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CBS News launches slick new Apple TV app ahead of national conventions

By Kris Wouk July 15, 2016

Apple original programming — Image used with permission by copyright holder

With the upcoming presidential election, even people who aren’t usually news addicts are following the news more closely, and news organizations are racing to offer as much coverage as they can, with several streaming partnerships and coverage plans announced over the past week.

Now CBS News is bringing something new to the party, with the announcement of a new Apple TV app on Friday. The app doesn’t require authentication, so users can simply launch the app and will immediately be met with a live stream of CBS News coverage. In addition to the constant live stream of video, on-demand video is available as well, including editorially curated playlists covering various topics of interest.

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“Our Apple TV app represents the future of how viewers will consume and interact with video,” CBS News Digital senior vice president and general manager Christy Tanner said in a statement. “We are taking advantage of the platform’s cutting-edge, interactive technology to offer a customizable experience.”

Users of the most recent Apple TV can launch the app using Siri by simply saying “watch CBS News.” The app will launch in full screen and display the live stream without the viewer needing to touch the remote at all. The user interface has been designed from the ground up for tvOS, though it remains to be seen if this interface will eventually make its way to other platforms, as what happened with Sling TV last month.

A number of announcements have been made this week around covering the upcoming Republican and Democratic national conventions, and CBS News has coverage planned as well, with anchors Josh Elliott, Elaine Quijano, and Vladimir Duthiers covering the events live in Cleveland and Philadelphia. Coverage will begin at 7 p.m. Eastern on each night — July 18 for the RNC and July 25 for the DNC.

The CBS News app is available now, and can be found in the Apple TV app store.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…

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