CBS launches $5.99 a month streaming service

Julianna Margulies, right, as Alicia Florrick and Josh Charles as Will Gardner on "The Good Wife." (CBS)

Here you go, cord-cutters — and take that, Hulu: It’s called CBS All Access, and it will offer streams of broadcasts from the 14 stations that the network owns, as well as VOD for “thousands of episodes from the current season, previous seasons and classic shows,” the company says. It’s available today at CBS.com as well as iOS and Android apps for mobile devices.

"CBS All Access is another key step in the company's long-standing strategy of monetizing our local and national content in the ways that viewers want it," says CEO Les Moonves. "This new subscription service will deliver the most of CBS to our biggest fans while being additive to the overall ecosystem. Across the board, we continue to capitalize on technological advances that help consumers engage with our world-class programming, and we look forward to serving our viewers in this new and exciting way."

The service begins offering full seasons of 15 prime time shows the day after they air; past seasons of eight series including "The Good Wife," "Blue Bloods," and "Survivor;" ad-free access to 5,000+ episodes of “classics” including "Star Trek," "Cheers," "MacGyver," "Twin Peaks," and "CSI:Miami;" added content for specials including The Grammy Awards, The Academy Of Country Music Awards, and The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show; and live feeds of "Big Brother" when it returns next summer.

“CBS All Access reflects our efforts to distribute as much of our leading content as possible on new platforms in ways that are strategically sound and provide additional value to our audiences," says CBS Interactive EVP Entertainment, Sports and NewsMarc DeBevoise.

It’s not clear how the initiative will affect CBS’ independent affiliates. The company says CBS All Access was “built in close collaboration” with the network-owned stations in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, Miami, Denver, Sacramento, Pittsburgh and Baltimore. This morning’s release says that additional stations will be added. Syncbak, in which CBS has a minority investment, will handle delivery and geo-targeting of the live feeds to ensure that they only go to in-market subscribers.

“Television stations have been the fabric of local broadcasting for 75 years, and todays announcement is part of paving the way for the next 75,” says CBS Television Stations President Peter Dunn.

CBS also assures non-subscribers that they will still be able to access the most recent current episodes of CBS shows on CBS.com, as well as CBS Audience Network partner sites and through the CBS App. “Programming will be available the day after the shows air on TV, with an eight-day delay on mobile devices for primetime series only,” CBS says.