• Gigaom, Tuesday, February 22, 2011 2:47 PM

Score one for Netflix over Hulu Plus: CBS just announced it will start streaming "dozens" of mostly classic shows on Netflix, most of them previously unavailable. That keeps CBS as the only major network to keep its online content off Hulu Plus.

Among the shows unavailable on other platforms include "Cheers" and "Frasier." Don't look for any current shows beyond "Medium" (just canceled) and Canadian import "Flashpoint."

The lack of current content or even recently syndicated shows indicates "that CBS, like other members of big media, sees Netflix distribution as a serious competitor to the still-lucrative syndication market. Some of the shows that Netflix will be streaming, such as Cheers, have been in syndication for decades; their value to the secondary TV market doesn't compare to a more current show like NCI," writes Gigaom's Liz Shannon Miller.

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