CBS is launching a streaming TV service today that allows subscribers to watch live content and classic shows online, without having a cable subscription. The service is called CBS All Access and it's available for $5.99 per month. Most notably, it'll let many subscribers stream their local CBS stations — and that means they'll be able to watch the network's new shows, including hits like The Good Wife, as they air for the first time. Critically, though, NFL games are not being made available.

The service will also include next-day access to streams of 15 new series and all past seasons of eight current shows, including Survivor — though one notable omission there is The Big Bang Theory, which is not currently offering prior seasons. Over 5 thousand episodes of classic shows, including Star Trek and Twin Peaks, will also be available and presented ad-free. The service can be accessed through CBS's website as well as its iOS and Android apps.

14 cities can stream live TV at launch

Though All Access' biggest feature — the ability to stream live TV — will be available in a lot of locations at launch, it won't be accessible everywhere. It's launching in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, Miami, Denver, Sacramento, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore, and CBS plans to add more locations in the future.

The launch of All Access is pretty big news for those looking to leave cable behind. Networks have been hesitant to provide live content online, leaving cord-cutters a day behind on hit new series. The availability of All Access remedies a big part of that, though the absence of NFL games still leaves a huge gap in its programming. However, The New York Times reports that CBS is in talks with the NFL with the hopes of making streaming available. Other sports content, including Masters and SEC, will be made available through All Access or other CBS apps.

Other networks have offered live TV streams, but those services, such as ABC's Watch ABC app, still require that you're a cable subscriber to do it. While that's a nice way to provide convenient access to a network's content, it's of little use to those who aren't interested in subscribing to cable. Still, with a major network like CBS beginning to try out an over-the-top approach, it's likely that we'll see others follow suit in the near future.

In fact, one major hurdle for cord cutters has already fallen: HBO announced yesterday that it plans to launch an online-only streaming service next year, finally allowing viewers to buy a subscription separate from a cable package. A similar service from Showtime, which is owned by CBS, should come in the "not too distant future," CBS CEO Les Moonves tells the Times.

CBS' All Access app also goes to show that Moonves wasn't all talk when he said that CBS could go cable-only or begin offering an online streaming service should Aereo prevail in the courts. While the launch of All Access is far less dramatic, it's evident that CBS was in fact working on an online service and that Moonves clearly isn't scared of what opening up that option might lead to for the network.