CBS Interactive
CBS Interactive Inc. (formerly CBS Digital Media Group) is an American media company and is a subsidiary of the CBS Entertainment Group division of ViacomCBS. It is an online content network for information and entertainment. Its websites cover news, sports, entertainment, technology, and business.[1] It is headed by Marc DeBevoise.[2][3]
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Formerly | CBS Digital Media Group |
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Type | Subsidiary |
Industry | Online media |
Founded | 1992 |
Headquarters | 235 Second Street, San Francisco, California, 94105 , |
Key people | Marc DeBevoise (President) |
Parent | CBS Entertainment Group (ViacomCBS) |
Website | www |
CBS Interactive coordinates with CBS Network Sales to bring together ad sales operations, as well as the corporation's television, sports, and news groups, who will continue to be involved in program development.
History
On May 30, 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for £140 million (US$280 million).[4]
On June 30, 2008, CNET Networks was acquired by CBS and the assets were merged into CBS Interactive, including Metacritic, GameSpot, TV.com, and Movietome.[5]
On March 15, 2012, it was announced that CBS Interactive acquired video game-based website Giant Bomb and comic book-based website Comic Vine from Whiskey Media, who sold off their other remaining websites to BermanBraun. This occasion marked the return of video game journalist Jeff Gerstmann to the CBS Interactive division of video game websites, which includes GameSpot and GameFAQs, and has Gerstmann once again working directly with some of his former peers at GameSpot within the same building at the CBS Interactive headquarters.[6][7]
On April 17, 2012, it was announced that Major League Gaming and CBS Interactive would be entering a partnership alongside Twitch to be the only exclusive online broadcaster of their Pro Circuit competitions, as well as for advertising representation.[8][9]
On November 4, 2019, Variety reported that Lanzone would leave CBSi after 9 years to become an executive in residence at Benchmark Capital, and would be succeeded by Marc DeBevoise.[10]
On September 14, 2020, CBS announced that it would divest the CNET Media Group to Red Ventures for $500 million, which occurred on October 30, 2020.[11][12][13]
Properties
General entertainment
The CBS Interactive entertainment brands are CBS.com, the online home of CBS, an American network television channel, and the CBS All Access streaming service.
General news
CBS Interactive's news brands are CBSNews.com, the online home of CBS News,[5] the news division of CBS; and CBSN,[14] a 24-hour news channel based completely online and on smart devices, a division of CBS News.
Sports
CBS Interactive's sports brands are CBSSports.com, the online home of CBS Sports, with news, scores, video, and discussion about professional sports along with the streaming sports network CBS Sports HQ; CBSSports.com College Network, the online home of CBS Sports College Network with news, scores, video, and discussion about collegiate sports; CBS Sports Fantasy, a website featuring fantasy sports; and MaxPreps, a website including information, recruiting, news, video, and discussion about high school sports. CBS Sports also manages an advance media division that hosts college and high school sports digital presence to both design the websites and manage the ads on each of those 250+ properties.[15]
Music
As of 2020, CBS Interactive owns Last.fm,[5] the music discovery service and listening service.
mySimon
is a comparison shopping website owned by CBS Interactive. The site offers shopping recommendations, buying advice, and side by side price comparisons for various products. Founded in 1998, mySimon was acquired in 2000 for $700 million.[16] mySimon was also nominated for a Webby award in 2001.[17] The site directs users to other shopping sites such as Amazon.com when searching for products. It is not affiliated with Simon Property Group, a mall operator. The website is also unrelated to corporate sibling and major book publisher, Simon & Schuster.
Former properties
CBS Interactive owned several websites in the past, most of them are sold to Red Ventures in 2020. Its former websites are:
- BNET, founded in 2007, was an online magazine dedicated to issues of business management. It merged into CBS MoneyWatch in 2012.[18]
- CNET, an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally; CNET Content Solutions, content solutions related to technology and consumer electronics.
- Download.com, a website for free software.
- TechRepublic,[19] contains news, information, resources, and forums for IT professionals.
- ZDNet,[20] contains technology news, reviews, and videos for technology and business professionals.
- GameFAQs,[21] a community driven website with guides and forums about video games
- GameSpot,[5] contains news, reviews, and guides about video games.
- Giant Bomb,[6] contains videos, podcasts, and reviews about video games.
- onGamers, contains news analyses, and columns about the eSports scene.
- TVGuide.com, the ultimate listings guide for any Service Provider.
- Chowhound, the website that contains recipes, discussions, reviews, videos, and stories all related to food
- TV.com contains the discussions, show guides, reviews, and videos all about television.[5]
- Metacritic,[22] a review aggregation website for games, music, television and movies.
- Comic Vine contains the news, reviews, and forums about comics.
- GameRankings,[23] a review aggregation website for games.
- MetroLyrics,[24] website that contains lyrics, videos, and news for music.
- UrbanBaby, Internet forum devoted to anonymous discussion of urban motherhood.
References
- "All Brands - CBS Interactive". cbsinteractive.com. Archived from the original on June 16, 2012. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
- Cynthia Littleton. "Marc DeBevoise Named CEO of CBS Interactive as Jim Lanzone Joins Benchmark Capital". Variety. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
- "CBS Interactive Chief Jim Lanzone To Exit, Marc DeBevoise Named New CEO". Forbes Media LLC. Forbes. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
- "Music site Last.fm bought by CBS". BBC News. May 30, 2007. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
- "CBS CORPORATION COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF CNET NETWORKS; MERGES OPERATIONS INTO NEW, EXPANDED CBS INTERACTIVE BUSINESS UNIT". CBS Corporation. June 30, 2008. Archived from the original on August 29, 2008. Retrieved June 30, 2008.
- Giant Bomb, Comic Vine join CBS Interactive GameSpot.com
- Kara Swisher. "BermanBraun Buys Most of Shelby Bonnie's Whiskey Media". AllThingsD. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
- "Major League Gaming Partners with CBS Interactive". Major League Gaming. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
- Alex Wilhelm (April 17, 2012). "CBS Takes Esports Big with Twitch.tv and MLG". The Next Web. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
- Littleton, Cynthia (November 4, 2019). "Marc DeBevoise Named CEO of CBS Interactive as Jim Lanzone Joins Benchmark Capital". Variety. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
- "Red Ventures acquires CNET Media Group from ViacomCBS for $500M". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
- Spangler, Todd (September 14, 2020). "ViacomCBS Reaches Deal to Sell CNET for $500 Million to Marketing Firm Red Ventures". Variety. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
- "Red Ventures Announces Closing of Acquisition of CNET Media Group". PR Newswire. October 30, 2020. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
- Weprin, Alex. "CBS News readies 24-hour 'CBSN' digital network". POLITICO Media. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
- "CBS Interactive". Retrieved January 19, 2017.
- Boulton, Clint (January 20, 2000). "CNET Acquires mySimon". InternetNews.com. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
- "Commerce / The Webby Awards / 2001". Retrieved October 15, 2013.
- Jack Otter (March 27, 2012). "BNET is now CBS Moneywatch.com". CBS News. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
- Heim, Sarah J. "CNET Acquires TechRepublic". www.adweek.com. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
- staff, CNET News. "CNET Networks completes ZDNet acquisition". CNET. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
- "GameFAQs is moving to a new domain in February". gamefaqs.gamespot.com. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
- "CNET Networks Acquires metacritic.com". www.businesswire.com. August 8, 2005. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
- "What happened to GameRankings in February 2009?". www.gamerankings.com. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
- Shaw, Gillian (October 11, 2011). "MetroLyrics acquisition by CBS Interactive a high note for Canada's new media". Retrieved February 18, 2019.