CBSN, the 24/7 free streaming news service, launched a new, interactive product feature in 2020 that enables viewers to instantly switch among multiple live news streams for breaking coverage. The feature, called Video Push Alerts, offers immediate access to breaking coverage within CBSN's entire network of 13 national and local live streams, plus the CBS Sports HQ and ET Live streaming services.
The interactive graphics are produced by the CBSN editorial team and appear in the upper right corner of the screen. If interested in the live coverage featured in the alert, viewers can simply click the graphic and instantly join coverage of the story in progress. CBSN was one of the first news streaming services to launch an in-stream, interactive alert feature of this kind.
Video Push Alerts make it easy for CBSN viewers to stay on top of multiple breaking stories at once. This functionality is a practical use of digital technology to showcase the depth of CBSN's editorial coverage and to provide even better service to viewers across the national livestream, which originally launched in November 2014 and delivered a record one billion streams in 2020, and the network of 10 CBSN Local services across the country, which initially began rolling out with CBSN New York in December 2018.
CBSN first launched Video Push Alerts on Apple TV in January 2020, and utilized them to notify viewers when governors from multiple states gave daily briefings, often at the same time, to communicate vital public information in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
CBSN expanded the availability of Video Push Alerts to Roku in October 2020 ahead of the presidential election. The live alerts played a crucial role in CBSN's election day coverage, allowing audiences to seamlessly toggle between national coverage and the CBSN Local services delivering the latest reporting and updates from major markets around the country, including results in critical down ballot races.
CBSN sent out 29 Video Push Alerts on election day and 82 alerts for the week of November 2 - November 8. They have driven strong engagement in CBSN since launch: in the fourth quarter of 2020, users who interacted with Video Push Alerts spent 3.5X more time in CBSN compared to average viewers, and 53% of Video Push Alert users returned within 1 day.