Why the spike? A good chunk of it, I assume, has to do with the death of Whitney Houston the day before, and viewers who wanted to see how the biggest stars in music responded to the loss of a peer.

But the rise also fits nicely with an increasingly popular digital narrative: Big, live TV events are big events on Twitter and Facebook, which generate lots of online chatter and drive more eyeballs back to the TV screen, where they inspire even more chatter. Cue virtuous cycle.

Last night’s show generated 13 million “social media comments,” says “social TV” tracker Bluefin Labs. That’s even more than the previous week’s Super Bowl (which attracted many more TV eyeballs than the Grammys).

And you could argue that the Grammys were less digitally friendly than the Super Bowl. The game was streamed live on the Web, and the awards show was broadcast-only*, and was broadcast on a three-hour delay on the West coast.

CBS, though, argues that it worked hard to generate online interest for the show. It says it attracted a million visitors to the various sites and iPad/iPhone apps it operated over the three days leading up to the show. It says it attracted a peak of 165,000 concurrent viewers to a livestream of pre-Grammys red carpet coverage Sunday afternoon.

And it says it worked hard, along with Twitter, to get music stars at last night’s show to talk up the event to their own social networks.

“You’ve got to look at the ratings and say that there’s got to be a correlation,” says Marc DeBevoise, who heads up entertainment for CBS Interactive. “We wouldn’t be doing it if we didn’t think it was there.”

*Digital rights clearances make streaming a music show much tougher than a game — note that the Super Bowl’s halftime show with Madonna was also kept off the Web.

Neil Ashe, who left his job running CBS Interactive in late 2010, has taken a job helming Wal-Mart Stores’ global online commerce unit.

The retail behemoth said that Ashe will become president and CEO of its Global eCommerce division, replacing the retiring Eduardo Castro-Wright. He will operate out of Wal-Mart’s Silicon Valley office in San Bruno, Calif., but will likely make a lot of trips to the company’s HQ in Bentonville, Ark. (Ashe does not have the U.S.-based e-commerce business; Walmart.com is run by Joel Anderson, who reports up through the Wal-Mart U.S. stores business.)

In an interview earlier today, Ashe said that he was “impressed by the company’s realization that the consumer is changing … and the commitment to global e-commerce.”

Noting that Wal-Mart stores see 200 million customers a week, he said the goal was to make the online experience as compelling as the offline one.

“There has to be almost an indifference between physical stores and e-commerce,” said Ashe. “The whole company committed to winning on the Internet.”

Since he left CBS, Ashe has been advising a variety of Web start-ups, including LivingSocial. Ashe joined the board of the Washington, D.C.-based social buying company last spring.

The job at Wal-Mart is a big one, especially given its up-and-down history in the online space. That includes the recent decision to stop selling MP3s from its Web site.

It has also stepped up its efforts, including a number of small acquisitions, such as mobile advertising start-up OneRiot and mobile app company Small Society.

But it did pay big bucks — reportedly $300 million — for social media platform Kosmix.

Ashe noted that Wal-Mart is indeed still dwarfed online by online dominator Amazon. “They are very innovative and strategically adept,” he said.

With 59 million monthly visitors to its U.S. Web site and an aim to go global, how Ashe navigates Wal-Mart’s path in the next years will be interesting to watch.

Here’s the official press release:

Walmart Selects Neil Ashe to Lead Global eCommerce

San Bruno, Calif., Jan. 16, 2012 – Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) today announced that Neil Ashe, 44, is the new president and CEO of the company’s Global eCommerce business, beginning today. Ashe was most recently president of CBS Interactive, where he led all online properties and also drove development of new ways to distribute programming produced by the media giant and its subsidiaries. Websites included CBS.com, CNET.com, CBSNews.com, and CBSSports.com, among others.

Ashe is replacing Eduardo Castro-Wright who announced his pending retirement in September and will assist in the transition.

“E-commerce is a great opportunity for us and we have a long-term vision to win,” said Mike Duke, Walmart’s president and CEO. “We are on track to create the next generation of E-commerce, combining the latest in online innovations with physical stores to give our customers a unique and seamless shopping experience.”

“We have an understanding of what these customers want, a trusted brand, 200 million weekly shoppers, more than 10,000 stores around the world, and the ability to make significant investments in talent and technology. We also have successful online businesses, including in the U.S., the U.K., Canada and Brazil. With all of this, it is clear that Walmart is the best- positioned retailer to deliver this multi-channel experience to consumers, many of whom are already connected to the world through smart phones and social media.”

Duke continued, “With his strong personal leadership skills, financial background and experience in successfully working within a major corporation to lead its Internet division, Neil is the ideal leader to help us build this business. He has led companies through all stages of growth and maturity. He also has a deep understanding of the interactive space and how to attract and convert online customers. Perhaps most importantly, much of Neil’s professional success has come through close collaboration and shared goals with his peers — a key attribute as we continue to integrate our online businesses across the company and with our physical stores.”

“Walmart is a special company,” said Ashe. “Growing up in East Tennessee, I have seen first-hand the difference it can make in the lives of its customers. E-commerce gives us a huge opportunity to expand and bring savings to many more people around the world. We have great things ahead of us and I am eager to get started and join the talented team already in place.”

As president of CBS Interactive, based in San Francisco, Ashe led the interactive content business with operations in the U.S., Europe and China. After leading the successful integration of CNET Networks with CBS, he and his team leveraged existing company assets to ramp up CBS entertainment content distribution online, including making CBS.com the largest television network site in the industry.

Prior to this, Ashe was CEO of CNET Networks, initially best known for providing technology-related information, product reviews and price comparisons through CNET.com. He also oversaw dramatic development in the company’s China division, taking it from a small magazine and events operator to a highly profitable, fast-growing online business. During his tenure, the company’s value increased from $100 million to $1.8 billion. Ultimately, Ashe led the sale of the company to CBS and became president of CBS Interactive at that time.

Earlier, Ashe founded a company focused on using the Internet to improve K-12 education in the U.S. Prior to this, he was a partner and managing director at private investment firm Crest Communications Holdings and, before that, was an associate at Smith Barney, the investment bank now part of Citigroup.

Ashe has an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and a B.S. in Business Administration, with a major in Finance, from Georgetown University. He serves on the boards of LivingSocial, AMC Networks and the Georgetown University Board of Regents.

Over the past year, Walmart has made investments in capabilities and talent as it continues to build Global eCommerce. It has also further strengthened its position through the acquisition of small Internet specialty companies and continues to expand in new markets such as China and Brazil, including a minority stake in Chinese Internet retailer Yihaodian.

CNET editor in chief Scott Ard will stay on at the company, but will focus on CNET’s reviews, which he had overseen prior to his promotion in 2009. He’ll also oversee other new products, the company told its staff today.

Farber, meanwhile, will continue to hold on to his current job, overseeing editorial for CBSNews.com. And Larry Dignan continues to oversee the unit’s ZDNet and TechRepublic blog networks.

The org chart shuffle is in many ways a reset to CNET’s state prior to its acquisition by CBS in the summer of 2008. It’s also one of several moves that CBS Interactive head Jim Lanzone has made since he joined the company in March, after selling the network his Clicker.com.

Earlier this spring, Lanzone recruited Eric Johnson, the president and COO of concert archive site Wolfgang’s Vault, to come aboard as a senior vice president overseeing all of CBS’ digital news properties. He shares the duties with Mark Larkin, who had previously been overseeing CBSNews.com.

Follow all that? There’s at least one more: This week Lanzone hired Marc DeBevoise, the former head of pay TV channel Starz’s digital operations, to oversee CBS.com, TV.com and Clicker.

The appointment comes on the heels of LivingSocial’s latest fundraising efforts, of which details started to leak out today. The Washington, D.C.-based daily deals company has reportedly attracted around $500 million in additional funding at a $3 billion valuation.

According to sources, those figures are accurate and that an announcement from LivingSocial should come soon.

What’s more, sources said the company is now on track to book more than $1 billion in revenues this year, which is double the conservative figure the company reported only four months ago.

As to Ashe, he is an interesting choice for LivingSocial’s board.

Most recently, Ashe (pictured here) was the president of CBS Interactive. He stepped down in December, but it was unclear at the time where the executive was headed.

Ashe joined CBS through the acquisition of CNET, where he was CEO. Sources said his role at LivingSocial is strictly as a board member; he will not be taking a managerial role.

Other LivingSocial board members include: Tim O’Shaughnessy, co-founder and CEO; Eddie Frederick, president and co-founder; Tige Savage of Revolution; Ted Maidenberg of USVP; Don Rainey of Grotech Ventures and Peter Krawiec of Amazon. Krawiec joined after Amazon invested $175 million, as part of the company’s round announced in December.

Ashe’s appointment to the board will add additional expertise as the company bulks up to go against market-leading Groupon. It must also fend off other entrants, ranging from such giants as Facebook and Google to more scrappy one-off niche sites focused on categories, such as families, pets or religions.

While Groupon grabs a lot of the spotlight, LivingSocial is growing rapidly too.

It has 1,200 employees and has expanded into a dozen international markets. It is adding about one million users a week to its email list, and has roughly 25 million in total.

In an internal memo distributed this morning, Soohoo says he was planning on leaving prior to Lanzone’s appointment, and had “made a personal commitment to work through the transition” until CBS found a replacement for former CBS Interactive head Neil Ashe.

SooHoo came to CBS three years ago, when it bought his startup – Dotspotter.com. Since then he’s run the broadcaster’s CBS.com site, as well as properties like Chowhound and Urban Baby.

I’ve asked CBS what it plans to do with TV.com, the sorta-Hulu video portal that Soohoo was also in charge of, which now seems a bit redundant given its acquisition of Clicker.

No word on that, but the company did provide this quote from CEO Les Moonves: “Anthony is a terrific example of the kind of entrepreneur who helps build our business, sets us up for continued future growth, and then stays very close to CBS to make sure we’re in constant connection with the best ideas and talent in Silicon Valley. I thank him for his contributions, and look forward to his counsel in the years ahead.”

CBS hasn’t named a replacement for Soohoo, and says it has no immediate plans to do so.

Here’s Soohoo’s e-mail:

From: Anthony Soohoo
Date: Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 7:45 AM
Subject: The Next Chapter…
To: “Soohoo, Anthony”

Dear Colleagues,

After three rewarding years with CBS, I have decided it is time for me to pursue the next chapter in my life. In discussions with Leslie and Neil over the past eight months, I made a personal commitment to work through the transition until we had a new leader at CBS Interactive. Now that we have named Jim Lanzone as our new President, the time is right for me to step out and seek my next challenge.

I’ve always embraced the Taoist proverb that the journey is the reward and to say that we’ve had an amazing journey together is an understatement. I am especially proud of the product innovations and business growth that we have accomplished together. Reflecting on the past 3 years:

We’ve increased our business unit s revenue by 700%. CBS.com has increased its audience 10x and jumped from the 3rd ranked network video site to the top ranked network property for the past 27 months. We are now one of the top media properties around.
The CBS Audience Network became the fastest growing network growing video streams the past year by 206% and total minutes spent by 149%.
We’ve grown CHOW’s audience by 16x since 2008 – hitting the big time as a Top 10 food site in 2010 and winning the prestigious James Beard Award for “Best Web Site Focusing on Food”.

In short, this has been every bit an extraordinary ride and I thank you for your work in making this experience special for me, both personally and professionally. As I set off back into the entrepreneurial world, I want to extend my sincerest wishes to all of you for continued success.

Dream. Invent. Deliver.

Anthony

After BoomTown broke the news earlier today that CBS Interactive President Neil Ashe was stepping down from his job, we had a little chitchat as to why and what’s next.

“We were at the end of a successful transition and integration with CBS,” said Ashe about the media giant’s $1.8 billion purchase of CNET Networks in mid-2008, in a phone interview with me. “And so it was time for a breath of fresh air for me.”

What that breath will be, Ashe would not specify yet, because he said he had not actually looked around for a new gig as his contract with CBS was nearing its end.

“I wanted to finish this first,” he said about his job at CBS Interactive.

And what this is, said 42-year-old Ashe, is a “unique combination of Internet native and the power of broadcast media.”

He noted that the “Internet is now electricity–always on and everywhere–which means it is not such a unique thing, and so you can do almost anything.”

When Ashe came to CNET in 2002, he said the company was losing tens of millions of dollars and had to prove to marketers that online ads worked.

“It has definitely not been a straight path from there to here, and we have seen as much confusion as you can throw at us,” he said. “And, if anything now, the pace of change is accelerating.”

Neil Ashe (pictured here), president of CBS Interactive, is stepping down from his post.

CBS confirmed the move after BoomTown made inquiries recently, after hearing of various executives who had been contacted by the media giant about the position.

“Neil has helped make CBSi into the successful and profitable business it is today. Looking out into 2011, we are working on a relaxed timeframe to name a successor to his post, as he embarks on his next great thing,” said a spokesman.

It is not clear where Ashe is headed, nor who his replacement will be.

But an exec close to the situation said that Zander Lurie, who has worked closely with Ashe at CNET and CBS, will take on a bigger role.

Lurie is currently SVP of strategic development at CBS.

Several years ago, CBS bought CNET, where Ashe was CEO.

He had been at CNET since 2002, and replaced Quincy Smith as the interactive division’s head.

Here’s a whole lot of video from a panel discussion about the future of online video that BoomTown moderated last week in San Francisco.

Held at the offices of CBS (CBS) Interactive, it was organized by Andy Plesser, the kingpin of Beet.TV, the online video news site. Plesser moderated the second half of the two-hour (!!!) session, and I did the first hour.

One tweet of the event noted: “The Beet.TV just started and @karaswisher is already terrorizing the panelists.”

I beg to differ! I was strafing the giant panel in order to tame it!

The group assembled included Gregg Colvin of News Corp. (NWS) digital unit Fox Interactive, Karin Gilford of Comcast (CMCSA), Revision3′s Jim Louderback, Anthony Soohoo of CBS Interactive, Adobe (ADBE) exec Jennifer Taylor, and many, many others.

Topics included advertising, creative, innovative business models and much more about the online video space.

Here’s the full video, as well as an interview with me about my bad video practices (yes, I look exhausted, but the panel did last forever).

And I added a third video, which is a part of the longer one, in which I asked what devices or companies the panelists thought were the most promising.

The answer, for the most part: Those from Apple (AAPL), including its iPhone, iPod and, even before launch, iPad. Not surprisingly, however, given the Flash feud, Adobe’s Taylor picked the Google (GOOG) Nexus One mobile phone.

Here are the videos:

Davis (pictured here) is a senior partner at Davis, Shapiro, Lewit & Hayes. The entertainment law firm–which is based in both New York and Los Angeles–has an emphasis in music, digital rights, and branded entertainment, and works with a wide range of digital media companies, including YouTube.

After a BoomTown post in late October on Smith’s plans, CBS (CBS) confirmed the move, which will take place in January, noting that his new firm would remain an adviser to the media giant under a multiyear contract.

Davis is an interesting choice for the firm, which Smith hopes will emulate Hambrecht & Quist, one of the more influential among Silicon Valley investment banks during the first Web boom.

Along with Davis, Smith has been joined by CBS’s Mike Marquez.

Smit has also been collecting a high-profile group of advisers to the still-unnamed firm, including Danny Rimer of Index Ventures, former Netscape Communications CFO Peter Currie, and David Golden, EVP of former AOL CEO Steve Case’s Revolution LLC.

Quincy Smith, the high-profile CEO of CBS Interactive, is planning on leaving his job at the media giant in January to start an advisory firm in Silicon Valley, according to several sources.

But, in an interesting twist, Smith (pictured here) will remain an adviser to CBS (CBS) under a multiyear contract, sources added, making it his first client.

UPDATE: CBS confirmed the move BoomTown earlier reported, in a press release below.

Apparently, Smith will focus intently on video monetization, authentication and other digital issues for the company. CBS is calling it a “transition to a new role,” in its official statement.

CBS Interactive President Neil Ashe will take over Smith’s duties, but without the CEO title, which was a relatively new one for Smith.

CBS is television’s most popular network again this season and its interactive properties are among the top ten in aggregate in both traffic and video.

“I’m very pleased to extend our relationship with Quincy, who is one of the finest minds working in Interactive media today,” said Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of CBS Corporation, in a statement. “Quincy helped put CBS Interactive on the map and we are now a Top 10 presence in premium content.”

Said Smith: “It’s a huge honor to count CBS as my first client. In three years, this company has grown its Interactive profile immeasurably, and yet there is so much more to be done. I love CBS and its people and I look forward to working closely with them to help CBS become the premier video content company, regardless of platform or screen.”

MediaMemo’s Peter Kafka wrote in May about the possibility of Smith departing CBS, where he has worked since late 2006.

As Kafka wrote, Smith has long wanted to start a new media consultancy and has also wanted to return to Silicon Valley.

In fact, the man BoomTown has dubbed the “Energizer Bunny of the Web” was an early employee at Netscape Communications in the Web 1.0 heyday, tried his hand at venture capital and worked on tech deals for media banking firm Allen & Co.

At CBS during the Web 2.0 era, Smith has been aggressively guiding the company into a series of transactions, including the $280 million acquisition of Last.fm in 2007 and the $1.8 billion purchase of CNET last year.

Smith has also been involved with digital issues related to CBS’s strong television assets. He has championed–unlike other media giants–widely distributing CBS content online and keeping control of its advertising sales.

People close to Smith say he often talks of trying to emulate Dan Case, the late brother of AOL founder Steve Case and the former CEO of Hambrecht & Quist, one of the more influential among Silicon Valley investment banks during the first Web boom.

Sources said that the time has now come and that the move is expected to be announced very soon.

It is also likely that Smith’s top business development exec at CBS, Mike Marquez, will also leave to join him at the still unnamed firm.

BoomTown suggestion for a name: Q 3.0.

Here’s Smith in a cameo for a video spoof after he paid $5 million for Wallstrip, the funny business video site which has since been severely sidelined:

QUINCY SMITH SIGNS MULTI-YEAR ADVISORY AGREEMENT WITH CBS CORPORATION

CEO of CBS Interactive to Depart in January 2010 but Will Continue Working with Company on Video Content Monetization, Among Other Projects

CBS Corporation announced today that Quincy Smith, Chief Executive Officer of its CBS Interactive division, will transition to a new role with the company beginning January 2010 as he starts an independent advisory business. In this new role, Smith will advise CBS on strategies and opportunities for growth across the Company’s interactive businesses. Smith, who had led CBS Interactive since November 2006, will remain with CBS Corporation as the division’s CEO through the end of 2009. Neil Ashe will continue as President of the division.

Smith will continue to be closely involved in CBS’s initiatives related to next-generation monetization of video, including oversight of the Company’s effort to explore authentication as a new, additive method of distribution. He will also advise on partnering with technology companies to expand CBS’s interactive presence, as well as explore new growth opportunities related to content, services and applications.

“I’m very pleased to extend our relationship with Quincy, who is one of the finest minds working in Interactive media today,” said Leslie Moonves, President and CEO of CBS Corporation. “Quincy helped put CBS Interactive on the map and we are now a Top 10 presence in premium content. His entrepreneurial spirit and his passion for the business have helped this Company attract some of the most creative minds working in digital media. I know he will continue to be successful in all he’s yet to do, and we’re very happy to have Quincy working with us in this new role at CBS.”

“It’s a huge honor to count CBS as my first client,” said Smith. “In three years, this company has grown its Interactive profile immeasurably, and yet there is so much more to be done. I love CBS and its people and I look forward to working closely with them to help CBS become the premier video content company, regardless of platform or screen. I especially want to thank Leslie for his leadership and counsel, and for giving me this opportunity to continue working with CBS.”

Smith came to CBS Interactive in 2006, and in three years helped build a division that has become a top ten property in terms of worldwide visitors and video views. CBS’s acquisition of CNET in 2008 added industry-leading Web sites like CNET.com, GameSpot, TV.com, chow.com and BNET.com to a portfolio that had already included top ranking properties like cbs.com, cbssports.com and last.fm. Today, CBS Interactive sites span nearly every category of premium content on the Web, across news, sports and entertainment.

Previously, Smith was an executive with Allen & Company, where he was involved with multiple transactions and advised companies such as Comcast, Google and CBS. Prior to Allen & Company, Smith was a Founding Partner of The Barksdale Group, a venture capital firm. Previously, Smith spent five years at Netscape where he ran Investor Relations and Corporate Development and played a role in over 20 joint ventures, investments and acquisitions including Netscape’s ultimate sale to AOL. Prior to that, Smith was an investment banker for Morgan Stanley.

BoomTown was as surprised as anyone when longtime Silicon Valley Web music entrepreneur Dave Goldberg said in May that his next move was going to be investing in and running an online survey company with the unusual name of SurveyMonkey.

Most expected the former Yahoo music head to land at an entertainment or media giant, running its digital operations.

But it is at SurveyMonkey where Goldberg has swung himself and he has now made good on his promise to open a Silicon Valley office of the Portland-based start-up.

But Goldberg’s background does not suggest an interest in digital clipboards and checking boxes.

He joined Yahoo (YHOO) in 2001 and headed its global music operations after it bought a company he co-founded in 1994 called LAUNCH Media.

Previous to that, Goldberg was director of marketing strategy and new business development at Capitol Records in Los Angeles.

After leaving Yahoo more than two years ago, he worked for a while as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Benchmark Capital and told me he was attracted to the online survey creator most of all for three key reasons:

It’s profitable. It’s an open field. And, it’s much more of a consumer product than people realize.

That’s presumably why he also put up some money to become a minority investor in SurveyMonkey.

It was part of a deal in which Spectrum Equity Investors and others, including Bain Capital Ventures, acquired a majority interest in the company.

Since it was founded in 1999 by Ryan Finley and Chris Finley, who remained minority investors and working at the company, SurveyMonkey has become the largest such survey company online, with competitors that include Zoomerang and Constant Contact.

SurveyMonkey–which has signed up two million users, with six million surveys created and 200 million responses completed–charges a variety of fees for premium versions of its service, sitting between expensive software packages on one side and free, featureless Web surveys on the other.

Here’s a video interview I did with Goldberg last week about all this and more, as well as a tour of the new SurveyMonkey digs in Menlo Park, Calif., in former CBS (CBS) Interactive space:

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20090817/surveymonkeys-dave-goldberg-speaks-plus-a-tour-of-his-new-planet-of-the-apes-lair-in-silicon-valley/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20090515/federated-media-will-search-for-new-leader-says-founder-and-ceo-battelle-plus-a-web-squared-and-double-d-video/ http://allthingsd.com/20090515/federated-media-will-search-for-new-leader-says-founder-and-ceo-battelle-plus-a-web-squared-and-double-d-video/#comments Fri, 15 May 2009 17:32:20 +0000 Kara Swisher http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=13585

John Battelle (pictured here), the founder, chairman and CEO of Federated Media Publishing, told his staff this morning that he will begin a search for a new top exec to take the company into its next stage of growth.

Battelle, who is apparently not leaving the San Francisco-based company, wrote that the new exec–whose title could be CEO–would report to him.

In a post on the FM site about the move called “The Start of Something, Again,” he wrote:

“It’s time to take it to the next level. FM is no longer a scrappy startup, and while its leadership team is deep and experienced, we’ve come to the conclusion that to take the company to the place we all know it can go, we need an additional leader on board. So today, I’m announcing that I’m officially launching a search for that position. It used to be you did this in private, but we live in the world of social media, and one of FM’s mores is transparency. I want to honor that value today.

So let me be clear: I am in no way leaving the business. This new leader–the title will depend on the person–will be responsible for running the business–taking all reports and managing to our plan–but he or she will be working very closely with me.”

FM, which sells online advertising for a large group of social-media sites and blogs, raised $50 million in funding a year ago from Oak Investment Partners, giving it a valuation of over $200 million.

The start-up had previously raised about $4.5 million from other investors, including the New York Times, the Omidyar Network and Panorama Capital.

FM reportedly did $40 million in revenue last year and has been cash-flow positive for many years, although the recent economic downturn has impacted its bottom line.

Here is a video interview I did last night with Battelle and others at a dinner he and Tim O’Reilly threw in San Francisco for Silicon Valley movers and shakers, related to the upcoming Web 2.0 Summit that they organize.

He did not mention the exec search at FM, though–instead he talked about the next phase of Web 2.0, which he is now calling “Web Squared.”

No kidding.

Here’s the video–which also includes CBS (CBS) Interactive exec Zander Lurie suggesting a more buxom name for D: All Things Digital:

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20090515/federated-media-will-search-for-new-leader-says-founder-and-ceo-battelle-plus-a-web-squared-and-double-d-video/feed/ 1 http://allthingsd.com/20090330/start-up-hires-cbs-google-veteran/ http://allthingsd.com/20090330/start-up-hires-cbs-google-veteran/#comments Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:13:52 +0000 Jessica E. Vascellaro http://voices.allthingsd.com/?p=9974 Patrick Keane, a digital-media veteran, was named the chief executive of Associated Content Inc., a start-up that syndicates user-submitted articles and video on the Web.

Mr. Keane, 38, was most recently chief marketing officer of CBS Corp.’s (CBS) CBS Interactive, a role he had been transitioning out of since earlier this year. Prior to that, he was a sales-strategy executive at Google Inc. (GOOG) who spearheaded the company’s planning with large advertisers and agencies.

His appointment signals some fresh momentum for the three-year-old Associated Content, which is one of several, including Demand Media and Howcast, that is trying to develop cheaper models for creating and distributing content online.

The company allows users to submit text, video and audio on topics it selects. The submissions tend towards how-to’s and subjects like whether to buy a hybrid car or how to get the best financial advice. The company indexes and distributes the media to other publishers and funnels traffic to it by optimizing it for search engines. It shows ads against the media and gives users and publishers a cut.

In an interview, Mr. Keane said the company’s math-based model appealed to him. “I really do believe that same math and science that has been applied to advertising can be applied to content,” he said. He added that after his stint at CBS, which included the company’s acquisition and integration of CNet, he was looking to get closer to the operations of a business.

Read the rest of this post

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20090330/start-up-hires-cbs-google-veteran/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20081213/weekend-update-121208/ http://allthingsd.com/20081213/weekend-update-121208/#comments Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:19:40 +0000 Beth Callaghan http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=9600

In this week ramping up to the holidays, good cheer–unsurprisingly–was hard to find. 2008 may well be remembered as the year the econalypse stole Christmas.

Yahoo (YHOO) was bereft of cheer, for sure. BoomTown covered its long-dreaded layoffs and published Jerry Yang’s complete memo to Yahoo staff about the painful process, which began on Wednesday. Ex-Yahoos from all corners of the company declared their preferences (and vented) to BoomTown about the as-yet fruitless search for a CEO to replace Yang, who laid himself off last month. But wait–Digital Daily pointed out a singular moment of misplaced cheer–akin to fiddling while the proverbial Yahoo burns–as the company, uh, celebrated the holidays with a bafflingly lavish year-end party last Saturday–four days before its massive layoffs began.

Digital Daily covered a lot more bad news this week–even some for Apple (AAPL). Belkin, historically the largest exhibitor at January’s MacWorld, announced it won’t be at the convention this year. In addition, registrations for the annual Macfest are down 20 percent since last year. Fairchild became the latest in a long procession of semiconductor companies to lower estimates in the face of dwindling demand, and IPO activity dropped 50 percent in 2008, according to Ernst & Young’s year-end Global IPO Update. What’s that word? Oh yeah, schadenfreude. In a cold bit of circumstance, almost any company can feel a little bit better by comparing itself to Nortel (NT), which lost an astonishing 97 percent of its value this year.

MediaMemo wrote about CBS’s (CBS) appointment with the piper–it spent $1.8 billion on CNET last year, and started paying the consequences this week. The re-org of the entire CBS Interactive group is laid out in Quincy Smith’s memo to its staff. Hulu was hurting this past week, too. Its traffic dropped sharply in the absence of Tina Fey/Sarah Palin viral videos. There was at least one happy anomaly in this week’s news, though: Microblogging site Tumblr brought back memories of the heady early days of Web 2.0, announcing a $4.5 million-dollar round of funding from Union Square Ventures and Spark Capital.

On the Mossberg front, Walt is on a holiday break, but Personal Technology is not. Nick Wingfield sat in for him this week with a column about digital projectors, which are getting smaller and more portable. And in anticipation of Mac-themed holidays for Windows PC users, Katherine Boehret discussed reliable methods of getting data from a PC to a Mac.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20081213/weekend-update-121208/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20081211/cbs-interactivecnet-re-org-the-complete-memo/ http://allthingsd.com/20081211/cbs-interactivecnet-re-org-the-complete-memo/#comments Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:37:02 +0000 Peter Kafka http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/?p=2024

CBS paid $1.8 billion for CNET last summer, and today it is dealing with the consequences: A re-org and layoffs.

CBS execs won’t release specifics on the firings and won’t say how many people were let go altogether. So news will be coming out in piecemeal fashion for some time.

The best that I can tell, though, the cuts came throughout the company’s interactive group, from its London-based last.fm radio service through CBS (CBS) headquarters in New York to CNET’s homebase in San Francisco.

Based on the fact that CBS Interactive boss Quincy Smith flew to the west coast to quarterback the re-org this morning–and the fact that CNET was much, much bigger than the CBS Interactive group–I’m assuming that more CNET employees were let go than anyone else.

Quincy, if I’m wrong, please let me know. And CBS Interactive/CNET employees can reach me directly at peter@allthingsd.com.

In the meantime, here’s the new structure of Smith’s group, via an internal memo that comes from him and Neil Ashe, his CNET counterpart:

Team,

As we come to the end of 2008, we have a lot to be proud of. CBS Interactive is the best online content network for information and entertainment. Our properties are expanding, advertisers are capitalizing on our properties and their scale, and we are positioned well to continue to grow. As we prepare for 2009 and beyond, we’d like to update you on this progress, announce some organizational changes and comment on the broader market environment and how it impacts CBS Interactive.

Progress

CBS Interactive is the 8th largest Internet network in the world. Our combined traffic is up nearly 30% since we closed the merger this summer. CNET, CBSSports.com, BNET, GameSpot, TV.com, CBS.com, last.fm, and CHOW have each had record traffic within the past three months. Our commitment to our users is paying off.

Advertisers have noticed. We have recently signed and announced deals across several of our properties with Microsoft, AT&T, Intel, Bertolli, EA, and GM. In these challenging economic times, marketers are consolidating their efforts with their best partners. Our properties, our audiences, our ideas and our insights will continue to differentiate us in the marketplace.

Finally, we have contributed to and benefited from the TV and Radio divisions of CBS. We’ve done nearly 1,500 purpose-driven promotions to our properties on Broadcast TV, Radio and local TV Stations; CHOW and GameSpot content is running on the CBS Outernet; and CNET ran a major consumer campaign in markets like New York and San Francisco through CBS Outdoor. CBS Interactive is also a key partner to CBS Television Network for major broadcast events. In just the last week, we featured complementary content for events including The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, the Grammy Nominations and the SEC Championship.

Moving forward, we have a lot to look forward to. Events like CES, The Grammys, and March Madness on Demand are all just around the corner. Each represent huge cross-platform opportunities where CBS Interactive will again help complete the experience with coverage on air, online, and on mobile for our audiences.

Organizational Promotions and Changes

As we enter 2009, we are making some changes to our organizational structure to capitalize on audience and advertiser overlaps. We are also making some changes to key functions so that we can realize the benefits of our position in the marketplace. These changes mark another significant milestone in our integration, as we fine-tune our organization to best take advantage of the power of our entire network.

Sports, Games and Music

We are combining our Sports, Games and Music properties into a single group led by Steve Snyder. Steve has tremendous product and leadership experience and an enthusiasm for each of these categories. In addition, Tom Jones will be moving over from CNET to head-up the sales efforts for this group. Within the group, our talented senior leaders including Jason Kint, Rich Calacci, Jaci Hays, Kevin Menard, Felix Miller, Doug Schmidt and others will report to Steve and to Tom.

Entertainment & Lifestyle

We are also moving our Lifestyle properties, CHOW and UrbanBaby, to the Entertainment group (TV.com, CBS.com, The CBS Audience Network and TheInsider.com) to capitalize on the similarities in audience and advertisers. This group will continue to be led by Anthony Soohoo with sales led by Ken Lagana. We’re excited to see the innovation that will come from this group in 2009.

Technology & News

Under the continued leadership of Joe Gillespie, our Technology & News division will bring CBSNews.com and CNET News.com into a single CBS Interactive News Group. Each site will maintain its own brand identity, while benefiting from shared resources in design, product and engineering to deliver deeper and more comprehensive coverage of major stories and events. Led by Mark Larkin, with Dan Farber as Editor-in-Chief, CBS News.com and CNET News.com will also have the opportunity to share content and collaborate on stories for the benefit of their unique audiences.

CBS Interactive Marketing

We are bringing together our key marketing functions into a new group called CBS Interactive Marketing led by Mickey Wilson. The group brings together expertise from across the organization so that we can capitalize on our biggest opportunities, and elevate the company to be a strategic marketing partner whose products, consumer insights, and ad innovations are critical to our clients’ long-term success. They will establish the company as the standard for premium content online, and define and evolve brand strategies to capture the biggest opportunities for audience and revenue growth through market planning, insights and execution.

CBS Interactive Business Development

We are also bringing together all of our business development activities. This group will be led by Mike Marquez. Mike and his team will be responsible for the development of all new partnerships, investments, and acquisitions. They will be charged with taking advantage of knowledge sharing across the whole company to ensure that we are the strategic partner of choice for the industry.

Market Conditions

As you know the general economic environment continues to be a challenge. We have always been very aggressive about managing our costs, and that requirement is even more critical now than it has ever been. We believe this new, more efficient organizational structure will produce better results for CBS Interactive, and also result in lower operating costs. It is always very difficult to make these kinds of reductions, but they come after a thorough review of how we are organized and how we operate, and what best serves our many users, advertisers and employees.

CBS Interactive is a special place because of you, and we thank each of you for what you have done, are doing, and will do to exceed the expectations of the tens of millions of people who come to our properties every day.

Today, we sit in a great position. People seek out our brands because we provide them with the information and entertainment they want and need, and marketers seek us out because of the powerful audiences we attract. We are positioned to grow in 2009 and beyond.

Best,
-q, NA

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20081211/cbs-interactivecnet-re-org-the-complete-memo/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20081211/confirmed-cbs-interactive-restructuring-after-cnet-deal-cutting-staff/ http://allthingsd.com/20081211/confirmed-cbs-interactive-restructuring-after-cnet-deal-cutting-staff/#comments Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:46:03 +0000 Peter Kafka http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/?p=1992 As I noted earlier this week, CBS had yet to announce any cuts or restructuring after acquiring CNET this summer for $1.8 billion. That changes today, CBS (CBS) confirms in a statement:

CBS Interactive continues its integration process, which now calls for the further combination of several portions of the division into unified groups oriented around similar content. This important move allows us to better align our premium content for our audiences and our advertisers, and also results in reduction in certain areas that are now duplicated in the new organization structure. We believe these moves are necessary to continue building CBS Interactive into the most creative, most efficient, most profitable and fastest growing Internet company in the media business.”

News of the re-org was first reported by paidContent this morning. No details yet on how the restructuring will play out, though a person familiar with the situation did confirm that the company will push CNET’s News.com news site and CBS’s own CBSNews.com units closer together. Both groups have already been reporting to former CNET exec Joe Gillespie since the merger went through this summer. More details as I get them.

UPDATE: Here’s the complete re-org memo.

A note to CBS employees: Since this is one story you folks are going to have a hard time covering, feel free to pass along your tips to me. You can reach me directly at peter@allthingsd.com. If you want to be completely anonymous, which is understandable but less useful to me (I won’t have any way of reaching you for follow-up) you can use the blind tip box here.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20081211/confirmed-cbs-interactive-restructuring-after-cnet-deal-cutting-staff/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20081209/cbs-interactive-exec-patrick-keane-out-replaced-by-cnet-counterpart/ http://allthingsd.com/20081209/cbs-interactive-exec-patrick-keane-out-replaced-by-cnet-counterpart/#comments Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:00:11 +0000 Peter Kafka http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/?p=1857 We haven’t heard of much bloodletting since CBS (CBS) bought CNET for $1.8 billion this summer. But obviously there have to be some cuts as the companies continue to merge the network’s CBS Interactive unit with the Web publisher.

Here’s one: Patrick Keane, the former Google exec hired as executive vice president and chief marketing officer in February 2007, is out. In his place is Mickey Wilson, who was SVP of marketing at CNET.

CBS execs wouldn’t come out and say that Wilson has replaced Keane, and it’s not clear whether Keane is still a CBS employee or not. Keane’s LinkedIn profile still says he works at CBS, while his office voice mail says that he has “limited access to voice mail.” But it’s a matter of semantics–CBS employees say that Keane hasn’t been working there for weeks. Keane couldn’t be reached for comment.

Keane’s departure has been quiet, but prior to that he held a high-profile position at CBS: His Google (GOOG) pedigree helped boss Quincy Smith convince people that the network was serious about a digital strategy, and he frequently represented the company at conferences and the like.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20081209/cbs-interactive-exec-patrick-keane-out-replaced-by-cnet-counterpart/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20081120/cbs-drops-web-video-show-moblogictv/ http://allthingsd.com/20081120/cbs-drops-web-video-show-moblogictv/#comments Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:42:25 +0000 Peter Kafka http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/?p=1230 CBS has pulled the plug on MobLogic.TV, a news and politics Web video series it launched with some fanfare last spring.

This isn’t quite the same as canceling the show, in the traditional TV sense: The MobLogic.TV site still exists, and the team behind the series still puts up an episode up on their own from time to time. Below, for instance, is a clip filmed last week about about a pro-gay marriage/anti-Mormon rally in New York.

The other, more substantial difference: CBS is still employing the show’s talent. Host Lindsay Campbell is under contract with the network, which intends to put her to work on something else, CBS says (Campbell disclosed her employment status to Beet.TV yesterday). And producers Adam Elend and Jeff Marks are now spending their time on “Novel Adventures,” a soap opera/book club hybrid (really) for CBS.com.

The company insists that the show’s (mostly) demise isn’t a product of cost-cutting at CBS, which is still integrating its $1.8 billion acquisition of CNET.

MobLogic was a sequel of sorts to WallStrip, a quirky stocks show that CBS bought for about $4 million in 1997. That show is still up and running.

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