Gawker
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Shut Up, Twitter
We Are Duly Terrified of Katie Couric's Notebook
Katie Couric has a Twitter thing! And on the distributed Internet micro-oversharing service, at last, America's sweetheart seems to realize how frightening she has become.
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By Owen ThomasComment by lobstr: man whats with the sam ronson hair? 1 Responses | Other threads
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journalismism
TV Networks Prepping Steve Jobs's Obituary
Steve Jobs, currently on medical leave as Apple CEO, is not dead, but the major networks are acting as if he were. Producers from CBS and NBC are scheduling interviews for their Jobs obituaries. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by blix: Bill Gates canned television obit is a plain blue screen. 3 Responses | Other threads
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obituary
The death of CNET's media-conquering dreams
CBS is laying people off at CNET — no surprise, since the entire media business is fitfully contracting, and after a merger, cuts are a given. But it signals the end of CNET's grandiose ambitions.
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By Owen ThomasComment by VitasPappie: Sir Winston Thriller, Uhhhmmm, it was CBS, not NBC. Sort of undermines your credibility when you get the parent company wrong.... 3 Responses | Other threads
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online advertising
CNET's odd math
Kara Swisher's new pet media blogger Peter Kafka praises CBS executive Quincy Smith, shown here, for picking up CNET. Revenues were up 6 percent in the most recent quarter, with a 12 percent increase in display advertising. But wait a second: Aren't display ads most of CNET's revenue? The company also makes money through e-commerce referrals and the sale of marketing data — which suggests something went wrong enough in CNET's other businesses to blunt the welcome rise in advertising.
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By Owen ThomasComment by PeterKafka: Actually, during the conference call, CBS said CNET display was up 14%. That 12% is for the entire interactive group.... more » | Other threads
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online video
Who cares about business models? "MacGyver" is on YouTube!
Look, you're going to be reading a lot on AdAge and NewTeeVee and Silicon Alley Insider about YouTube's deal with CBS to run full-length TV shows, and what this means for online-video advertising models and what this means for the Google-owned site's rivalry with Hulu, the joint venture between NBC and News Corp. Blah blah blah. Let me abbreviate it for you: More » -
new york times
The NYT Has Endless Space To Sell
You have to give credit to the people who have the unenviable job of selling enough online ads to keep the New York Times afloat. At least they're brainstorming! Already this year they've experimented with creative strategies like selling the entire top of the homepage to Apple. And today, we see, they've come up with yet another space that can be "sponsored": More »
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Comment by Migrant Blogger: Next step? A Section, brought to you by Wal-Mart. more » | Other threads
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Stephen Colvin
Gamespot editor's nemesis on way out of CNET
At CNET, the heads keep rolling, nearly a year after Gamespot editorial director Jeff Gerstmann was sacked. Stephen Colvin, an executive who oversaw Gamespot, is out of the company, a tipster tells us. Gerstmann's firing came after a negative review of an advertiser's game, which made him a cause célèbre among gamers. What Gerstmann's fans will say: That Colvin and other suits are getting what they deserved for ruining the CNET-owned gaming site's editorial credibility. Josh Larson left CNET, now owned by CBS, in April. Colvin, a former magazine executive who was Larson's boss, joined CNET a year ago, shortly before the Gerstmann incident. His exit comes as CBS rejiggers CNET's generous benefits, our tipster says: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Llost: Can anyone tell me the webiste Gertsmann made himself after leaving? 3 Responses | Other threads
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cbs
'Citizen Journalism' = Porn
Dadgummit, porn ruins corporate strategy! CBS is learning the hard way that if you give people a "branded mobile platform" to "upload" their "user-generated content," the "content" they will "generate" is "nekkid womens." The Tiffany Network started a site called CBSeyemobile.com where you, the idiotic consumer, can upload photos. And now they're shocked, shocked to find out that it's full of filth, loose women, and inappropriate public demonstrations of lesbianism! Ad Age broke the story in a Pulitzer-worthy feat of journalism, causing them to (modestly) publish this rather NSFW picture, which we are prepared to say is the most newsworthy photo that has ever graced that august publication's pages: More »
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Comment by GirlyWhirl: I never realized that lesbians stack so efficiently. 6 Responses | Other threads
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nerdfight
Halsey Minor's endless complaints
Multimillionaire CNET founder Halsey Minor is in the news again, for another spat over his expansive art collection. Portfolio explains that Minor got into an "angry email exchange" with famous artist Damien Hirst. There are now "gaping, fist-size holes in the plaster walls" of Minor's San Francisco offices, where Hirst's work used to hang. This comes as Sotheby's is suing Minor over a disputed art auction. After the article ran online, Minor left a rambling comment quibbling with details. But he never disputed the story's central question: Has Minor spent so impulsively and unwisely on art, real estate, new startups, and a new wife (Shannon, pictured with Minor, above), that he's running short on cash? He doesn't answer that. Instead, he declares himself "the baddest psycho in bass fishing." The comment seems as delusional as this moment he recounts in the story: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by guyger: H provided the lions share of the first round of funding for Salesforce.com which ultimately became about 15% of the... more » | Other threads
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online video
CBS head honcho Les Moonves wants those newspaper ad dollars
CBS CEO Les Moonves pontificated at the Mixx conference in New York today, saying that he loves the Internet, really. Departing from the party line of other networks, Moonves pointed out "The Internet is not cannabalistic; it is only additive," presumably referring to audience attention share between television and the Web. So how's CBS going to capitalize? The plan is go after what's left of the newspaper industries advertising with CNet and local affiliates. [MediaWeek] (Photo from Andrew Mager) -
online video
New CBS iPhone app uses hack for video
CBS EyeMobile, the new iPhone application that will let you beam horrific images of disasters directly from the scene to the CBS News team. And it lets you upload video as well as photos. But only if you first hack your iPhone with Jailbreak and other software to enable video recording — thereby voiding your warranty. And new subsidiary CNet will be happy to show you how! [NewTeeVee] -
nfl
CBS sues NFL players over fantasy football stats
The NFL players' union wants to charge CBS Interactive a licensing fee for its use of NFL player stats, going so far as to threaten to "put CBSSports.com out of the fantasy football business" if it didn't comply, according to a suit CBS Interactive filed in Minneapolis as a response. Major League Baseball went through a similar suit, in which a judge ruled that players cannot charge for publicly available numbers. [PaidContent] -
cbs
Can CNET Possibly Become Cool?
CBS bought CNET, the tech-focused online conglomerate, for $1.8 billion earlier this year. Which prompted the general reaction "Really, that much?" And also, "Isn't this two fundamentally boring brands combining to form a larger, still boring brand?" Well one brave man says no, it's much more promising than that: CBS CEO Les Moonves, who engineered the deal! But is he right? It's hard to see why he would be: More »
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Comment by RonMwangaguhunga: CBS's digital strategy hasn't really been "exciting" -- I know, I know, bear with me -- since Larry Kramer left.... 1 Responses | Other threads
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Next Establishment
Once again, Vanity Fair leaves geeks at the kids' power table
Preeminent among the magazine world's kingmaking power lists is Vanity Fair's New Establishment, which appears in the October issue — on newsstands in L.A. and New York today, but not in the Bay Area for another six days. Silicon Valley gets similar short shrift: The names who make it there are predictable bigs like Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison, or Hollywood-crossover types like Jeff Skoll, eBay's first employee turned movie producer. Walt Mossberg, now employed by New Establishment perennial Rupert Murdoch, also squeaked in. The consolation prize Vanity Fair offers: Its "Next Establishment" list, reserved for the likes of Twitter's Ev Williams. It's a marvelous piece of New York media trickery — flatter the geeks by making them feel included, but corral them into a side room so the real power brokers aren't offended by comparison. True, the "Next Establishment" suggests that these are people who might matter in the future. But in saying that, Vanity Fair's editors are also sending the message that right here, right now, its "Next" nominees are nobodies. On this year's list: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Robleh: I doubt they would put Murdoch's wife on a list of nobodies. more » | Other threads
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design
CBS overhauls CNET site — again
CNET overhauled its site right before agreeing to be acquired by CBS in May. Now, CBS has another redesign ready to launch this week. You can probably guess: More video, more product placements. Here's the deets: More »
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By Paul BoutinComment by categorically: I was just thinking that the biggest problem with CNET was that there was too much yellow. Not that... more » | Other threads
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earnings
CBS wants 50 percent revenue growth from digital in three years
In a conference call to discuss CBS's quarterly results, CEO Les Moonves pointed to the recently announced selloff of radio stations and acquisition of CNET as an effort to jumpstart growth. Profits for the quarter were up a measly 1 percent, and the stock price was down slightly on the news. Moonves is looking for the CBS Interactive division to grow its annual revenue to $1 billion in three years. More »
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By Jackson WestComment by Sir Winston Thriller: Well, maybe if they move Big Brother 11 to the CNET mothership down by the Embarcadero... more » | Other threads
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dogster
Skateboarding bulldogs key to website success
Sure, Dogster founder Ted Rheingold thinks that a "call to action" in a cross-promotion between the Web site and CBS's new show Greatest American Dog helped drive traffic. But I'm pretty sure it was all about the skateboarding bulldog. [Dogster] -
caption contest
"I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do."
With the takeover of CNET by CBS Interactive complete, the parent company's signature logo in the subsidiary's signature orange watches over employees at the San Francisco office. Have a better caption? The best one will become the new headline. Friday's winner: "It isn't broken, it's reorged." by sarahfu67.
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By Jackson WestComment by mrfomoco: A strange game. The only winning move is...to buy your way into market-share. Then, suck up to Google. more » | Other threads
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acquisitions
Natali Del Conte the adorable face of CBS-CNET synergy
Never mind corporate meatballs like Neil Ashe and Quincy Smith — how's perky CNET correspondent Natali Del Conte faring in the wake of CBS Interactive's acquisition? Well! In an appearance on today's Early Show with Harry Smith, she sported a new 'do and explained the intricacies of different hands-free options for California drivers now banned from holding a cell phone to their ears. The best part is watching Smith stumble a bit trying to understand Bluetooth, pick himself back up by casually noting his experience as a helicopter passenger, then stumbling again over "those map things" before telling viewers to visit earlyshow.cbs.com — which is not a valid URL. Which makes us think that maybe Del Conte would make a better host than the guy who made his name doing standups for A&E Biography. Harry may be a perfect stand-in for the confused-old-man audience CBS currently has. But Natali represents the future audience CBS hoped it was buying.
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By Jackson WestComment by gossipjunkie2: she has to be the most annoying person/personality online. is there a webby for that? more » | Other threads
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acquisitions
Internal management org chart for CBS and CNET
Quincy Smith will serve as CEO and Neil Ashe will serve as president at CBS Interactive in the wake of the now-completed acquisition of CNET by CBS. And those are just the juicy meatballs atop a tangled mess of management noodles after executives from the two companies were tossed in the pot. News.com editor Dan Farber, however, didn't even make the menu, notes presumptive CNET killer Michael Arrington, who presents the internal memos emailed to CBS and CNET employees. Farber might have been prescient in posting a photo of early CNETeer Ryan Seacrest to his preview of the Web site's new redesign — the CBS News demographic is older than the silver-maned Farber, and CBS head honcho Les Moonves played up sports and entertainment ahead of news at the new company. -
startups
Napster shareholders demand $280 million valuation
Napster is still trying to prove that it can sell MP3s, but for some Napster shareholders fighting a proxy battle to get representation on the board, they'd prefer the company was for sale, and at a premium price. Based on their SEC filing, shareholders are arguing that with the purchase of Last.fm by CBS for $280 million, Napster should be worth equally as much, if not more. The only reason it's not is because of a "lack of confidence in governance." They seem to be overlooking the fact that Last.fm doesn't have the brand name baggage but does have a lively community of users.
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By Alaska MillerComment by Shadowlayer: So now companies can invent a valuation based on someone elses? Shit, then my still nonexistant startup is worth $15 billion,... more » | Other threads
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online video
Yahoo gets CBS, coveted blue hairs
CBS added Yahoo to its list of Web-video distribution outlets this morning. Yahoo will join the not exactly exclusive CBS Audience Network, which already includes YouTube, AOL, MSN, Joost, Veoh and Bebo — all happily hosting short-form clips from CBS, CSTV and Showtime. [Reuters] (Photo by redking) -
online advertising
CBS confronts demographic realities of selling Web ad inventory
CBS sales chief Jo Ann Ross told the audience at EconAds that most of the Web-only advertising inventory acquired in the CNET deal will be brokered by CBS Sports, according to comments at PaidContent's EconAds seminar in New York yesterday — presumably because the two properties share similarly male-dominated audiences. Finance show Wallstrip has struggled under the CBS News sales team, though, probably because the younger audience aren't buying the Viagra and adult diapers which pay Katie Couric's lavish salary. [Silicon Alley Insider] -
stats
ABC tops online, with CBS a comer
ABC has the most popular television network website, just a shade more popular than NBC.com among the six broadcasters sampled by HitWise. But both websites are down in their relative share of the online audience, while CBS has greatly increased visits. Why? Well, for starters, CBS is ahead in the year-to-date ratings race for actual television. The top draws to the network sites are, once again, competitions and other game shows — American Idol was the top draw for Fox, Deal or No Deal for NBC and Dancing With the Stars for ABC. Almost every site, however, kept users on longer, with the average user spending three more minutes on CBS. Only visits to NBC got shorter, probably because some users are going to Hulu to watch full episodes of shows like The Office and 30 Rock
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By Jackson WestComment by dumanue: If only ABC had a good player, their web player sucks, as it actually STOP after an ad is played... more » | Other threads
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copyfight
Redlasso hires former CBS CEO to avoid lawsuit
Michael Jordan, former CEO of CBS, has been tapped by Redlasso as an advisor, presumably to glad-hand the TV companies which sent the company a cease and desist letter last week. The startup has cobbled together a fair-use defense; the Electronic Frontier Foundation told Valleywag they're watching the case but declined to weigh in. But if Redlasso were going to fight the networks in court, it would have hired lawyers, not a dealmaker like Jordan. The company has been in talks with the networks for years. So what went wrong? Hulu. More »
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By Jackson WestComment by raincoaster: And Hulu is unavailable in many of the finest countries in the world, including my own. Although I enjoy many... more » | Other threads
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natali del conte
CBS, meet your new anchorwoman
CNET TV personality Natali Del Conte has recorded outtakes from her Loaded Web-video show. The highlight: Del Conte's reinterpretation of Flashdance. This makes us think of an obvious synergy play, now that CBS is buying CNET. CNET hired Del Conte and moved her to New York specifically to get her airtime talking about gadgets on the major broadcast networks. CBS, last I checked, is a major broadcast network. If CBS is serious about reversing its news division's aging demographics, CBS should move Loaded from the Web to primetime. Heck, Katie Couric's not doing so well in the anchor seat. Les Moonves, why not give Natali a spin?
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By Owen ThomasComment by drdrew: I called this weeks ago on [www.bestdamntech.com] !! more » | Other threads
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mergers
The CBS-CNET merger negotiation timeline
How'd the CBS-CNET merger go down? Without much involvement from CBS Interactive head Quincy Smith, it turns out. Most of the negotiations with CNET CEO Neil Ashe went through Fredric Reynolds, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of CBS. Occaisionally, CBS CEO Leslie Moonves stepped in to move things along. That and more surprises in our timeline of the deal, below. More »
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Comment by sggrf: half of the good employees will be gone by the time the deal closes! more » | Other threads
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great moments in journalism
Times casts aspersions on Quincy Smith's fashion sense
The New York Times has learned a hard lesson: Say what you like about CBS Interactive head Quincy Smith — just don't criticize his duds. The bastion of class consciousness falsely claimed that he was wearing white shoes before Memorial Day — a big no-no among the ruling elite, where white shoes, seersucker and summer dresses are officially verboten except between the holiday that marks the start of the summering season and Labor Day, which marks the end.An article on Friday about CBS's $1.8 billion deal to buy CNET Networks misstated, in some copies, the color of the sneakers worn by Quincy Smith, president of CBS Interactive, in an appearance last week at the network's upfront presentation for advertisers. As an accompanying picture showed, they were dark-colored — not his trademark white ones.
The Times regrets the error, natch.(Photo by Nick Richards)
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By Jackson WestComment by Carlos: nevermind that they're white, how about the fact that they're women's shoes more » | Other threads
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acquisitions
Moonves declares CNET new CBS Interactive headquarters
In an address to employees after a tour of the CNET building in SoMa, CBS chairman Leslie Moonves proclaimed, "CNET is CBS Interactive's worldwide headquarters." It might have been meant to stoke employees on the deal. But it could just as well remind workers who just went through a round of layoffs that they now face redundancy with CBS's own online publishing teams. More »
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By Jackson WestComment by dickbshynen: I hear folks at CBS are now calling the new worldwide headquarters for CBS Interactive "Red Rock". more » | Other threads
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rumormonger
CBS CEO Les Moonves to visit CNET next Tuesday
After buying CNET for $1.8 billion, CBS CEO Les Moonves is getting around to inspecting his new property next Tuesday, we hear. Moonves is visiting CNET's San Francisco headquarters to address the troops. So far, beaten-down CNETters, weary of the fight with hedge fund Jana Partners, seem mostly supine in CBS's embrace. Show some spirit, guys! We suggest testing your new CBS overlords' sense of humor by wearing some 2006-vintage "I Hate Les Moonves" T-shirts, from the days of his tussles with Howard Stern. Ironically retro, of course.
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By Owen ThomasComment by cyc: @Rachel Marsden: Didn't think you were the type more » | Other threads
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mp3.com
Everybody at CNET superexcited to move to CBS, except for those canned on Monday
A "handful" of CNET's MP3.com music writers got laid off on Monday. Otherwise, News.com's Caroline McCarthy tells us CNET employees are actually very excited about the CBS acquisition — if only because CBS owns all the rights to Star Trek. Nerds. -
cbs
Madison Avenue loves CBS-CNET
Old school ad agencies on Madison Avenue know and understand CBS, Inc. They've been selling its inventory to clients since 1928. So it's no wonder the ad agencies are so happy to see CBS take control over CNET, one of those Web properties everyone's saying they have to put money into. PaidContent rounded up the gushing and we've pared it down, below. More »
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Comment by matto: I hear microwave ovens are next for CBS, followed possibly by a leveraged aquisition of Crapmatic Adjustable Beds. more » | Other threads
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jackpot
CNET CEO Neil Ashe made $1.6 milllion selling to CBS yesterday, and you didn't
Under the wing of CBS, CNET CEO Neil Ashe will continue to earn his $700,000 salary. He'll also get a 100 percent bonus and, in the next 10 days, a long-term stock award of "not less than $1,625,000 per year," according to a 8-K CNET filed with the SEC yesterday. CNET CFO Zander Lurie will get such a stock award worth "not less than $1,000,000 per year."
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Comment by EugeneDelacroix: Asshole. How's that 15%-off employee purchase plan treating the rank and file? Or those bonuses? Oh wait, there aren't any. more » | Other threads
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cbs
My 60 seconds with Quincy Smith
If CBS were to greenlight a TV series about life at a modern media giant, the director would find it hard to cast anyone but Quincy Smith as himself. Call it 60 Seconds, a version of the news show sped up for the Web. His $1.8 billion CNET buy is just the latest episode in the life of the fast-talking president of CBS Interactive. Smith is sui generis; the stereotype, which grates on him but fits, is that of a frenetic dealmaker. Last month, he said he was looking for "the next YouTube"; instead, he bought a company which, having been founded in 1992, is eight times older than the current incarnation of CBS. CBS handlers offered to have him speak to me; I accepted. In the middle of the mile-a-minute conversation-argument, I think we both wondered what we'd gotten ourselves into. A partial transcript — the most I was able to type out while trying to keep up with Smith's banter: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by SandHillSnobbery: Quincy is a good dude & an incredibly hard worker. more » | Other threads
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cnet
Quincy Smith's one big idea
CNET has been eyed by Quincy Smith, CBS's hyperacquisitive online chief, long before he sealed a $1.8 billion deal to buy the company. As a banker at Allen & Co., CNET was his client. "At one point, he wrote this major presentation about how valuable content was," a tipster tells us. "The single example in it was CNET. It was basically his only idea." An unfair dig? Perhaps. There is little like CNET on the market — a pure play on professional online content worth $1.8 billion? It can't be found. But the lack of a direct competitor may have also been CNET's undoing — the mixed blessing that brought it under attack by activist investors and led it to CBS's waiting arms. More » -
acquisitions
CBS buys CNET Networks for $1.8 billion
Shareholder activists Jana Partners and company got their way, sort of. CNET has new management, and in fact ownership: CBS, which will purchase CNET for $11.50 a share, or $1.8 billion. That's about $150 million more than Google paid for YouTube, but there is no buyer's remorse from CBS as of yet. "The acquisition will make CBS one of the 10 most popular Internet companies in the United States," reads a statement from CBS, its traffic now fattened by visits to CNET sites CNET, ZDNet, GameSpot.com, TV.com, MP3.com, News.com, and UrbanBaby. CNET CEO Neil Ashe's internal email is copied below. More »
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Comment by cipals15: That might be a merge of technologies and database of TV.Com and CBS TV. The users of both site are... more » | Other threads
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online video
Someday, Warner Bros. plans to launch a Web video site
You might have missed it, but Warner Bros., the film studio, created a television network in the 1990s called "The WB." The network's biggest star was Katie Holmes, before she accepted the role of mother to L. Ron Hubbard's heir. Then in 2006, the studio pulled the plug — folding it into CBS's failed network, UPN, and calling the new redheaded stepchild The CW. Well, now the brothers are back with TheWB.com, "an online video Web site combining short original series with classic shows," reports the AP. As you can tell from the screenshot, it's not quite operational yet. Though you're free to join the The WB fan page on Facebook! -
quincy smith
CBS interactive boss opens new VC exit ramp just off 101
A Microsoft buyout of Yahoo will close yet another exit for venture-backed startups, but another buyer just opened shop in town. CBS Interactive plans to open a new office in Menlo Park. And frenetic dealmaker Quincy Smith is here to buy. CBS CEO Leslie Moonves recently told conference attendees that "online revenues are north of $200 million, growing 30 to 40 percent," but Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif Cohen said the company needs to make an acquisition soon to keep pace. Smith agrees. Last year, he promised to buy the next YouTube, "only a year earlier, when they were 1/32nd of their size." Tiny companies with zero revenues but excruciatingly high burn rates? Quincy, we'll keep you posted.
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Comment by Carlos: CBS/Viacom is moron-city, with two real dinosaurs at the top, Moonves and Sumner Rothstein. Letting Mel Karmazin and Tom... more » | Other threads
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online advertising
How CBS sells the video ads YouTube can't
One reason that YouTube isn't making their overlords at Google happy is because the video site is having a tough time selling advertising inventory. The new solution? Letting content partners do the work for them, says Google director Jordan Hoffner in an interview with TV Week's Daisy Whitney. CBS is among a number of companies which have been granted license to sell their own ads. That move could allay advertisers' fears that their ads will end up next to potty humor clips. They can also show off the new graphs and maps YouTube generates to show where clips — and hence ads — are viewed. The only problem is that those stats are pretty easily gamed, and if there's anything advertisers like less than off-brand placement, it's fraudulent reporting. Full video of the Hoffner and Whitney interview after the jump. More »
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By Jackson WestComment by 1TimStreet: Hey Google has everyone selling text ads for them so why not? more » | Other threads
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i hate it here
Webcam captures Tibet protesters on Golden Gate Bridge
Why should the Chinese government shouldn't worry about protests during the Olympic torch run. Local media would much rather cover low-effort displays closer to home, like these activists scaling the Golden Gate Bridge. KPIX has live coverage. [CBS 5]
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By Jackson WestComment by SeanPara: Tibet was a theocracy who kept the people poor and ignorant. Does the Free Tibet movement want to chuck out... more » | Other threads
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Sat Jul 11
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