Robert Seidel, Vice President for Engineering and Advanced Technology at CBS, the most important television network in the United States, has confirmed he will be present at “SET E TRINTA”, the SET seminar at the NAB Show to be held in Las Vegas in April.

The subject of his talk could not be more topical: he will discuss the CBS All Access, an on-demand video service that has been grabbing the headlines because of its aggressive marketing strategy, which included a special promo during the Super Bowl.

Analysts say that All Access shows bold changes in the positioning of CBS in the market. In an article published on February, Fortune magazine revealed that, firstly, video streaming providers such as Netflix and Hulu have ceased to be seen only as allies and are now seen as competitors as well and, secondly, advertising, the essence of the television industry, is no longer the primary source of revenues, sharing space with new revenue streams.

“When I started in this job 20 years ago, advertising was everything to this company”, said Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of CBS. “Advertising will still remain important, but it´s not nearly as important as some of these new ways of getting revenue, such as interactive”, he explained.

Indeed, the trajectory of CBS All Access has been one of constant innovation. According to Variety, the platform was launched on October 2014 with the 14 owned-and-operated CBS stations. It offered episodes of series such as The Big Bang Theory and CSI, as well as classics like Star Trek to the broadcaster’s “super-fans”.

In April and May 2015, 25 affiliated broadcasters joined the service, creating a huge differential when compared with the competitors: regional and live programs that reach 64% of US households. “The affiliates receive a share of the $5.99-per-month subscription fee”, Variety reported at the time. Subscribers have access to the service through multiple platforms, such as TV, tablets, PCs and smartphones.

According to Variety, “the local live-streams are made available through technology firm Syncbak, in which CBS has a minority investment”. Other investors include the National Assn. of Broadcasters and the Consumer Electronics Assn.

So far, however, the number of subscribers is being kept a secret. In a November interview for the Hollywood Reporter, Moonves was vague: The service has attracted users “beyond our projections” and has done “extremely well”, he said, admitting that the figure exceeded 100,000 mark. Now Fortune, citing an analyst from Jefferies, says the figure could exceed 500,000 users.

Rounding things off, CBS announced that in January 2017 it will launch a totally new saga of Star Trek, to be distributed in both network and All Access. The company is also considering taking some series off the open channel and putting them exclusively in the on-demand package. “Star Trek is to All Access what House of Cards is to Netflix”, Moonves explained to Reuters in February.

CBS All Access at “SET E TRINTA”

Robert Seidel, Vice President for Engineering and Advanced Technologies at CBS, will participate in the Panel on Technology, to be moderated by Fernando Bittencourt, Vice President at SET, on Tuesday, April 19th.