CBS 2.0 – CBS Buys CNet – Expect CBS to Let CNET Run Things

CBS buys CNET as reported first by PaidContent.org. I need to digest the impact of this but off the top of my head this is clearly CBS 2.0 – the web2.0ifcation of CBS. I expect CBS to let the CNet folks lead the charge. It’s a public secret that there is some great talent at Cnet waiting for the ‘green light’ to compete. We’ve seen this with the recent moves by Dan Farber. Dan has successfully started CNet in the direction of blogging and social media. Charles Cooper is blogging hard and twittering. CNet has a group of Pros. CBS did good with this deal. If CBS tries to run the show then this could be a dud.

The big question that comes to mind that isn’t that obvious is “Can the West Coast Bay Area build and run media companies”?. There is talent here in the Bay Area, but is there a understanding of the business and economics? Why can’t West Coast Bay Area companies dominate from this coast?

I hope CNET can lead the CBS 2.0 charge.

UPDATE: My good pal Fred Davis has a post on how he sees the CNet CBS combination. Fred should know he was there from the beginning at CNet. I think that CBS did good here. The future of TV is the Internet and the original vision of CNet was to be that leader. Looks like the original vision was validated.

New Sheriff in Town – Dan Farber New Editor In Chief at Cnet

Tom Foremski writes a great story on the new editor in chief at Cnet – Dan Farber.  Tom lists the changes that Dan is making at Cnet. 

Cnet has a big advantage over everyone else right now for three reasons:  1) Dan knows the business both old school and new school (blogging), 2) they have the infrastructure, and 3) they know how to put out massive amounts of content.

I talked with Dan last week about some of the changes at Cnet – he said that the big goal is to just coordinate the systems -hmmmm …. translation: cnet will keep pumping out good content in volume and will start cross linking;  What does this mean … Look for cnet to parlay their strong reporting and analysis capabilities with blogging infrastructure.  Look for Cnet to become the new leader on the Techmeme Leaderboard. 

Maybe the line “There is a new sheriff in town” applies here and his name is Dan Farber.

Here are some highlights on the changes at Cnet under the leadership of Dan Farber (source Tom Foremski):

-Different CNET departments now publish using the same template.

– Publish a story as quickly as possible, edit it later.

– Stories are updated constantly.

– Adding the right keywords and tags to make stories discoverable by search engines. About 40 per cent of CNET traffic comes from search engines.

– Use Internet standards whenever possible.

– There is no end to the work day, you are always on call.

– Everybody blogs.

– Create synergies between news, reviews, analysis, and blogs.

– Getting journalists to put in web links to non-CNET publications. “It’s about being part of the web and not separate from it,” he says.

– Carrying a pad of paper and pencil is not enough. Journalists also take photos, videos, and make podcasts.

The Don of Blogging – Dan Farber Named EIC of News.com

Dan Farber was named the editor in chief of News.com. I was an avid reader of News.com for years then abandoned it for blogs.

The good news here is two fold: 1) Dan is a great guy and a pro, and 2) he’s a blogger. I’ve called him the “Don” of blogging because many of the best bloggers all have come to know and respect Dan. In a way he’s been a mentor to many of the blogger branded publishers out there – he’s like the Godfather for professional bloggers.

Great move for CNet and News.com. Congrats to Dan.

Here is a candid shot I took of Dan at the Techcrunch party this past summer.