Elizabeth Guider Reports: CBSSI & Telecom Italia Pact

LOS ANGELES: Italians who might have missed early seasons of CBS series like CSI or NCIS will, courtesy of a new streaming agreement, have their chance to play catch up.

CBS Studios International and Telecom Italia unveiled in the midst of the ongoing L.A. Screenings event Tuesday a non-exclusive licensing agreement that will allow subscribers to instantly stream select Eye content in Italy on its Cubovision platform.

The on-demand service, called CBS, is the first branded subscription channel from the major Hollywood studio in the Italian market.

No financial details were made available.

Launching today on Cubovision, Telecom Italia’s broadband subscription on-demand service, subscribers will be able to stream early seasons of the afore-mentioned shows as well as old seasons of Dexter and Nurse Jackie (from sibling paybox Showtime) as well as full seasons of classics such as Star Trek: Enterprise and Twin Peaks.

In a statement, Armando Nuñez, president of CBS Studios International, said that "best-in-class programming from divisions across the CBS Corporation make this branded, on-demand service possible."

"With its launch in Italy, Cubovision is focused on adding significant quality to the entertainment choices available to Italian consumers," added Paolo d’Andrea, head of Innovative VAS at Telecom Italia.

Cubovision is Telecom Italia’s brand for a multi-device home entertainment environment. There was no indication as to how many subscribers the service has already signed up.

But the press release suggested that thanks to "advanced technical features," the Cubovision service is available on "an increasing number of consumer electronic devices including digital TVs and Smart TV, DTT decoders, gaming consoles, PCs and mobile devices, with a focus on smartphones and tablets."