cbs

Because the [itvt] editorial team is busy working on The TV of Tomorrow Show (March 3rd-4th in San Francisco) and on our new, post-TVOT EBIF Intensive event (March 5th in San Francisco), we are covering a number of stories in this issue in summary form:

CBS is inviting viewers to decide which song the band, Bon Jovi, will perform during the broadcast network's January 31st telecast of the 52nd Annual Grammy awards (note: according to CBS, this will be the first time ever that the band has performed at the Grammys).

Broadcast network, CBS, and action sports programmer, Fuel TV, both announced the availability of free, video-enabled iPhone/iPod touch applications in the Apple App Store Wednesday.

CBS's CBS News and CBS Mobile arms announced Wednesday the launch of the "CBS News Katie Couric" iPhone/iPod touch application in the Apple App store (note: Couric is the anchor of "CBS Evening News," and arguably CBS's most high-profile news personality).

A report by Sam Schechner and Yukari Iwatani Kane in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal claims that Apple is planning to launch a subscription-based over-the-top-TV service, and that CBS and Disney are considering participating. The report, which cites unnamed sources "familiar with the matter" (note: Apple, CBS and Disney all apparently refused to comment), also claims that Apple is hoping to launch the service next year.

ScanScout--an online video advertising network provider that recently launched a new, interactive ad unit, called the "Super Pre-Roll," which places multiple interactive overlays on a company's existing spots, distributing them on the screen in accordance with the spot's content (see the article published on itvt.com, October 8th)--said Monday that it has signed in-stream video advertising agreements with premium publishers across several industries, including Warner Bros., Warner Music, Mindspark, Marvel Comics, Lycos, Fox News, RealNetworks, Spac

Here is a round-up of some other interactive TV-related stories we didn't have room for in this issue:

CBS's CBS Mobile and CBS News arms last week announced the launch of a CBS News application for the iPhone and iPod touch. According to the broadcaster, features of the new app, which is available for free in the Apple App Store, include:

Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News organized a breakfast panel event called "TV Everywhere and Anywhere" at New York's Paley Center, Tuesday, that provided updates on the "TV Everywhere" distribution model from Quincy Smith, CEO of CBS Interactive; Marty Roberts, VP of marketing at thePlatform; and Bob Bowman, president and CEO of Major League Baseball Advanced Media (note: the "TV Everywhere" model, which has long been championed by Time Warner and its chairman and CEO, Jeff Bewkes, seeks to make programming that pay-TV customers have already paid for through their cable, satellite or IPTV subscriptions available to those customers on multiple platforms, and thus aims to head off the threat posed to pay-TV services by the i

San Francisco-based social TV company, ClipSync, contacted [itvt] Monday to let us know that the CBS shows, "CSI" and "The Bold and the Beautiful," are now available through its recently launched ClipSync Viewing Parties for Facebook application. ClipSync promises that it will be adding more shows to the app on a weekly basis.

Broadcast network CBS announced Wednesday an extensive multiplatform initiative around the 11th season of the US version of the Endemol reality-TV show, "Big Brother" (Premieres July 9th, 8:00PM Eastern/Pacific). According to CBS:

CBS-owned broadband video/community site, TV.com (offers full episodes, clips, entertainment news, show summaries, polls, forums and more) and DVR vendor/service provider, TiVo, announced an agreement Wednesday which they say will let TV.com users find and schedule shows to record on their TiVo DVR directly through TV.com. According to the parties, TV.com users who have a TiVo Series2, Series3, HD, or HD XL DVR can now record single episodes or entire seasons of shows by clicking a "Record to TiVo" button on TV.com show pages, and the request will then be sent directly to their DVR.

CBS Interactive announced Wednesday that HD Gallery, the high-definition broadband video service it offers on CBS.com, is now offering video in the high-quality 1080p format (note: the gallery's content can still also be viewed in 720p and 480p; rival Hulu currently offers HD content only in 720p). Intel, which was the exclusive sponsor for HD Gallery's launch last year, is also the exclusive launch sponsor of the new 1080p-enabled HD Gallery.

Broadcast network CBS announced Monday that "Harper's Island"--a multiplatform, social TV-enhanced mystery series that [itvt] reported on yesterday--will move to Saturday (9:00-10:00PM ET/PT), as of May 2nd, where it will form the first hour of a two-hour block of original mystery programming with "48 Hours Mystery" (10:00-11:00PM ET/PT). The broadcaster purportedly made the decision to move the show to the less desirable timeslot because its greatest strength is with timeshifting and online audiences.

CBS Interactive announced last week that its CBS.com Web site is now offering Facebook Connect support, allowing fans of CBS Television shows to quickly and easily log into the site using their existing Facebook account. The company--which claims that CBS.com is the first broadcast network site to support Facebook Connect--says that as a result, when fans of its shows contribute or interact on CBS.com, they can now also publish their actions back to Facebook, sharing their CBS.com experience with their entire social network. It also says that Facebook Connect support makes registration for CBS.com games, contests and community features faster and easier.