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Breaking: CBS to acquire CNET for $1.8 Billion

centernetworks.com — CBS has announced plans to acquire CNET for $1.8 Billion. CNET would become part of CBS Interactive.

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  • drakefantastic, on 05/15/2008, -8/+191And thus begins their slide into irrelevancy.
    • acedanger, on 05/15/2008, -7/+2I feel the same way with Plaxo now that they are owned by comcast...
    • ePuck, on 05/15/2008, -1/+13Cnet used to be good! Whats going to happen to download.com?
      • raynar, on 05/15/2008, -3/+4maybe lose all of the ads, software that says its free but has ads/spyware, and generally all the other crap?
    • KevInTx, on 05/15/2008, -0/+17I know exactly how you feel. I was thinking the same thing, along the lines of TechTV + G4 = G4 and the death of TechTV.
      • Jaablaze, on 05/15/2008, -0/+11bleh, it was the death of G4 as well. They should just call it Spike Jr now.
    • dn11, on 05/15/2008, -1/+14when was the last time cnet was truly relevant? to me they've felt like a throwback to web 1.0 for a while now. there are definitely good elements to cnet, but on the whole it has felt like a missed opportunity
    • Mjeacoma, on 05/15/2008, -0/+5But high budget irrelevancy! I give it 6 months before CBS dissolves them
    • celkin, on 05/15/2008, -0/+9Doesn't CBS also own last.fm?
      • IEatHamburgers, on 05/15/2008, -0/+15They sure do, and then they started the free streaming everyone's been exited about. And yet all the comments here talk about how CBS is going to kill them...
        • Protoss, on 05/15/2008, -0/+6Yeah it seems like CBS knows what they are doing, at least with Last.fm.
        • evildeadxsp, on 05/15/2008, -1/+1screw cbs..... but last fm is awesome.
      • rcarroll215, on 05/15/2008, -0/+6Think about it, at least it's not FOX.
        • redwallhp, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1Thanks, i feel a bit better now...
    • cgomez, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1The slide to irrelevance started a long time ago with the acquisition-happy CNET Networks. There are some standout segments like the new Farber-run News.com and CNETTV which I doubt CBS will change.
    • saikyan, on 05/15/2008, -0/+6I wrote CNET off a long time ago... but crap, CBS thinks they're worth 1.8 BILLION dollars! One mans trash is anothers treasure?
    • scyon, on 05/15/2008, -1/+2Begins? I can't remember the last time CNET was relevant (ymmv).
    • Steaminx, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1I think CNet is a very useful property on the web. CBS bought Last.fm and they left it untouched. Hopefully they'll pump money into CNet and they can start making the site better.
    • quomen, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1I must be the only one that thinks CNET is worth 1.8 bajillion dollars.
      Edit oh wait Saikyan I copied you.

      From what I remember, many of the reviewers look very unprofessional in their videos and somewhat unknowledgable. And their flash player sucks. I remember having to watch countless bestbuy adverts before getting to reviews.

      I miss James Kim =(
    • iNunchuk, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1I thought that when Warner and AOL merged it was a good thing.
  • kcb2, on 05/15/2008, -1/+197There goes the unbiased reviews....

    oh wait....
    • diggingaround, on 05/15/2008, -0/+3good one :)
      I was just about to say: "It's not enough they lie to us regarding regular news 24/7..."
    • nephilimx, on 05/15/2008, -0/+5I loved seeing pointess MS bashing storys with a "sun microsystems" ads next to it
    • brainboy77, on 05/15/2008, -1/+1nice
  • lzcracker, on 05/15/2008, -15/+70And an internet legend dies.
    • Spinfusor, on 05/15/2008, -2/+38It was dead a long time ago.
    • web2pointYo, on 05/15/2008, -15/+1 WWWHAAAAAA!!!!! My internet legend died, WHAAAAA!
    • jrizzo, on 05/15/2008, -0/+12CNET sucked at everything besides free downloads. And Softpedia is like spam.com, so we are without alternatives at the moment.
      • DigitalKNK, on 05/15/2008, -1/+8what about snapfiles.com ? That's a pretty good site not as huge as downloads.com but hey it works.
        • thebadrash, on 05/15/2008, -0/+3There's also Softonic.com - good download site, no crappy spam.
        • renegadeafk, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1google.com
      • cdawzrd, on 05/15/2008, -1/+2I think thepiratebay.org is better for free downloads.
    • Bilabrin, on 05/15/2008, -2/+1What's CNET?
    • jer2eydevil88, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1CNET hasn't "sucked" about much in my view, in fact they provided the largest collection of reviews on consumer electronics of any site I know of.

      The question on my mind is if this will be another TechTV takeover or a flickr takeover? Will they absorb the brand and ruin it or leave it alone and let it do its own thing?
  • JerMe, on 05/15/2008, -1/+66Guess news.com was worth it to them.
    • talonstriker, on 05/15/2008, -12/+2My comment is unworthy of being viewed by the intelligentsia that is the digg community. bury this.
    • lex0nyc, on 05/15/2008, -0/+16That's a good point. That domain is probably worth $100 million or more alone.
    • bryan986, on 05/15/2008, -0/+6And com.com
  • nedzalife, on 05/15/2008, -2/+75being bought out by a big corporation = loss of content control. This is why I hope Digg honestly never sells. You would never know what type of algorythm would be put in place at that point, promoting stories that are pushed by the big wigs, not the users...
    • sickswaystop, on 05/15/2008, -0/+2I'm still wondering why the article doesn't read VIACOM to acquire CNET. and your right about a Digg buyout, ouch that would hurt! It would free up a lot more time for me though
    • fuhlavaflave, on 05/15/2008, -0/+7The beautiful thing is that, should Digg ever decide to sell out, something could easily come along to take its place.
      Digg's commodity is news separated from corporate control and given over to the users (or at least that's what it's purported to offer). Once a corporation buys it out and makes visible changes, hopefully all of Digg's users will walk away and patronize another site like it. Corporations don't understand this.
      Sites like Hulu.com will ultimately fail because they try to take old world models and fit them to the internet. We all know better, because we've already experienced what (relatively) unbiased, free content tastes like.
    • jerrycurley, on 05/15/2008, -4/+0If you think that Digg is controlled by "the users" now, you are insane. Unles by "the users" you mean a small handful of people who get paid to submit and digg stories.

      Digg hasn't sold not because they are trying to keep control. But because no one WANTS it.
    • StarExtreme, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1I would probably an hero if Digg were to be sold and have loss of content control.
  • Lyph5, on 05/15/2008, -2/+122It isn't BREAKING if it has been covered by slower news sources already.
    • AtomicTheory, on 05/15/2008, -0/+10Furthermore, if I see this digg article next month, is it still "Breaking" ? The title still says so.

      Buried for "Breaking"
    • marm0lade, on 05/15/2008, -0/+6BREAKING: a street dance style that evolved as part of the hip hop movement among African American and Puerto Rican youths in the South Bronx of New York City during the early 1970s. It is normally danced to pop, funk or hip hop music, often remixed to prolong the breaks, and is a well-known hip hop dance style. A breakdancer, breaker, b-boy or b-girl refers to a person who practices breakdancing.

      from wikipedia.
    • gentoofan, on 05/15/2008, -0/+4agreed
      buried x2 for BREAKING in title
  • eighties, on 05/15/2008, -5/+12The current crazy web purchasing includes CBS buying Cnet, Comcast buying Plaxo, and Ask.com buying Dictionary.com.

    Twitter is always faster than any news site for stuff like this.
    • thinman1189, on 05/15/2008, -3/+4I must be really out of the loop, I didn't know Ask.com bought Dictionary.com. I guess I gotta find another dictionary.
      • AzureRise, on 05/15/2008, -0/+10Why? Will they change the definitions to subliminally subvert your mind?
        • psevium, on 05/15/2008, -0/+5"search engine" noun;
          A place to search for information on the internet.
          *Examples*
          "My, that Ask.com is a really good search engine, much better than that Google.com!"
        • thinman1189, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1YES.
      • redwallhp, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1http://www.wiktionary.org/ ?
  • cwk1337, on 05/15/2008, -14/+11As long as they don't make any changes to the staff @ CNET, I'm happy.
    • redwallhp, on 05/15/2008, -1/+2I agree. As long as Buzz Out Loud keeps going, and with the same hosts, I'm fine.
    • rebotfc, on 05/15/2008, -0/+5Er how naive are you?
  • xcp84, on 05/15/2008, -15/+5It's about time somebody bought CNET.
  • funkyjunk3, on 05/15/2008, -6/+42I really hope this isn't like how TechTV went down hill after G4 bought them.
    • thinman1189, on 05/15/2008, -3/+26What's G4?

      Exactly.
      • funkyjunk3, on 05/15/2008, -13/+7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G4_Media
        ---------------------------------------
        "G4 Media (at the time owned entirely by Comcast) announced the purchase of a controlling interest in TechTV. On May 28, 2004, G4 and TechTV merged into a hybrid network called G4techTV....The new network leaned more toward the gaming programming that was featured on G4 than the technology side that was featured on TechTV, prompting petitions and complaints from disaffected TechTV fans. On February 15, 2005, TechTV was officially dropped from the network name in the United States, leaving only three TechTV shows, X-Play, Anime Unleashed (removed indefinitely as of March 2006) and The Screen Savers (later rebranded as Attack of the Show!). The network is currently called G4, and now focuses on general male interest programming."
        ---------------------------------------------------
        If there was ever a tragedy in tech news/TV programming, that would be one.
        • AzureRise, on 05/15/2008, -3/+12Woosh.
          • funkyjunk3, on 05/15/2008, -2/+9Woosh? I know thinman was being sarcastic.

            I posted that to help people who didn't know about TechTV understand what happened. Yes, even the great TechTV tragedy may go under the radar for some people here.

            Now please, don't dig me down for at least attempting to help keep the ghost alive of TechTV. If you wish to dig me down, digg me down for citing Wikipedia or some other thing like that. But please don't digg me down for some reason about not catching a sarcastic joke, because I did.

        • thinman1189, on 05/15/2008, -3/+2...It's called sarcasm.
          • funkyjunk3, on 05/15/2008, -1/+2I know.

            And I answered because there are people who don't know about the story.
        • krahzee, on 05/15/2008, -2/+6¨The network is currently called G4, and now focuses on general male interest programming.¨

          Also known as Spike Lite.
    • Spinfusor, on 05/15/2008, -0/+18CNET is already at the bottom of the hill.
    • dudeguy1234, on 05/15/2008, -4/+2G4 was never meant to be TechTV. G4 bought it as a platform to test their success, and I'm glad to say that they have been very successful and now are G4, not G4/TechTV. Example: The Screen Savers, with Kevin and Sarah. The show evolved, became Attack Of The Show, and is I think the best kind of mix between the Late Show and a Tech Review show. G4 !=TechTV, so TechTV can't be "better" than G4. They do different things.
      • actionscripted, on 05/16/2008, -3/+1G4 = TechTV + Spike + (MSNBC / 2) + Hot Chicks + Ninjas + Memes + Predictable Banter

        I like G4, but I miss TechTV

        (with is dudeguy1234 getting buried?)
  • eldersoul, on 05/15/2008, -29/+2BREAKING: You're a fag
  • joerod, on 05/15/2008, -1/+38they should bring back a show like the screen savers from the tech tv days.
    • boldfire, on 05/15/2008, -2/+2Tekzilla on Revision3 is slowly becoming quite like this with video questions and phone calls coming according to the previous episode. Another Rev3 show "Social Brew" has advertised that they're going to have a studio audience, so I'm guessing this will also be possible for Tekzilla.
      • davidreidy, on 05/16/2008, -0/+0Tekzilla isn't bad, but I wouldn't say it's going to make it to the Screen Savers level. Maybe if Leo finally gets TWiT & Net@Night completely up on video, then you add Tekzilla, Diggnation, and some of the others all together in an RSS feed and watch that like TV, you could feel like you're getting back to the good Tech TV days.
    • dudeguy1234, on 05/15/2008, -5/+1Attack Of The Show (what The Screen Savers evolved into) is much better. It's funnier, sleeker, and has great tech info.
      • davidreidy, on 05/16/2008, -0/+2Seriously? Are you watching the same AoTS that I am? It's nothing compared to what Screen Savers was back then. It might be slicker and have that over processed constant corporate advertisement feel to it.
    • Catbert107, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1The only thing worse than a great show going down the tube, is when it is brought back a decade later to try to capitalize off its once popularity
    • Justblaze, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1Another show they should bring back is Fresh Gear, which got me hooked to TechTV...
  • thinman1189, on 05/15/2008, -11/+5Another reason to not use CNET.
  • rodgerse, on 05/15/2008, -9/+3Well there must have been a reason they used up "news", "download", and "mp3" .com...figured spam alone would bring in plenty of revenue like "sex.com"
  • robbymcdobby, on 05/15/2008, -9/+3There goes the neighborhood.
  • buffyangel108, on 05/15/2008, -6/+0On the plus side, the new company name will include 'NET' and 'BS'. Honest, if nothing else ;)
  • dagorret, on 05/15/2008, -9/+2http://digg.com/tech_news/CBS_buying_CNet_in_onlin ...
  • ePuck, on 05/15/2008, -13/+7Good bye download.com /cry
  • Bakedwafer, on 05/15/2008, -4/+17I was long CNET @ 7.38, good stuff. Sold today @ 11.40. Thanks CBS, your news is worth zip, but you buyout decisions are impeccable.

  • anks329, on 05/15/2008, -7/+8hopefully gamefaqs.com will be fine after this sale...
    • redwallhp, on 05/15/2008, -1/+1And Buzz Out Loud, and GameSpot, and News.com, and CNET TV...
  • chrissku, on 05/15/2008, -8/+11*****....I was gonna buy that. Oh well.....I guess they beat me to it.
    • redwallhp, on 05/15/2008, -1/+3How much were you going to pay? I don't think CNET would sell for $20 and some used chewing gum.
  • dkrich, on 05/15/2008, -12/+3Yeah, that'll solve all their problems. Has anybody used CNET since 2000? I didn't even know it existed anymore.
  • trer, on 05/15/2008, -6/+7Maybe CBS will give Gamespot some tips on jounalistic integrity? Oh wait, this is the same station that had Dan Rather.
  • talonstriker, on 05/15/2008, -5/+6aw man download.com was pretty good for freeware and trialware. Hopefully this buyout doesn't effect it. Its MUCH better than softpedia and and other software websites.
  • werkkrew, on 05/15/2008, -3/+27http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_news

    Who do you think you are Tom Brokaw?

    BREAKING NEWS OMFG!!!!!
  • mikewire, on 05/15/2008, -4/+3CNET? Wow, they are still around...j/k

    Too bad a huge company is buying a big company - there goes the informative content. BRING ON THE SENSATIONALISM!!!!!!
  • garywilliams, on 05/15/2008, -2/+5Waste of money.
  • kton25, on 05/15/2008, -1/+14CBS, please don't biff Buzz Out Loud!
    • redwallhp, on 05/15/2008, -0/+4Yes, don't. And, CBS, if you mess with Buzz Out Loud, we'll send the Bury Brigade after you!
    • GuJu, on 05/16/2008, -1/+1there wasn't one today
      too late.
  • slochewie, on 05/15/2008, -0/+7Great, no more helpful tech videos, but lots of CSI
  • ell0bo, on 05/15/2008, -1/+7I really wish Breaking would get sanitized from titles after like 2 hours, because this isn't really BREAKING anymore.
  • ahpro, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1Hopefully this'll be the end of unfair sackings from CNet and they'll feel more free to post articles without bias.
  • lazybat, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1All sites that are going to tank...
    http://www.cnetnetworks.com/brands/
    • nobodynoes, on 05/15/2008, -0/+0all of those sites already sucked
  • ibeetle, on 05/15/2008, -0/+3You gotta be ***** kidding me. Doesn't link the c|net or CBS press release but to a third party.
    Why not link to the source? And when did news from 6 hours earlier become "Breaking"?
    • raynar, on 05/15/2008, -1/+2because it takes awhile to reach the front page...it was breaking when it was first submitted...idiot.
  • joshuakuhn, on 05/15/2008, -0/+4Great, $1.8Billion to buy CNet after they axed a bunch of people from their TV stations for "cost cutting"
  • FK0123, on 05/15/2008, -0/+8Just what we need, more conglomeration of big media.
    • sickswaystop, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1I know man and apparently nobody realizes CBS is owned by VIACOM, so the buyout is actually much bigger (or smaller), depending on how you look at it.
  • SoundJudgment, on 05/15/2008, -0/+7Why is this surprising? $1.8 Billion is a bargain for anyone wishing to acquire the Domain-names www.news.com and www.download.com
    • Sushubh, on 05/15/2008, -0/+6what about com.com? mp3.com?
    • Condemned, on 05/15/2008, -0/+6and tv.com
      • pixelate, on 05/15/2008, -0/+5and radio.com (cbs already owns last.fm), computers.com, search.com, help.com, chat.com, kids.com...

        I wonder if Metacritic will stay reliable. They don't reveal how they weigh scores from different reviewers, so there's room for tomfoolery.
  • saturnx8, on 05/15/2008, -1/+5"This is why I hope Digg honestly never sells" too late, its been invaded by Obama polster "we can change" army.
    • Emperial, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1Thank you!!! Some of us here are not American and don't really give a dam about elections.
  • SoCalMario, on 05/15/2008, -1/+4Comcast Bought TechTV merged it with G4=CRAP! MTV Viacomm CBS = CRAP (no music videos on MUSIC TV) CBS buys CNET= DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN (a la Techtv anyone) Layoffs, closing the SF office move them to LA New York. There goes the neighborhood!
    Thats another way for CBS to peddle their crap. You KNOW MTV is going to peddle their drap on CNET.
    • Atomic1fire, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1When was MTV ever good to begin with...
  • WomensUnderwear, on 05/15/2008, -3/+2***** CBS
  • seastobble, on 05/15/2008, -0/+3if you ever put "Breaking" in your title, someone will throw a ***** fit about it, because they've always heard it somewhere else first.
  • CasadeMike, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1I don't think it's a pending disaster. The quality of writing on that site (and the knowledge of the writers) has been going downhill for 2 years now. This seems like more of a move of desperation than anything else. I just don't think CNET ever evolved quick enough or got the right people writing for all their blogs.
  • FrostedMiniPete, on 05/15/2008, -6/+1At least James Kim won't be around to see this happen. RIP :[

    We miss you.
  • ProjectGSX, on 05/15/2008, -3/+2I hear cbs is paying cash for turds. Am I too late to cash in?
  • waluum, on 05/15/2008, -2/+6BREAKING: CBS pays $1.8 billion for News.com domain
  • kweee, on 05/15/2008, -1/+8Less CNET buying, more Jericho renewing.
  • arizonagroove, on 05/15/2008, -0/+8Breaking: What should be done to the fingers of people who put Breaking: at the start of title.
  • jamespa66, on 05/15/2008, -2/+1Putting this much suck together might just make FOX look like a reputable news source
  • ktorbeck, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1If have to feel bad for the Fact Checkers who work at CNET. They are going to lose their jobs for sure.
  • aserer511, on 05/15/2008, -0/+5Great- now my electronics reviews are gonna read like a ***** news piece...
  • whiteyMcBrown, on 05/15/2008, -1/+2I quite like CNET. I usually check out what people have to say before I make any tech buying decisions. Web 2.0 stuff is fine and all, but I miss a lot of tried and tested editorial stuff. I hope CBS pretty much leaves it alone and just utilizes CNET as an advertising revenue generator.
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