CBS Local Launches a Widget; Will Share Revenue, Won't Share How Much

CBS Television stations have launched a new local widget program for bloggers in cities where CBS owns the local station. Initial stations included in the program are: Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, Denver and Chicago. New York City will be coming soon they say. The technology is provided by Syndigo Networks.

There is an application process for bloggers who want to be included. The program includes a rev-share for bloggers who install the widget. Unfortunately there is no information provided to bloggers besides their share. I've been against this practice for 12+ years now.  

I've posted an image of a widget (scaled down) below using the CBS station in Boston. It's pretty ugly and from my limited testing, the ads are all large 300x250 square remnant ads that will probably net the publisher no more than $1/CPM. I'd prefer to see a smaller, more contextual ad in the widget. So it's CBS that wins on both the content syndication and the advertising rev-share.

Additional commentary on Alley Insider and CNET. Here is an example widget: