• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, June 9, 2006

For the first time, CBS Thursday made episodes of its regular prime-time shows available on Apple's iTunes.

The network is now offering "Survivor," "Numb3rs," NCIS," and the three CSI programs--"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "CSI: Miami," and "CSI: NY"--as $1.99 iTunes downloads.

Previously, CBS sold some shows on iTunes, but on a one-off basis; for instance, the network made clips of the March Madness basketball games available on the service.

Mainly, however, CBS previously offered downloads on its own site and Google Video. CBS.com had downloads of some shows available at both $1.99, without ads, and 99 cents, with ads. CBS also has made a library of current and historic shows available for paid downloads on Google Video.

Larry Kramer, president of CBS Digital Media, said the decision to sell programs on iTunes reflects a larger desire to explore different methods of digital distribution. "We want to test everything," Kramer said, adding that the network was considering offering completely ad-supported versions of some shows, as ABC has done with "Lost," "Desperate Housewives," "Alias" and "Commander in Chief."

Kramer also said that one advantage to forging a deal with iTunes now--months after the other three major networks started selling shows on the service--is that the CBS shows won't now face heavy competition from the other network programs on iTunes. "We like the idea of going up at the end of the season," he said. "The only really new shows up there are ours."