CBS Rolls Out Innertube

Survivor just got smaller. But CBS is getting larger.

Taking yet another step along the road to offering 24/7 multiplatform entertainment, CBS announced Thursday the launch of Innertube, a free broadband channel that will offer short-form comedy, drama, talk and reality programming, along with clips of CBS shows like Survivor, The Amazing Race and The Late Show with David Letterman.

The network plans in coming months to stream full-length episodes of its prime-time series on the channel, as well.

Half-hour and hour-long shows that aren't doing well in the ratings but deserve a second look will also eventually be fodder for Innertube. Previously unaired new episodes of Love Monkey, the failed dramedy starring Tom Cavanagh that received a temporary new lease on life from VH1, will kick off the Innertube rejuvenation experiment.

While no more episodes of Love Monkey will be produced, CBS execs have left the door open to the possibility that future shows that find an audience on the Web could end up back on the network.

The channel debuted Thursday with three ad-supported shows, including an unscripted series called Greek to Chic, a fashion makeover show directed at college students (i.e. the audience CBS is hoping to capture).

Other original shows premiering this month on Innertube are a sketch comedy series called BBQ Bill and Animate This!, in which celebrities narrate a funny personal anecdote that is brought to life through, well, animation.

The new venture, accessible through CBS.com, will also feature Web-exclusive shows that delve deeper into CBS's current TV lineup. Beyond Survivor and The Big Brother Talk Show, for instance, will offer more than you ever felt you needed to know about the goings-on behind those two series.

Existing CBS.com offerings like Survivor Live and the talk show House Calls will continue to premiere on the main site and then re-stream on Innertube.

"Creatively, we want this platform to be a content playground where new talent and ideas are discovered, and proven talent can bring their passion projects--whether complementary or different to what's on the network," Nancy Tellem, president of CBS Paramount Network Television Entertainment Corp., said in a statement.

While ABC announced last month that it would make episodes of some of its more popular series, such as Desperate Housewives and Lost, available for free viewing on ABC.com--with commercials you can't skip through--CBS's move marks the first time a network has created what is technically a separate channel online.

"Studios and networks alike recognize the value of having series extensions online and on the mobile platform as well," Tellem said in a conference call with reporters.

"Our company possesses some of the world's finest entertainment programming assets and brands, and we will continue on a strategic course to find as many distribution channels and new revenue streams for them as possible," CBS Corp. President and CEO Leslie Moonves said in a statement. "With this broadband channel, we've essentially bypassed cable and created a general entertainment outlet utilizing existing creative and content resources."

Larry Kramer, president of digital media at CBS, told the Hollywood Reporter that Innertube is the "third leg" of the network's online strategy, joining CBSsportsline.com and CBSnews.com as routes to programming that complements and supplements what's on the TV network.

CBS--like ABC, NBC and Fox--also has made a number of its series available commercial-free for $1.99-per-episode downloading from Apple's iTunes Music Store.

While CBS reportedly has a mobisode soap opera--episodes for mobile phones--in the works, Fox has already launched 24: Conspiracy and Prison Break: Proof of Innocence, featuring storylines running parallel to (therefore not dependent upon) the action on 24 and Prison Break. ABC has also started production on Lost Video Diaries, which along with the Lost Experience multiplatform game starting this month will provide Lost addicts with their fix throughout the dog days of summer reruns.

Just think, so long as you have a cell phone with video playing capability, a computer, high-speed Internet and an iPod, you don't even need a TV anymore.