Live on the Web? Only on East Coast
The “CBS Evening News With Katie Couric” had been promising computer users for weeks that they could tune in to live simulcasts of the show over the Internet. As it turned out, “live” is in the eye of the beholder.
Yes, the broadcast was indeed transmitted over the Internet, but it was not live for those outside Eastern Daylight Time. Agreements with local affiliates prevented broadcast of the news program before it aired on local stations.
To watch the simulcast, users first had to register on the “CBS Evening News” website, which was loaded with promotional language like: “See it now. Anytime. Anywhere.”
But West Coast computer users who tried to catch Couric’s live broadcast on Tuesday afternoon were told: “Please come back later when the ‘CBS Evening News’ airs on your local CBS station.”
KCBS spokesman Mike Nelson admitted that the “live simulcast” phrasing was confusing. In an FAQ section on the CBS News website, the network says viewers can’t watch the simulcast before it begins airing locally.
Nelson said that that fact soon could be more prominently displayed.
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