America Online Inc has named CBS News as the exclusive provider of broadcast news to AOL and CompuServe. CBS replaces ABC News, a unit of the Walt Disney Co which had been AOL’s news provider since 1995. Disney’s aggressive recent moves into internet content, most notably through its Go Network joint venture with Infoseek, may account for AOL’s reluctance to renew the expired contract with ABC News. CBS News is to get a major and ongoing presence throughout AOL, CompuServe and AOL.Com, in the shape of slide shows, branded stories and special features, links and live events. For its part, AOL has committed to showcase the talents of CBS news correspondents, producers and editors throughout the service. The partners say they will share any ad revenues resulting from the alliance. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
