Comments on: Why CBS Bought CNET, And Not The Other Way Around

By: The Digital Divisions Are Dead At Big Media

The Digital Divisions Are Dead At Big Media — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 22:39:46 +0000

[...] it bought Cnet last May, CBS’s market cap was $16.5 billion. If CBS had instead paid in stock for CNET, that stock would be worth only $273 million [...]

By: Want To See Where Media Is Going? Follow The Money.

Want To See Where Media Is Going? Follow The Money. — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 17:55:48 +0000

[...] many of them were tech-related. Among the top ten media M&A deals in the report are CBS’s $1.7 billion acquisition of Cnet, eBay’s $945 million purchase of Bill Me Later, and AOL’s $850 million [...]

By: Out in the Boonies « Archana Ramachandran

Out in the Boonies « Archana Ramachandran — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 03:00:55 +0000

[...] was bought by [...]

By: CBS Finishes Acquisition Of CNET; Quincy Smith Addresses The Troops

CBS Finishes Acquisition Of CNET; Quincy Smith Addresses The Troops — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:22:31 +0000

[...] 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 [...]

By: Dan Blank: Publishing, Innovation & the Web » Blog Archive » News of the Week 5/27/08

Tue, 27 May 2008 12:37:40 +0000

[...] Why CBS Bought CNET, And Not The Other Way Around "Whatever the cause, or causes, CNET failed to disrupt the old guard, and will find itself to be a footnote in Internet history rather than the headline it should have been." [...]

By: CBS Acquires CNET « Geisenblog

CBS Acquires CNET « Geisenblog — Tue, 20 May 2008 22:27:00 +0000

[...] but dissociated components) and CNET’s shareholders made out pretty well. There was some grumbling from expected sources, but I haven’t seen anyone make a compelling case for why this was a [...]

By: TFO 2.0 » Archive du blog » CBS Centralizes Its Superdistribution of Videos on the Web

Tue, 20 May 2008 16:29:52 +0000

[...] has been one of the most promiscuous media companies out there. And no, I am not talking about its $1.8 billion acquisition of CNET (which does have some video assets). Rather, CBS has taken a strategy of superdistribution when it [...]

By: Go Big Always - What CNET could have been: an insiders view

Go Big Always - What CNET could have been: an insiders view — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:09:56 +0000

[...] week’s CBS acquisition of CNET saddened me for a number of reasons. I was VP Marketing there from 1999-2001 and still feel a strong personal [...]

By: MyWidowMaker

MyWidowMaker — Mon, 19 May 2008 02:09:22 +0000

Cbs now has a beachfront footprint in the sands of our digital universe.
Kids.com, Help.com, Computers.com, Download.com, Online.com, TV.com, Upload.com, News.com, Search.com, Com.com, Builder.com, Gaming.com, Shopper.com, Marketplace.com, Updates.com, Store.com, Buying.com, Chat.com, Welcome.com, Browser.com, Shareware.com, Freeware.com, Auctions.com, Labs.com, Community.com, Silicon.com, Radio.com, mp3.com, Future.com, Events.com, Tunes.com.

By: MyWidowMaker

MyWidowMaker — Mon, 19 May 2008 01:40:16 +0000

CBS got some Priceless, strategic domain names that are ready to bust out mainstream style. Time for cbs to put the newscorp style spin on there new network of common sense keyphrase self propelled web properties. Not the best portfolio but definitely in the top 5 all time greatest. This portfolio does have some meat and potatoes on it. It only takes one premium domain channel to blow up and wella CBS is now on the mainstream map. Rupert did it with one keyphrase personalized domain name. Cbs now has a arsenal of premium domain channels that are very easy to embed in the minds of the masses. At least they wont be peddling a domain name like hulu. Strategic keyphrase domain names are the most valuable properties on the planet. question: Where would myspace.com be if it was called bebo.com or hulu.com. I remember how much i was forced to swallow the name yahoo when it came out. The properties acquired are on the tip of the tongues and minds and just need to be commercialized. Extreme Potential. The conceptualist Sahar shared some thoughts on the subject.
http://www.conc...reme-potential/

By: Wired compra Ars Technica y la CBS a Cnet

Wired compra Ars Technica y la CBS a Cnet — Sun, 18 May 2008 16:44:42 +0000

[...] Cnet es el ejemplo de la web 1.0 y Ars Technica el ejemplo de la web 2.0, y tras esta idea quiero entender el sentido de la compra de la CBS, y si ese dinero no lo debería haber invertido en comprar alguna de las redes de blogs existentes [...]

By: Reader

Reader — Sun, 18 May 2008 11:49:04 +0000

@35 and @40: Thank you for referring ReadWriteWeb’s article:

CBS Pays $1.8 Billion for CNet: CNet Shows How It’s Done
http://www.read...s_buys_cnet.php

By: SmashCinema.com

SmashCinema.com — Sun, 18 May 2008 07:16:35 +0000

wWoWw I thought it would end up being the other way around. Matters how you see it i guess. Maybe C|Net wasn’t able to keep up.

==============================================
http://www.SmashCinema.com
==============================================
free online movies

By: CBS Centralizes Its Superdistribution of Videos on the Web

CBS Centralizes Its Superdistribution of Videos on the Web — Sun, 18 May 2008 06:32:31 +0000

By: leolambertini.com » Links for May 17, 2008: Happy Internet Day!

leolambertini.com » Links for May 17, 2008: Happy Internet Day! — Sat, 17 May 2008 12:42:33 +0000

[...] - Why CBS Bought CNET, And Not The Other Way Around (TechCrunch) [...]

By: Alex Hammer

Alex Hammer — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:38:21 +0000

Arrington’s ability (range) to process information and put it in context is staggering (post after post after post). That said, I do not totally agree with his basic premise on the inefficacy of CNET (a major TechCrunch competitor). Certainly, market cap is a powerful and proper metric, and as the expression says, “the numbers don’t lie”. But you have to look at the landscape. Yes, Amazon is an exception, but most cap darlings of 1999 in our overall (Internet etc.) space don’t exist. That’s why they call it the dot.com BUST. Within that context, being alive at all, and being purchased by a major media player like CBS (let’s not debate how major they are, that’s a tangential discussion) is a win. Not a loss. Not a staggering win, but a win nonetheless. The more interesting issue, for me (arises in my mind) is what TechCrunch may do in response. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see TechCrunch announce a significant round of financing, start roll up purchases, etc.

By: Andrew Baron

Andrew Baron — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:12:33 +0000

No innovation or foresight here.

By: Incremental Blogger » Blog Archive » Why CNet is a good match for CBS

Incremental Blogger » Blog Archive » Why CNet is a good match for CBS — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:22:38 +0000

[...] @Michael Arrignton: The reason CNet didn’t explode into an even larger business is not because of its acquisition strategy. It was because of its economic model, quite visible in its advertising. [...]

By: Thomas

Thomas — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:09:51 +0000

Scott K, I think CBS having news.com is the biggest irony of them all considering what has happened with CBS’ news organization over the last decade! “News.com! Starrying Your Favorite Blogger — Katie Couric! We’re so Internety!”

By: Thomas

Thomas — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:07:04 +0000

Michael, thanks for pointing out CNet’s plain ol’ fashioned value destruction. However, value destruction in the valley is no big deal. No one is accountable for their strategic misteps here. Funny, in a town that likes to use words like “strategy” and “innovation” it’s interesting to see how little of it there really is.

By: Hell is No Exit Strategy

Hell is No Exit Strategy — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:58:58 +0000

Mike, this is really about your exit strategy being sold. Rumor has it just a few days before your rant about rolling up the blogosphere and killing CNET you were at headquarters trying to sell TechCrunch to them for $20 million to $30 million or so. Now you’re obviously pissed because your most likely buyer is now owned by CBS. You are the parsley on the steak of irony, dude.

By: BillGates

BillGates — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:42:08 +0000

you guys don’t get the big game, just hang around in sub $3m revenue land scratching out breakeven on $1 cpms at best. big media wins always and little ‘web 2.0′ land is just noise and r&d – the reality is that TechCrunch is meaningless to marketers and always will be. comparing to CNET.com is laughable in every measure, traffic, revenue, cpms, reach, brand… blah blah..

By: crybaby, pathetic

crybaby, pathetic — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:30:46 +0000

Crybaby… pathetic… among the proper words used to describe your attempt at putting down a good move from Cnet.

Posts like this make blogging a lesser job than real journalism.

I’m no longer reading this “publication”, end of story

By: alpha

alpha — Fri, 16 May 2008 03:34:45 +0000

I used to be part of a community called TvTome, it had an actual “neighborhood” feel. Than, three years ago, CNet bought it and it’s new site, tv.com, was and still is ugly and depressing. Now CNet has gotten it’s just desserts

By: Anthony Yung

Anthony Yung — Fri, 16 May 2008 03:02:17 +0000

In 1999, CNET paid $20 million to buy Nordby aka PrivateWire. The same unit was sold to FinancialContent for $1 million in 2003.