• by Wayne Friedman , July 14, 2009

Comcast Corp. has grabbed its first big broadcast network for its ambitious On Demand Online trial: CBS.

This comes a day after HBO networks signed up with the Comcast trial and a week after Liberty Media's Starz TV channels made a similar agreement. Last month, Time Warner and Comcast introduced a set of principles called "TV Everywhere." These moves target authentic cable subscribers, allowing them to watch programming online.

CBS programming has already been available through Comcast's other video destination, Fancast. The network also has an on-demand programming deal with Comcast' cable systems.

Quincy Smith, chief executive officer of CBS Interactive, said in a release: "Comcast is already a trusted platform to distribute CBS content on air as well as on demand; expanding this relationship online is a logical step."

CBS' current efforts on Fancast, and in other on demand platforms, are limited to specific shows airing in selected time period windows. CBS also airs its programs in a variety of video destinations, including its own TV.com Web site.

"TV Everywhere" wants to free up many of those restrictions for TV viewers, provided they are paying cable subscribers. If not, then Internet video viewers, in theory, would have to pay a fee.

An initial test of 5,000 customers across the U.S. will begin in the coming weeks; it will allow Comcast customers to receive the same content online for free that they subscribe to on TV. During the course of the trial, CBS plans to test various current and library content.

CBS says its digital video strategy "has always been about open, nonexclusive distribution of our content in a consumer friendly way." Other major media companies, such as NBC Universal, News Corp. and Disney-ABC Television, under its Hulu.com platform, are a bit more restrictive when it comes to content distribution, per executives.