CBS eyeing Hulu, web video with upcoming TV.com redesign

Ars Technica reports: CBS wants an online presence and community, and a recent series of acquisitions and partnerships show that it's determined to get there. Now CBS is turning its eye to TV.com, and an upcoming redesign is set to take on Hulu--and hopefully succeed where NBC and FOX have so far failed.

TV.com has quite a flourishing community in its current form, with 16 million monthly unique visitors all convening over TV schedules, forums, industry news, video clips, and other content related to nearly 19,000 shows. CNet launched the site in 2005, and TV.com and its community were part of the deal when CBS acquired CNet earlier this year.

Inspired by the explosion of online video this year at venues like Hulu, CBS is said to be working on a major TV.com redesign that will meld a bountiful catalog of full-length content with the site's rich information and community, according to paidContent.org. Hulu's lack of community participation and relevant features has so far crafted its reputation to be "that online video box where you can watch the latest Simpsons episode." CBS hopes that infusing a rich content catalog will entice users to come for the full episodes, stay for the forums, surveys, and in-depth information that the site is already known for.

One challenge for CBS in redesigning TV.com will be to keep the site intuitive and easy to traverse. Right now the site can be confusing to navigate, and part of Hulu's appeal is its utter simplicity and straightforward approach to listing TV shows, episodes, and clips. If the full-length streaming content gets buried underneath other features and content at the new TV.com, CBS could fumble the very consumers its looking to attract with the change.

This TV.com is expected to arrive sometime in January and will be the latest move in CBS' online ventures. It got its feet wet with an acquisition of Wallstrip.com and becoming the first national broadcaster to sign up with Joost. In May 2007, CBS acquired Last.com for $280 million, with CEO Leslie Moonves announcing that it is "a huge step in CBS Corporation's overall strategy of expanding our reach online to transition from a content company into an audience company." If CBS can design an intuitive site and introduce full-length content into its established community, the upcoming TV.com redesign could very well break the proverbial leg.

By David Chartier

Originally published on Ars Technica December 16, 2008-11:58AM CT

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