CBS plans to expand its strategy of making new fall shows available online before showing them on the TV network, network research chief David Poltrack tells Broadcasting & Cable. The challenge for CBS and other networks as they increasingly make shows available online is to make sure the tactic builds viewership, not cannibalizes it. Initially, it seems that viewers have embraced the idea to a certain extent. According to Poltrack, 53 percent of people who watched the networks’ rookie shows online prior to their fall 2006 launch are still tuning in to the programs on TV: “You could argue that any number of them would have watched the show anyway, but maybe it would be three or four episodes in with all the clutter in the fall.” Partly because so many current shows are serialized, it is more important than ever to get them in there early, Poltrack added, especially as viewers get more used to watching content on the web and using time-shifting technologies.
Meanwhile, the talk of an online upfront continues. Last week, speaking at a luncheon for the Direct Marketing Club of New York, Bruce Biegel, senior managing director at DM consultancy The Winterberry Group, was quoted by BtoB magazine as saying that competition for prime positions online may make it viable to have an online version of the traditional advertising upfront market this year. As more marketers and traditional media outlets move online, Biegel said they will need to plan further ahead for advertising on major websites.
New units: CBS announced two new units today: CBS Consumer Products for merchandising in the Entertainment Group and CBS Home Entertainment for its DVD business in CBS Television Distribution. The new merchadising unit will be headed by Liz Kalodner, who comes from Sesame Workshop, where she was EVP/GM-global consumer products. CBS vet Ken Ross heads the DVD unit as EVP/GM. Previously, all these functions were combined as a single entity under distribution. 
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-- Time-Shifting/DVRs Could Cost Broadcast TV $600 Million