CSTV Podcasts Sports Via iTunes

The college sports network CSTV--which CBS just agreed to acquire for $325 million--on Thursday said it reached an agreement with Apple Inc. to distribute various podcast programs via iTunes.

One show, "Hurricane Hotline," includes segments with Miami football head coach Larry Coker. Another, "On the Sidelines with Mike Leach," features the Texas Tech football coach sounding-off.

Brian Bedol, CSTV's co-founder and CEO, said CSTV had begun talks with Apple without CBS's involvement.

While the podcasts are not currently ad-supported, Bedol said "significant sponsorship interest" exists. "No one's going to buy space on a CPM basis right now, but there is significant interest to sponsor these shows." CSTV's advertisers include, among others, 20th Century, Energizer, Nissan, and Microsoft's Xbox.

Bedol also said CSTV is certainly interested in "at least testing" video content via iTunes.

Soon after Apple's video iPod debuted last month, CBS began distributing its free podcasts including "60 Minutes" on Apple's iTunes Music Store.

Earlier this month, CBS Digital President Larry Kramer told OnlineMediaDaily he has had talks with Apple about distributing CBS video on iTunes.

CBS and CSTV have worked together since 2004, when CSTV launched March Madness on Demand, allowing hoops fans to watch live CBS Sports NCAA Tournament broadcasts streaming live through an agreement with CBS SportsLine.com.

CBS said the deal to acquire CSTV is likely to close by early 2006, after parent company Viacom completes its planned split into two companies. Bedol will continue to run CSTV as a separate entity, and will report directly to Leslie Moonves, chairman of CBS and co-president and co-chief operating officer of Viacom.

The acquisition includes a digital cable network featuring 30 men's and women's college sports events, which Bedol expects will have nearly 15 million subscribers by year-end. Online, CSTV offers over 250 official college athletic Web sites.

CSTV.com was the ninth most-trafficked sports Web site in October with a unique audience of 5.84 million, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. ESPN led that month with over 15 million, followed by Yahoo! Sports with over 12.5 million, and Fox Sports on MSN with just over 12.2 million uniques.

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