CBS Interactive has announced exclusive partnerships with video game broadcasting network TwitchTV and eSports league Major League Gaming (MLG) to add coverage of competitive gaming to their portfolio of consumer media.
Jim Lanzone, President of CBS Interactive, thinks eSports, or competitive gaming, is one of “hottest trends in video”. In recent years, mainstream news sites are starting to regularly provide coverage of competitive gaming events in the US and Europe.
TwitchTV attracts 12 million unique viewers a month, and will receive exclusive advertising support from CBS Interactive with this deal. In the same monthly period, MLG broadcasts 750,000 game matches, and streams them to hundreds of thousands of people in more than 170 countries. These numbers will only grow thanks to the deal’s promised support from CBS Interactive’s other Internet destinations including CNET, GameSpot, and TV.com.
CBS Interactive hopes this partnership will allow them to provide coverage of eSports to an “engaged” audience, and grant them better access to the 18-25 male demographic.
