CBS launches its own TV-streaming service for $6 a month

Less than a day after HBO finally promised to let users cut out the middleman, CBS has decided to do the same. The company is launching CBS All Access, which charges $6 a month to stream new episodes of its shows the day after broadcast. You'll be able to stream 15 of its prime-time shows in this way, including big hits like NCIS and The Big Bang Theory as well as 6,500 episodes of classic TV from the CBS back catalog as a sweetener. That'll enable you to binge down on classic shows like, uhm, MacGyver and I Love Lucy whenever and wherever you want. The platform will also enable you to watch the live streams from the Big Brother house when that show returns next year, which seems like an adequate apology after CBS helped kill off Aereo.

There are a few caveats that we probably should mention. First up, you won't be able to live stream the Sunday and Thursday NFL games, as CBS doesn't own the rights to those games. Second, you'll only be able to view the streams if you live in an area where CBS owns the local affiliate, like in New York and Los Angeles. Thirdly, even though you're actually paying for the service, you're still going to have to sit through commercial breaks, because, guys, this is CBS we're talking about here. Still, if you like your shows to feature lots of people who used to be big names staring glumly at corpses, or the adventures of the boyfriend from Roseanne now that he's a scientist, or Magnum PI as a policeman, then you can snag a week's free trial down at the source.