CBSNews.com overhauls site with emphasis on video

Posted by Liz Webber on June 17, 2009 at 3:32 PM

Yesterday CBS News revealed its new site, which aims to ease navigation and put more focus on video content. The CBSNews.com landing page now features a mix of the latest news articles, pictures and video, with prominent placement for CBS exclusive content from the site's blogs.

"The new design and platform looks to capitalize on the legacy and strengths of the CBS News' brands, while leveraging the web's ability to help us dramatically expand our coverage, showcase our strength in video, and drive greater engagement with our audience," said Joe Gillespie, executive vice president of CBS Interactive Technology & News.

Another new feature indicative of the changing nature of web news: a Twitter feed of Tweets by CBS correspondents. Although ABC News boasts a link to follow its site on Twitter, none of the other network news sites are making use of the social networking site so obviously.

The redesign makes it easier to share videos, either via email or placing links on social media sites. Earlier this month, CBS announced a deal to stream video content through the live video site Ustream in order to appeal to a younger demographic.

Web exclusive blogs and other content, such as Washington Unplugged and Crimesider, have also been given a prime focus on the new site.

CBSNews.com shares some similarities with MSNBC.com, which recently celebrated its first year as the number one news site in the US, in that both highlight specific TV news programs in the navigation bar and collate stories by category further down the main page. Overall, the CBS site is a bit flashier.

Visitors to the site can take a video tour of the new elements, with CBS anchors acting as narrators.

As news sources compete more and more for their audiences on the web, an interactive site with an emphasis on multimedia has become a key strategy. Newsweek and thelondonpaper, News International's free London based daily, recently relaunched their sites with more interactive content. Similarly, BusinessWeek has announced it will soon offer a different version of its website to subscribers.

Source: WebNewser