CBS is onboard with Google for a new paid, web-based video service, the Wall Street Journal is reporting. The service would be hosted on the YouTube platform, which Google owns. Google is also in talks with 21st Century Fox, NBCUniversal and Walt Disney Co., the WSJ reports:
The new service, dubbed Unplugged, aims to be a low-cost option targeting consumers who either have resisted subscribing to traditional pay-TV or cut the cord due to rising subscription costs.
Google is looking to offer a “skinny” bundle of live TV channels with a price in the range of $25 to $40 a month, according to media executives who have heard the pitch.
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CBS programming would air live on Unplugged as part of the deal. Unplugged would enter a crowded marketplace, going up against the likes of Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime. However, if it were to offer live channels, Unplugged would have a feature you can’t get from those outlets. We wrote last month about Sling TV, which is trying to do something similar to Unplugged – offer a cable-like package of channels at a lower-than-cable rate.