CBS Interactive has announced that it is launching a new video player for viewers who want to watch selected CBS TV shows online. Over the next few months, CBS TV shows will be made available in high definition, full screen and with limited commercial interruptions. Both Macs and PCs are supported.

TMO interviewed Anthony Soohoo, Senior VP and GM of Entertainment at CBS Interactive to get the details.

The Player

The new player is based on Flash 9 and doesn't require installation. Mr. Soohoo, who worked for Apple from the mid 1980s to early 1990s believes in the "just works" philosophy and felt that any requirement for a user to install software would be an impediment. He told TMO that a lot of the coding for the project was actually done on a Mac, and he is a Mac and Apple TV user himself.

Numb3rs screen shot, used with permission

The player, since it is based on Flash 9, is compatible with any PC or Mac browser that has the Flash plugin installed. [Found in /Library/Internet Plug-ins on the Mac.] The format is MPEG4 Part 10 also known as H.264, an effcient video format that Apple also supports and is very well known to Apple users.

The viewer does a bandwidth check at connection and can scale from 720p down to 480p or lower if necessary. A button on the bottom right of the screen allows the viewer to enter full screen mode and other buttons allow a resolution change. [This reporter tried the viewer with a fast Comcast connection on a 23-inch Apple Cinema display, and in 720p it looked good -- with no visible stuttering or breakup.] Like Apple TV, a bandwidth of 6 Mbps or more is recommended for an optimal experience.

"We wanted to make sure we had the most simplified, intuitive user experience available," Mr. Soohoo said. In fact, he tested the viewer with his wife's mother, and it passed the acid "mother-in-law" test.

The streaming content cannot be recorded. TMO asked Mr. Soohoo about a mechanism to get that picture onto an HDTV, and he said that that's something for the future that CBS is thinking about.

Availability

Viewers can test the player with short CBS clips right now at http://labs.cbs.com . In the coming months more and more content will be added in terms of selected CBS shows, including special HD previews of the new Fall TV shows on CBS.

TMO asked Mr. Soohoo about the advertising. The full length episodes will be ad supported, but unlike broadcast in which 18 minutes of each hour are allocated to station breaks and commercials, Mr. Soohoo estimates that the ads will consume just 10 to 15 percent of the viewing time. That means 4 to 6 minutes of adds spread out over a 42 minute episode.

One of the features CBS expects to exploit is social recommendations via Last.fm. "Our new video player platform takes advantage of the new social medium online by combining the most advanced video technology with our expertise in premium content programming to deliver new ways to discover and enjoy entertainment online," Mr. Soohoo said. That means allowing users to embed their favorite videos and clips on blogs and social network profiles to share with their friends, creating a more interactive and social viewing experience.

ABC.com was one of the early leaders in delivering its TV shows online in HD with limited commercial interruptions as well as Mac support. Then FOX/NBC combined forces to deliver Hulu which also works well on a Mac. Now CBS rounds out the big four with an easy to use, intuitive, HD and full screen capable viewer of its TV content and adds the social networking features as well. This time there is full Macintosh support from people at CBS who appreciate and use Macs as both testers and coders. The industry has made huge strides.