(8 May 2006 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: US broadcaster CBS has launched Innertube. This is an ad supported broadband network delivering a range of free programming, including original series developed exclusively for online broadcast and, eventually, encore episodes of hit CBS shows.

Innertube launches with a line-up of original content and new shows that are companions to popular CBS brands. Programming will be drawn from the company's entertainment programming divisions including CBS Entertainment, King World, CBS Paramount Network Television, CBS Paramount Domestic Television and Showtime.

In the coming months, Innertube will also become a distribution outlet for streaming encore episodes from CBS's prime-time line-up and for webcasts of content from CBS' library of 2,600 titles and 100,000 hours of television programming. It will also feature shows that were cancelled, such as Love Monkey.

Now available from CBS.com, the service will initially stream three shows daily, with at least five new offerings on the site throughout the week. Original programming includes the makeover reality series Greek to Chic, the scripted sketch comedy BBQ Bill, and a behind the scenes look at Survivor in Beyond Survivor. New series launching this summer include Inturn, where aspiring soap stars vie for a spot on the daytime series As the World Turns, the entertainment magazine The Green Room, the Showtime series of short films entitled Showtime Shorts, and repurposed episodes of Fire Me…Please.

Advertisers include Brinkmann Corporation, Cadbury Schweppes, Chili's, Pier 1 Imports and Verizon SuperPages.com.

CBS president, CEO Leslie Moonves says, "Our company possesses some of the world's finest entertainment programming assets and brands, and we will continue on a strategic course to find as many distribution channels and new revenue streams for them as possible. With this broadband channel, we've essentially bypassed cable and created a general entertainment outlet utilizing existing creative and content resources."

CBS Digital Media president Larry Kramer says, "Innertube represents CBS Corporation's latest effort to capitalize on advertising, programming and promotional opportunities within the emerging digital world. With Internet programming destinations now in place for news (CBSnews.com), entertainment (CBS.com) and sports (CBSSportsLine.com), CBS is at the forefront of extending our programming brands to new audiences, delivering new forms of exciting content to the consumer and creating new platforms for advertisers."