak of 11,571 new cases in April, and comes just a day after Disney World reopened in Orlando.

Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow