CBS stations websites in content deal with Examiner.com

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CBS Local Digital Media announced it has entered into a collaborative agreement with Examiner.com that tightly integrates both teams’ editorial staff to create original lifestyle content for local audiences. Under the deal, editorial pieces from Examiner.com will be published on locally-focused websites associated with CBS radio and TV stations in more than two dozen major markets nationwide.  


Examiner.com is a leading online publisher featuring local expertise from over 85,000 contributors, known as Examiners. Users will be able to experience exclusive editorial posts from in-market writers on select CBS Local websites beginning later this month. Stories written by Examiners will be rolled out to all 25 of CBS Local’s websites within the first quarter of 2012. Content will focus on “Best Of” guides and “Top Spots” lists covering a range of topics including arts and culture, shopping, food and drink, nightlife and music, as well as travel and outdoors.
 
In all, CBS Local Digital Media operates a network of websites and mobile applications with more than 33 million unique monthly visitors.

“Over the course of the past 18 months we’ve built a platform that quickly garnered interest from millions of users searching for the best local news, information and entertainment,” said Ezra Kucharz, President, CBS Local Digital Media.  “Taking our vision one step further by working with a stable of contributors with expertise in their field will greatly enhance the audience’s experience.  This is not just about telling you where to go and what to see – it’s providing ‘insider access’ to a city you may be visiting or have lived your whole life that you can’t get anywhere else.”
 
“This partnership exemplifies our strength in producing high quality content at scale.  We look forward to working with CBS to enhance and expand its lifestyle editorial to better engage with valuable local audiences.  Examiner.com has the unique ability to mobilize our national base Examiners at a moment’s notice to produce the most engaging and relevant stories, articles and posts,” said Leonard Brody, President of Clarity Digital, the parent company of Examiner.com,
 
RBR-TVBR observation: Just as the broadcasting business was built on a network-affiliate model, the “new media” world is also dependent on partnerships. The web is a voracious consumer of content, so just about everyone needs partners to add to the content they produce themselves.