Valleywag
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Posts Tagged “
CBS
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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]
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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.
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.
New York, minute
Puppet video reveals all you need to know about Silicon Alley
Gary the Puppet — who in the clip embedded below tours the offices of Tumblr, Next New Networks, Gawker, CollegeHumor, and Wallstrip — might be the perfect metaphor for the New York tech scene. It makes a big show of itself, but it's kind of flimsy and despite how it may look, somebody much larger and more powerful is actually running things. For New York tech, the puppeteer's hand is old media companies. IAC and CBS own College Humor and Wallstrip, respectively. Tumblr has its roots in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. So does Next New Networks, which just agreed to distribute its videos over Hulu, a News Corp. and NBC joint venture. And what's Gawker but a tape worm in Old Media's belly? Still, New York tech has this over the Valley: perhaps because of those old media connections, it knows how to present itself with a hokey smirk instead of new media's typical sassback. More »
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)
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
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 »
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?
online video
How did the blogs which reposted Bambi Francisco's Vator.tv interview with CBS Interactive's Mike Marquez all miss the obvious subtext? Francisco spends much of the interview asking about the company's plans for future acquisitions, getting Marquez to share that they are looking to purchase and partner with anything video-related, particularly well-produced, professional content. Kind of like Vator.tv! More »
Vator.tv looking to sell to CBS?
How did the blogs which reposted Bambi Francisco's Vator.tv interview with CBS Interactive's Mike Marquez all miss the obvious subtext? Francisco spends much of the interview asking about the company's plans for future acquisitions, getting Marquez to share that they are looking to purchase and partner with anything video-related, particularly well-produced, professional content. Kind of like Vator.tv! More »
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 »
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)
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 »
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.
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
