CBS said Thursday it will become the first network to simulcast its evening news broadcast online, starting on the night of Katie Couric’s debut as anchor Sept. 5.
All of the broadcast networks have aggressively pushed onto the Web over the past two years to interest more people in what they do, particularly at a time the audience for their evening newscasts is growing smaller and older.
ABC streams a “World News” unique to the Internet audience in the mid-afternoon. NBC’s Brian Williams contributes to both a video and written Web log during the day. However, NBC doesn’t make a replay of “Nightly News” available until 10:30 p.m. ET, after it is shown on television throughout the country.
The concern among network affiliates that Web simulcasts would slice into their TV audiences — making their advertising time less valuable — has been a barrier to TV networks doing this.
Who watches nightly news anymore?