The offering of soap operas online hasn't been something undertaken in a big way by any network. NBC (GE) has had "Passions" online through its NBC.com site, while also offering for sale on itunes. "Days of Our Lives" has also been recently added.
Now CBS (CBS-A) is adding several their soaps online free on its CBS.com Website. There are also plans in the works to bring "The Price is Right" online for free as well. They'll also be available across the CBS Audience Network, which includes a number of video streaming sites.
The network is offering "Guiding Light," "As the World Turns," and "The Young and the Restless" to their Internet fans to start with. They are talking to "The Bold and the Beautiful" producers about adding that for the fans online also.
Daytime programming head for CBS, Barbara Bloom said, "It establishes more opportunities for our rabid fans to watch their favorite shows, creates a new platform to recruit potential new viewers to our daytime programming, and it offers our advertisers another means to reach a valuable demographic audience."
The effort already has baby food heavyweight Gerber as a key sponsor for the online video streams.
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