CBS Evening News adding radio simulcast
When the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric debuts 9/5, the viewers will be able to watch and listen, as well as a get related programming on television, radio, Internet and wireless platforms, it was announced by Sean McManus, President, CBS News and Sports. Among the offerings:
Radio and cross-platform coverage - For the first time ever, the first segment of the CBS Evening News will be simulcast by CBS Radio News and made available to its 500 affiliates. Already committed are biggies like WCBS-AM New York, WTOP Washington, D.C. and WBZ Boston.
Additionally, "Katie Couric Reports," a one-minute look into a top story or issue by Couric, will be available via radio, Internet and wireless. The report will be fed by CBS Radio News at 4:25 PM, ET, each afternoon to affiliates and will be available as an audio podcast for their local websites. For radio, CBS News VP/Radio Harvey Nagler tells us there will be a commercial attached to the one-minute report.
It also will be featured as an on-demand video clip on CBSNews.com and will be available on Verizon VCast phones and as a video podcast. Couric will also anchor CBS Radio News' 5:00 PM, ET newscast.
Daily digital reports - A daily, on-demand web-exclusive feature will provide extended interviews with the day's newsmakers hosted by Couric and conducted by her or a CBS News correspondent. The segment will be posted on CBSNews.com by mid-afternoon and will run three or four minutes. This report will available for video podcast and will be sent to all CBS Radio News affiliates around the country for broadcast and/or podcast.
In addition, early each weekday afternoon, Couric will offer a web-exclusive rundown on-camera from the newsroom - a first look at the stories being considered for coverage on that night's news and some perspective on what is going on in the world that day.
Interactive daily blog - The blog will explore the day's developments through links to exclusive, free video, as well as contributions from CBS News correspondents around the world, and will be updated frequently throughout the day.
RBR observation:
Surprising CBS Corp. CEO Les Moonves is not using more CBS O&Os to air Katie. Needless to say, expect a ton of promotional radio spots running on the CBS Radio News network. Whether we'll hear them on the music stations remains to be seen. On the interactive and wireless side, all of this will be ad-supported. None will be subscription-based. Ad packages are currently being put together. We'll have more on that.
