Amazon, CBS close Extant deal

Online retail giant Amazon has struck a deal with US network CBS allowing it to stream forthcoming Steven Spielberg series Extant just four days after broadcast on TV.

Amazon Prime Instant Video will be the exclusive online subscription home for the series following its premiere on CBS Television Network in June. Episodes of Extant will also be available for purchase and download exclusively at Amazon Instant Video.

Extant, produced by Spielberg’s Amblin Television and starring Halle Berry, is about an astronaut who comes home after spending a year alone in space, and tries to reconnect with her husband and son.

The agreement follows a similar pact between CBS and Amazon for for last summer’s Under the Dome, the series from Stephen King and Amblim – one that has since been renewed and extended to LoveFilm, Amazon’s European VoD service.

“Our partnership with Amazon for Under the Dome helped build a creative, financial and marketing model for event television in the summer,” said Scott Koondel, chief corporate licensing officer at CBS. “We look forward to using the same model for Extant, a series whose creative auspices, on-screen talent and intriguing concept is already generating great excitement.”

The series will be distributed domestically by CBS Television Distribution and worldwide by CBS Studios International.

Amazon revealed recently that it has 20 million Prime customers with access to its premium VoD service.