iWidgets Announces Social Syndication of CBS Full Episodes

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--iWidgets, the social syndication™ company, will be announcing the iWidgets Social Syndication Platform, along with its first major customer, CBS Interactive, one of the world’s top broadcasting companies. Both iWidgets and CBS Interactive will jointly present a live demonstration at the DEMO conference, tomorrow, Tuesday, September 9^th, 2008 at 3pm PST at the Sheraton Hotel in San Diego, CA. Socially syndicating CBS’ popular content through iWidgets Social Syndication Platform will enable CBS’ audience to watch full episodes of television programming directly within popular social networks, and to socially engage the viewers with engaging such features as sharing, polls, ratings, and contests.

“Launching the iWidgets Social Syndication Platform with a major media company such as CBS Interactive is an exciting showcase of how social syndication can increase engagement of existing content”

“We’ve explored the widget world often here at DEMO, but no one had yet developed similar functionality for Facebook or MySpace applications — until iWidgets,” said Chris Shipley, executive producer of the DEMO Conferences. “Anyone can build and deploy apps on iWidgets for free but the real power of the software lies in brand usage. The company brings data from outside into the walled garden of social networks and start pages like iGoogle and Netvibes. iWidgets is poised to herald a new revolution in app design.”

The iWidgets Social Syndication Platform makes it easy for websites to socially syndicate their content and user activity deeply into social networks and portals such as Facebook, MySpace, and iGoogle to drive traffic and increase brand awareness. While visiting these popular social networks, consumers can now watch their favorite CBS programming, including the CSI family of shows, Amazing Race, NCSI, and Numb3rs. Over the next few months CBS Interactive will be socially syndicating a majority of their programming.

“Launching the iWidgets Social Syndication Platform with a major media company such as CBS Interactive is an exciting showcase of how social syndication can increase engagement of existing content,” said Peter Yared, CEO of iWidgets. “With social syndication, websites can now have their users share with their friends interesting information about themselves, such as their favorite television programming, their last run plotted by GPS, and their favorite recipes, which drives traffic and brand awareness.”

"We're always looking for new ways to let our fans engage with their favorite CBS TV shows," Anthony Soohoo, senior vice president and general manager for CBS Interactive. "By socially syndicating CBS content with iWidgets, CBS fans can now customize their Facebook and MySpace pages with content from shows like CSI, Survivor and NCIS. This allows them to share their favorite episodes with friends, as well as invite their friends to participate in interactive polls and contests."

iWidgets' patent-pending WidgetWORA™ technology provides seamless publishing capabilities, deploying on a variety of popular destinations including social networks such as Facebook and MySpace, portals like iGoogle and Netvibes, and blogs and websites. Unlike previous generation widget solutions that place a square of identical, standalone Flash into destinations, iWidgets are deeply integrated into the social graphs and viral channels of social networks.

For more information, website owners can go to www.iwidgets.com and learn how to start socially syndicating their content and user activity in order to drive traffic and increase brand awareness.

The launching of CBS Interactive’s programming into social networks using iWidgets’ technology will be showcased at DEMO, tomorrow, Tuesday, September 9^th, 2008 at 3pm PST at the Sheraton in San Diego, CA.

About iWidgets

iWidgets is a leading widget platform that gives users the ability to seamlessly produce, publish, and promote engaging widgets. iWidgets leverages the power of social networks, portals, and blogs to create viral marketing opportunities for brands. The company's flagship product, iWidgets is an end-to-end solution that helps users build fun, interactive widgets that integrate data feeds with personalized content. The result is an engaging application people will want to use and share which builds awareness, drives traffic, and maximizes viral potential. iWidgets launched in 2008 and is seed funded by Opus Capital. For more information about iWidgets, please visit www.iwidgets.com.

About CBS Corporation

CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS.A and CBS) is a mass media company with constituent parts that reach back to the beginnings of the broadcast industry, as well as newer businesses that operate on the leading edge of the media industry. The Company, through its many and varied operations, combines broad reach with well-positioned local businesses, all of which provide it with an extensive distribution network by which it serves audiences and advertisers in all 50 states and key international markets. It has operations in virtually every field of media and entertainment, including broadcast television (CBS and The CW - a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment), cable television (Showtime and CSTV Networks), local television (CBS Television Stations), television production and syndication (CBS Paramount Network Television and CBS Television Distribution), radio (CBS Radio), advertising on out-of-home media (CBS Outdoor), publishing (Simon & Schuster), interactive media (CBS Interactive), music (CBS Records), licensing and merchandising (CBS Consumer Products), video/DVD (CBS Home Entertainment), in-store media (CBS Outernet) and motion pictures (CBS Films). For more information, log on to http://www.cbscorporation.com/.

About DEMOfall

Produced by Network World Events and Executive Forums, the semi-annual DEMO conferences focus on emerging technologies and new products, which are hand-selected from across the spectrum of the technology marketplace. The DEMO conferences have earned their reputation for consistently identifying tomorrow's cutting-edge technologies, and have served as launch pad events for companies such as Palm, E*Trade, Handspring, and U.S. Robotics, helping them to secure venture funding, establish critical business relationships, and influence early adopters. Each DEMO conference features approximately 70 new companies, products and technologies. For more information, visit www.demo.com.