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CBS joining Comcast OnDemand Online, snubs Hulu

July 14, 2009 — 11:27am ET | By Pete Wylie

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CBS announced today it will join the Comcast "OnDemand Online" program, marking the third major content announcement this week for the walled garden online video destination. CBS's decision to join "OnDemand Online," part of the "TV Everywhere" initiative led by Comcast and Time Warner, is also significant because it is a clear signal it will not put its content on Hulu any time soon. The other three major broadcast networks, ABC, Fox and NBC, all have programming on Hulu, as part of the equity stakes that their respective parent companies have in the joint venture.

Without giving specifics, CBS said it would make both current and library content available to subscribers in the upcoming "OnDemand Online" trials, which will test Comcast's authentication system with about 5,000 subscribers.

In addition to announcing CBS as a partner for the "OnDemand Online" trials, Comcast also announced the additional of 17 more cable networks to the trial, and did in a separate announcement a couple hours later so as to try to stay on top of this "24-hour news cycle" thing. Someone should tell Comcast and its partners that doesn't necessitate putting out press releases every three hours; one with all the day's coming announcements usually is sufficient.

Joining CBS in the trial are: A&E, AMC, BBC America, DIY Network, Fine Living Network, Food Network, Hallmark, HGTV, History, IFC, MGM Impact, Sundance Channel, WE tv, E!, The Style Network, G4, and FEARnet.

For more:
- see the AllThingsDigital article here