CBS Partners With YouTube To Show Full Length TV Shows

By: Jennifer Hong
Staff Writer
Published: Nov 21, 2008

CBS has agreed to run full length TV shows on the video sharing Web site. The television episodes are over 20 minutes in length. Google is talking to other TV networks to sign similar deals.

Google Inc and CBS Corp have signed a deal that allows YouTube to run full length TV shows. The YouTube videos feature television episodes from the archives of CBS. Google is already talking to other TV networks about similar deals.

YouTube is the world's largest video sharing Web site. Google hopes to boost revenue from advertising placements by running CBS programming. It is the latest effort by Google to add professional programming on a Web site that has only offered amateur videos by its members.

Some of the YouTube shows include "Star Trek," "Young and the Restless" and "Beverly Hills 90210." The shows are over 20 minutes in length.

The YouTube site shows a new badge beside the videos to distinguish them as full length TV shows. Other badges indicate shorter clips. The TV shows will soon be in a new mode called "theater" to improve the viewing experience.

Earlier this week, Google increased its efforts to generate revenue from YouTube to please investors. The video sharing Web site created a new e-commerce ad format called "click to buy." The new feature includes ads that will appear on videos from music partners EMI Group Ltd and Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group.