CSI Miami star David Caruso and guest actor Laurence Fishburne.Sonja Flemming
With three incarnations in different cities and endless dissections in Technicolor forensic detail, even the most die-hard fan would have trouble arguing that the world needs more CSI.
But a deal on Monday ensures that is just what viewers will continue to get: CBS, the American network that owns CSI, reached a 10-year agreement with cable provider Comcast Corp., the largest cable company in the U.S., to distribute its programming for a fee. Such retransmission deals are now commonplace in the U.S., but this agreement is new for CBS, since it expands on-demand and online rights, giving Comcast customers continued access to shows like CSI along with new offerings in the digital space, including late-night programs and hundreds of hours of programming from CBS-owned cable station Showtime.
The deal marks an outbreak of peace between networks and the distributors that carry their programs to viewers: it renews the agreement between CBS and Comcast more than a year before it was set to expire and with few fireworks, a major departure from last-minute agreements marked by hostility.
In March for example, Walt Disney Co. pulled its ACB network from Cablevision Systems Corp. during a fight over retransmission fees. The blackout hit Cablevision customers during the Academy Awards broadcast. Talks also became acrimonious last year between News Corp., which owns Fox, and Time Warner Cable over fees, though no blackouts occurred.
"It's not within the interests of either the channel or the cable operator to get to the point where they're actually taking stuff off the air," said Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at New York's Syracuse University. "That makes cable subscribers really angry, and makes them more prone to say, 'Okay, I'm going to get my television other ways, namely the Internet.' "
Monday's agreement also highlights an important bargaining chip for networks like CBS and ABC in negotiating with cable and satellite companies to pay them for signals that once were available for free over the air: for digital content.
"The negotiations are coming because basically the broadcasters are saying, 'You have to pay us,' " said Todd Mitchell, a media, cable and satellite analyst with Kaufman Bros. in New York. Previously, that was a hard sell for content that had been freely accessible with a pair of rabbit ears. Now that cable companies are looking to sell on-demand services, digital rights have become more valuable.
"Now, there's no such thing as broadcast distribution. Everything is distributed on a paid platform," he said.
In addition to on-demand, the agreement allows Comcast to provide more shows - CBS late night as well as cable content owned by CBS, including Showtime - on its xfinity.com website, which is restricted to its cable TV subscribers. It's a platform being explored by more cable and satellite companies in Canada as well: Distributors such as Rogers, Bell, Videotron and Shaw have all launched similar subscription-based TV websites in the past year.
"We are proud to partner with CBS as we give our customers the content they love on TV, video on demand and online," Comcast chairman Brian L. Roberts said in a statement.
The companies would not release the financial terms of the deal.
The negotiations are a bid by broadcast networks to create a second revenue stream as advertising revenues have fallen. Networks in Canada have made a similar move; earlier this year, the federal broadcast regulator said broadcasters such as CTV could negotiate with cable and satellite companies to be paid for their signals, but that decision is still pending court approval.
"What it proves is that there's absolutely a place for the market to put together fair deals that work for both parties," CBS spokesperson Dana McClintock said.
CBS president Leslie Moonves said at a conference in March that he expects the network to pull in $100 million in revenues this year from such fee negotiations, an amount that should rise to $250 million in 2012.
There is a further potential benefit for Comcast in the digital sphere: CBS has been a holdout among the big networks, refusing to allow its programs to be shown on Hulu. The TV viewing Website is owned by the parent companies of Fox, ABC and NBC - the network that is awaiting regulatory approval in its merger with Comcast.
When asked if the new deal could mean CBS could eventually be available on Hulu, or on Hulu's paid subscription service launched in June for U.S. customers, CBS spokesperson Mr. McClintock said: "There's many options. That's one of them."
Negotiations have heated up in the last two to three years over the value of digital rights and the ability to offer programs on different platforms, said Nicholas Heymann, a media analyst with New York-based Sterne Agee.
Beyond digital rights, Comcast also has a stake in the negotiations as it tries to demonstrate to regulators that it will negotiate fairly with NBC competitors in retransmission agreements if the deal to buy the network goes through. The CBS agreement could be just another attempt to demonstrate its goodwill.