AOL Has Eye On CBS Video Content

Video and text news from CBS Digital Media will be part of AOL’s portal, and should increase brand awareness of CBS as it transitions to a broadband-first news focus.

CBS announced yesterday how breaking news videos and headlines & text articles will be available on AOL News. Content from CBSNews.com will be integrated on AOL’s news page, with links back to CBSNews.com for additional stories.

The Viacom-owned company sees the deal as one component in its move to develop a broadband news network, shifting away from broadcast TV and cable as the primary way to deliver news to viewers.

CBS commented to MediaPost about the need for brand awareness trumping competitive concerns with Time Warner:

“As opposed to traditional, the Web lives and thrives in shades of gray,” said Betsy Lake Morgan, senior vice president of CBS Digital Media and general manager of CBSNews.com. She added that CBS’s current priority is building its brand online, and large portals are essential to that end. “It’s important right now to have our brand everywhere.”

AOL currently uses videos from Disney-owned ABC along with content from CNN, which like AOL resides under the Time Warner umbrella. Morgan also noted in the report that AOL will pay CBS for the content it provides.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.