Will CNET succeed in giving CBS the technological face lift it so desperately wants? CBS bought the online tech network in May for $1.8 billion, and today’s relaunch of the CNET site marks the first big push toward proving that CBS didn’t wildly overpay for the troubled property.
CBS exponentially grew its technological footprint with the acquisition, but it remains to be seen if CNET will bring in enough revenue to justify the purchasing price. The company was one of the first internet content companies to go public during in the 1990s, but it has experienced slowed growth in recent years as more technology firms compete for market share. (full disclosure: wired.com considers itself a competitor to CNET).
CNET and CBS are hoping that the new site, replete with CBS tie-ins and appealing advertising units, will help CBS shed its stodgy image while growing CNET’s piece of the technology market.
Joe Gillespie, executive vice president of CBS Interactive, told Wired.com that he wants everyone who walks into a Best Buy to be using CNET, and that the partnership with CBS will help make that happen.
“We’re ready for prime-time," Gillespie says. “The timing on this acquisition couldn’t have been better for us."
CNET had already been working on a relaunch of its network when CBS
took control of the company, which gave them a jump start on presenting the overhaul just three months later.
Despite competition in the technology sector, CNET has 94 percent customer renewal rates and traffic to the site is up 25 percent since
July of last year, according to Neilsen NetRatings. The sleeker site is an effort to appeal to new users and through that, more advertising dollars.
Advertisers pay handsomely for the ability to sell their products directly from CNET’s product reviews, and the most notable changes to the site will be the new “brand showcase" feature that will allow advertisers to promote their products with links from CNET reviews.
Gillespie calls the new spaces “storefronts in the middle of the site.” The spots, for which CNET will charge premium rates, will give advertisers programming rights to highlight specific deals and products by the hour.
CNET will also be heavily focusing on online video, which can charge double the normal rates for advertising, according to Gillespie. In addition to high-definition video plays promoting the site’s content and relevant clips from CBS broadcasts, CNET will be streaming live content to enhance CBS footage. For example, they will be webcasting live from the DNC floor with Katie Couric this week, and running pre-
and post-game videos during football season to capture more NFL fans.
The cross-promotional opportunities may be the most beneficial for
CNET. Links across CNET’s network of sites will point viewers to CBS
shows, while products and services featured on CNET will get prime placement in advertisements and segments of CBS programming. “If you add up all the promotion that we’re getting [with CBS],” says
Gillespie, “it would normally cost tens of millions of dollars.”
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