Interesting announcement from CBS News today: Starting on Katie Couric's first day, September 5, the CBS Evening News will be simulcast on the web at the same time it is shown live on the east coast, 6:30 PM. This is the first time an entire network newscast will be available live online. In addition, online users will have the option of watching that night's newscast on demand after its initial airing, or put together a "custom" newscast from available stories.

There will also be a few online-only features available, all hosted or authored by Couric: a pre-newscast blog similar to NBC's "The Daily Nightly", an extended interview segment with that day's newsmaker, a early-afternoon "first look" videocast, and "Katie Couric's Notebook," a one-minute podcast focusing on a specific story. The audio and video versions of this will also be available on iTunes.

Wow. CBS is really working Ms. Couric, aren't they? I guess she's used to it, considering she used to be on-air for two hours every morning. As long as none of those stories involve any highly-personal medical procedures, we should be OK.

[via TVNewser]