Editor’s note: Jay Kirsch is the President of AOL’s Business, Technology & Entertainment Group, which includes properties such as TechCrunch, Engadget, Autoblog, DailyFinance and Moviefone among others.
The church and state metaphor is used almost daily in the business of monetizing journalism. For the most part, when episodes like the CNET debacle happen, the damage to journalistic… → Read More
CES today issued a press release announcing that DISH’s Hopper with Sling technology built-in is the “Best of Show” after all, an honor it will share with existing winner the Razer Edge for the 2013 show. The decision follows the revelation that CNET was ordered to remove the Hopper from consideration after CNET parent company CBS asked them to. CBS is currently involved in litigation with DISH… → Read More
John P. Falcone over at CBS-owned CNET posted a quick piece on Aereo, the TV-over-Internet startup that is giving broadcasters fits. The story, which would have been a short piece on Aereo on a Roku device, is now awash with ridiculous disclaimers and discussions of lawsuits filed against Aereo by broadcasters. → Read More
Back in 2009, TechCrunch Founder Michael Arrington wrote that CNET (and parent company CBS) were sniffing around gdgt, the then-brand-new community/review site/blog by Peter Rojas and Ryan Block. While CNET was considering an investment at the time, an acquisition was said not to be an option.
Oh, how time can change things. Two years later, we’re not only hearing that CNET is now in talks to… → Read More
Back in November 2006, I published the Top 10 Greatest Internet Digital Media M&A Deals of All Time. It included eBay’s $1.5 billion acquisition of PayPal, Yahoo’s $1.6 billion acquisition of Overture, and Microsoft’s $400 million purchase of Hotmail back in 1998. It also included News Corp’s $580 million acquisition of MySpace. Don’t laugh. The list was published a month after the… → Read More
That’s right. Even bloggers can get hired at Google. Caroline McCarthy, a social media writer at CNET, announced through her blog today that she will soon be joining the Google ranks in New York as a member of its incipient “Trends and Insights Team”. Sounds investigative. McCarthy tells me that the details of her employment are still being worked out, (like what her title will actually be), but… → Read More
Launching in beta today is MyCE, a community-driven network that aims to cross swords with the CNETs and GDGTs of this world when it comes to building places on the Web people gather to share news, reviews and knowledge about consumer electronics and gadgets. The site is a new venture from Amsterdam, The Netherlands-based RankOne Media.
Actually, it’s not entirely new. MyCE is in fact the… → Read More
Launching in beta today is MyCE, a community-driven network that aims to cross swords with the CNETs and GDGTs of this world when it comes to building places on the Web people gather to share news, reviews and knowledge about consumer electronics and gadgets. The site is a new venture from Amsterdam, The Netherlands-based RankOne Media.
Actually, it’s not entirely new. MyCE is in fact the… → Read More
Big Media’s love affair with the Internet ebbs and flows with the markets. When they see money pouring into Web startups, they feel threatened and rush to do the same. They ramp up their digital divisions, which usually are no more than venture arms, and hope to strike it rich. When the markets are down, as they are now, their attention drifts elsewhere—exactly at the time when they can pick… → Read More
Of the top 100 sites on the Web, which ones grew the fastest in 2008? In a report it is preparing to release tomorrow, The comScore 2008 Digital Year In Review (which you can sign up for here), comScore ranks the 20 fastest-growing Web properties. These are out of the largest 100 sites overall. They are shown below, as measured by growth in unique visitors. (Interestingly, in a separate list… → Read More
Yet more evidence that the future of media is digital (in case there are still any doubters out there). In a report released this morning, boutique investment bank Jordan, Edmiston Group estimates that between 88 percent of the publishing and advertising industry’s revenue growth over the next few years will come from four sectors: Database & Information, B2B Online Media, Consumer Online… → Read More
Hulu overcame incredible initial criticism to become the golden child of revenue generating video sites. CBS has been eyeing the NBC success story and reportably has big plans for TV.com. CNET lauched said website back in ’05, but CBS recently aquired the company, along with its websites, earlier this year. The report indicates CBS wants to add full length episodes, but keep the web… → Read More
The pink slips were passed out on Thursday throughout the various business duchies that make up CBS Interactive—CNET, CBS.com, CBSNews,com, CBSSports.com, BNET, GameSpot, TV.com, last.fm, and CHOW. While CBS confirmed to me and other reporters that layoffs did happen across the board, it refused to talk about how many total people are losing their jobs. That left us scrambling about gathering… → Read More
http://www.cnet.com/av/video/flv/newPlayers/universal.swf CNET’s Josh Goldberg reviews the Canon PowerShot SD something or other for CNET, proving that even the habitually drunk can review cameras intelligently. JK – We love Josh and he used to write for us so check out his work. He’s doing quite a few video reviews over at CNET and we’re very proud. → Read More
It’s been just a little over a month since CBS completed its acquisition of Cnet and some of the first outward signs of the deal can be seen in a forthcoming logo for CBS Interactive that we obtained and a new design for Cnet’s Websites that it is testing in random batches. Judging purely by the design shifts, it appears that the cultures of the acquirer and the acquiree are moving… → Read More
1938 Media, the controversial (and hilarious) video blogging site founded by Loren Feldman, has been the center of attention over the last few days. Now big partners are starting to take notice, and Feldman is inking some interesting distribution deals. The site grew in popularity after Feldman began mixing puppet parody shows into his usual punditry, specifically targeting hyper-sensitive tech… → Read More
CBS announced the closing of its acquisition of CNET today. The deal, first announced last month, will bring CNET under the control of Quincy Smith’s CBS Interactive division, “the premier online content network for information and entertainment.” An email to all CNET employees from Smith and CNET CEO Neil Ashe (now CBS Interactive President) is below. It’s interesting that… → Read More
CBS President & CEO Leslie Moonves paid a visit to CNET headquarters in San Francisco today, we’re hearing. He came alone. No Quincy Smith, No Michael Marquez (the guys who did the deal). No entourage of any kind. The goal? Address the troops (all of CNET, in person and via a webcast) and let everyone know how this $1.8 billion merger is going to play out. The main message: CNET is now… → Read More
1999: CNET is a $12 billion company January 2000: CNET Aquires MySimon for $700 million October 2000: CNET Acquires Ziff Davis (ZDNet) for $1.6 billion (after the March 2000 stock crash) July 2004: CNET Acquires Webshots for $70 million October 2007: CNET Sells Webshots for $40 million May 2008: CBS Acquires CNET For $1.8 billion CNET announced its sale to CBS, a $16.5 billion company, today for… → Read More
CNET CEO Neil Ashe, who has been accused of “presiding over massive value destruction” will go down in history as the guy that was forced to sell CNET out to an old media dinosaur. But at least he’s given CNET’s stockholders back all of the losses they’ve sustained under his watch with the $1.8 billion sale to CBS. Ashe’s email to CNET staff this morning is below. Hello… → Read More
“The core businesses of CNET Networks and CBS Interactive represent near perfect category symmetry in premium online content,” Quincy Smith, President, CBS Interactive. And that symmetry is apparently worth about $1.8 billion, which is what CBS just agreed to pay for CNET. The deals values CNET at $11.50/share, and puts a 45% premium on stock from their closing price yesterday. CBS… → Read More
The battle over the future of CNET continues. This morning the Jana consortium, which announced an attempt to take control of the CNET board of directors in January, published a website and white paper (embedded below) to support their effort. Jana and its co-investors now own 14.9% of CNET, plus another 8% in non-voting derivatives. Their primary goal is to get voting control of the board to push… → Read More
CNET has announced that it will cut 10% of its workforce, or 120 people, effective immediately, in a move said to help it “focus on long-term growth amid complaints from some investors.” CNET has had no shortage of headlines recently, from changes at the top through to an ongoing battle for control against largest shareholder Jana Partners. According to an internal memo from CEO Neil… → Read More
A long weekend usually means less news, but for those looking for a new and quite often attractive take on news, the ongoing battle for geek chick supremacy offers a bountiful choice. Webb Alert http://p.castfire.com/cHNHf/video/9013/webbalert_2008-03-21-023917.flv Michael discribed Morgan Webb’s daily tech show as “a winner” and even stays up till 2am to catch new episodes. → Read More
Despite CNET’s unexpected legal setback last week in their fight against what is now their largest stockholder (a consortium of investors led by Jana Partners), the board and management team continue to fight on. Previous meetings between Jana and the CNET board were already “tense and uncomfortable.” I can only imagine they’re getting more so. So far, the Jana consortium… → Read More
I’m pretty sure that’s former TechCrunch writer Natali Del Conte speaking Spanish. Yep, that’s definitely Spanish all right. Natali, who recently launched a new show on CNET TV called Loaded, is now creating Spanish versions of the show, covering product reviews in five popular categories including cell phones, MP3 players, televisions, computers, and digital cameras. The show is… → Read More
I was at Flickr’s fourth birthday party tonight in San Francisco with a few hundred Flickr fans, tech geeks, press and Yahoo/Flickr employees. At some time around 8 pm Dan Farber, the new Editor in Chief of CNET, says, “huh, I just got an email that says, according to [blogger] Robert Scoble, we bought Revision3 for $58 million.” Uh-oh, I thought. I’m in San Francisco, an… → Read More
The showdown between CNET and its largest shareholder, Jana Partners, may be entering a new phase. Following a tense meeting last week with Jana representatives, there is now a good chance CNET’s hard stance against giving Jana any board seats (despite the consortium owning a 21 percent share in the company) is about to vaporize. According to a source close to the situation (updated below… → Read More
Last Thursday, March 6, multiple sources say, the CNET board of directors and CEO Neil Ashe met with representative from the Jana Partners investor consortium that has amassed a 21% ownership stake in the troubled company. The goal of the meeting was to negotiate a settlement that would avoid a proxy fight and a potential hostile takeover attempt. Jana Partners’ founder Barry Rosenstein was… → Read More
Big news at CNET today – editor in chief Jai Singh is out, and Dan Farber, most recently the editor in chief of CNET-owned ZDNet, is taking over. In his new role, Dan will oversee the editorial content and user experience for CNET News. Dan has posted a brief note (and his last on that blog) about his new position on Between The Lines. Dan has been a tech journalist since 1981, so he’s… → Read More
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