CBS says local versions of CBSN, its 24-hour news channel, will roll out by early 2020 in all of the markets served by its 13 owned-and-operated stations, including Minneapolis’ WCCO-TV.
CBSN has already launched local feeds for New York and Los Angeles featuring live simulcasts of local newscasts, other original news programming, and breaking news coverage. The ad-supported channels exist alongside the national CBSN feed and are available for free online and on connected TV platforms.
CBS Television Stations President Peter Dunn said in a news release that CBSN New York and CBSN Los Angeles, which launched in December and June respectively, have exceeded their expectations.
“It is clear there is significant demand for high-quality local news coverage on streaming services, and we are moving forward with excitement as we prepare to launch CBSN Local services in all 13 of our local news markets. Our accelerated rollout schedule ensures launches in all of these markets ahead of the 2020 political primaries and elections,” Dunn said.
WCCO’s version of CBSN will represent the first attempt at a local 24-hour news channel with original programming covering the Twin Cities market. (A reader reminds me that KSTP did offer a subchannel looping past newscasts in the early 2000’s.) Currently, FOX 9’s live stream offers repeats of past newscasts between live shows, while KSTP-TV and KARE offer recent newscasts on demand via the NewsOn app.