Is CBS All Access Worth The $5.99 A Month?

It was only recently announced that CBS would be getting into the streaming game with “CBS All Access.” The subscription-based service would offer customers a massive back catalog of CBS episodes for $5.99/month. A live TV stream would also be offered to people living in select markets like New York City and Los Angeles.

Well, CBS All Access is already here. Yup. It’s up and running. And CBS is offering customers who sign up one free week to try it out. Naturally, we wanted to see what the service was all about.

It’s pretty easy to sign up for CBS All Access. All you have to do is go to CBS.com, click on the banner that offers you a free week trial, and you’re brought to a screen that asks for your personal information, address, and billing information.

Since CBS will only charge you once the first week is over, we figured we would give the app a service a try for just one week. The interface seems strikingly similar to most other streaming services, and you do get access to more episodes than you would if you just visited Hulu or CBS.com. For instance, you can stream all of the current season of The Good Wife right now, and not just the last five episodes.

However, there are some kinks. Namely, it’s easier to find yourself watching a short clip from a show rather than a full episode. Also, I live in New York City, work in New York City, and my credit cards all get billed to New York City, and yet I couldn’t access that much-promised live TV stream.

Maybe it’s the fault of the browser or maybe it’s the fault of my computer. Either way, it’s kind of a major letdown. I’m one of those pesky cord-cutters, which means I don’t actually have cable anymore. I stream everything. Typically, that’s fine, but that also means I have to wait overnight to see my favorite network dramas. If I can get a live stream on CBS All Access to work as promised, it means that I will be able to watch Elementary live when the new season premieres tomorrow night. That would be cool. If I can’t, it might not be worth even the measly $5.99/month.

I’ll be trying out CBS All Access for the next week, and then, I will decide if I’m going to cancel it or if I’m going to keep it. And I’ll let you know my reasons for the decision.

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[Photos: CBS]