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Full Length New Episodes of Popular Series from Five Including "Home and Away" will be Available on Demand at TV.com
London, February 25, 2010 - Full-length episodes of popular programmes from Five, such as Neighbours, Home And Away and The Gadget Show, are to be made available [this month] at TV.com (http://uk.tv.com), the best website for TV entertainment, information and community.
The partnership with Five is the first major deal for long-form content in Europe for TV.com, which is owned and operated by CBS Interactive. It is also the latest step in Five's strategy to syndicate its television content onto leading on-demand platforms.
Under the terms of the deal, programmes available on Five's catch-up TV service, Demand Five, will be available at TV.com shortly after broadcast. TV.com users will also be able to access around 250 hours of Five's archive content. These programmes will be free of charge and available only in the UK.
The deal will be important in helping broadcasters tap into the growing consumer demand to watch TV online. In-video advertising will be sold by Five (typically pre-roll and mid-roll advertisements and sponsorship bumpers) and display advertising to be sold by CBS Interactive It also stamps the footprint of the CBS Interactive-owned online video service firmly on territories beyond the US.
Jonathan Lewis, Five's Head of Digital Media, said: "Our partnership with TV.com is further example of Five's strategy to expand and grow the reach of its content beyond the small screen to premium secure digital platforms. I'm delighted to have been able to strike a deal with one of the most innovative and interesting players in online TV that will make it easier than ever before for new and younger audiences to discover Five's fabulous line-up of shows."
"With the addition of Five's content, TV.com continues its mission to be a place for TV entertainment in the UK," said Jill Orr, managing director and VP of CBS Interactive UK. "It's not enough today to just rebroadcast television shows online -- people go online for the community interaction and no one is better at building thriving online communities around content than TV.com. The content feeds off the community, creating a deeper connection between the fans and their favourite TV shows."
TV.com is part of CBS interactive, which has more than 48 million unique video viewers globally and is in the top five largest video properties by number of viewers (Dec. 2009, comScore Video Matrix). TV.com recently posted quadruple digit year-over-year growth; 3,763% increase in unique viewers, 4,341% increase in streams, and 6.031% increase in minutes (Sept. 2009 comScore Video Metrix). TV.com continues to grow in video streams with its active online community, thanks to user engagement applications like the popular TV.com WatchList, and Facebook Connect.
About Demand Five
* Five launched its catch-up TV service, Demand Five (www.five.tv/demandfive), in June 2008. In addition to TV.com, content from Demand Five is available via Five's own web properties, as well as YouTube, SeeSaw and via BT Vision, the UK IPTV service.
* Demand Five forms part of Five's Digital Media Group platform alongside websites such as Holy Soap (www.five.tv/holysoap) , FiveFwd (www.five.tv/fwd) and Five Casino (www.fivecasino.tv/), vertical portals aimed at soap opera aficionados, young male fans of cars and gadgets and gaming enthusiasts respectively. Combined, they form the fastest growing group of websites among all major UK broadcasters: up 85% in September year-on-year (Source: Nielsen Online Research).
* Five (Channel 5 Broadcasting Ltd.) is a commercially-funded UK public service television broadcaster. It began operating in 1997. It is owned by RTL Group, the leading European entertainment network with 46 television stations, 30 radio stations in 11 countries and worldwide production.
About TV.com
TV.com is the best website dedicated to TV entertainment, information and community. The site features video content such as full episode streams, video-clips, live-event coverage and behind-the-scenes footage, plus expert editorial content like entertaining features and weekly podcasts. The site also provides in-depth show summaries, episode guides and downloads, bios, photos, news, and more on over 19,000 TV series. This content is greatly enriched by one of the largest and most vocal communities of TV fans who express themselves via show summaries, reviews, ratings, blogs, forums, polls, and videos.
About CBS Interactive Ltd
CBS Interactive UK (www.cbsinteractive.co.uk), a division of CBS Corporation, is the UK's largest online-only publisher of premium content. With more than 9.1m people visiting its UK properties each month, CBS Interactive is a UK top 15 web property. Our portfolio of leading brands - which include CNET UK, GameSpot UK, TV.com, BNET UK, silicon.com and ZDNet UK - span popular categories like technology, entertainment, and business.
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Press Contacts:
Five
Andrew Sholl, +44 20 7550 5661
Andrew.Sholl@five.tv
CBS Interactive
Luke Fredberg +44 (0) 207 021 1022
Luke.Fredberg@cbs.com