CNET
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| CNET Networks, Inc. | |
 |
|
| Type | Public (NASDAQ: CNET) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1993 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Key people | Neil Ashe, CEO Shelby Bonnie, co-founder |
| Industry | Internet Information Provider |
| Revenue |  $387.69 Million (2006) |
| Net income | $7.87 Million (2006) |
| Employees | 2,080 (2006) |
| Website | www.cnetnetworks.com |
CNET Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNET) is an Internet-based American media company based in San Francisco, California co-founded in 1993 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie. A publicly held company, its stock trades on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol CNET. It has operations in 12 countries.
On October 11, 2006, Shelby Bonnie resigned as chairman and CEO as a result of stock options backdating that occurred between 1996 and 2003. Neil Ashe was named as the new CEO.[1]
On March 1, 2007, CNET announced the public launch of a new website, BNET. BNET, a website targeted towards business managers, was launched two years ago in beta form.[2]
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[edit] History
In 1994, with the help from Fox co-founder Kevin Windle,[3] CNET produced four pilot television programs about computers, technology, and the Internet. CNET TV was composed of CNET Central, The Web, and The New Edge. CNET Central was created first and aired in syndication in the United States on USA Networks.[3] Later, it began airing on the Sci Fi channel along with The Web and The New Edge. These were later followed by TV.com in 1996. In addition, CNET produced another television technology news program called News.com that aired on CNBC from 1999 to 2001.
CNET acquired the Swiss-based company, GDT in 1999. GDT was later renamed to CNET Channel.[3]
In 1999, CNET granted the right to Asiacontent to set up CNET Asia, operation was brought back in Dec 2000.
In early 2000, the same time CNET became CNET Networks, they acquired comparison shopping site mySimon[4] for US$700 million.
In October of 2000, CNET Networks acquired ZDNet for approximately $1.6B. In 2001, Ziff Davis Media, Inc. reached an agreement with CNET Networks, Inc. to regain the URLs lost in the 2000 sale of Ziff Davis, Inc. to SoftBank Corp. a publicly traded Japanese media and technology company. In 2001, CNET acquired TechRepublic Inc., which provides content for IT professionals from Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) for $23 million in cash and stock. On July 14, 2004, CNET announced that it would acquire Webshots, the leading photography website for $70 million ($60 million in cash, $10 million in deferred consideration).
For two years, from 2001-2002, CNET operated CNET Radio on the Clear Channel owned KNEW 910 AM in the San Francisco Bay Area. Radio. CNET Radio offered 24 hour technology themed programing. After failing to attract a sufficient audience, CNET Radio ceased operating in January of 2003 due to financial losses. [1]
In 2005, CNET launched CNET.co.uk. This UK arm of CNET Networks covers similar areas to CNET.com, but specifically for UK consumers. The site is mainly focussed on reviews, news, a gadget blog ('Crave', a name which CNET.com eventually adopted for their own blog) and editorial content from a team of editors. CNET.co.uk is managed and overseen by Michael Parsons, who works in the UK office alongside reviews editor Jason Jenkins (formerly of T3 Magazine) and managing editor Mary Lojkine. The small CNET.co.uk editorial team consists Rory Reid, Andrew Lim, Ian Morris and Nate Lanxon, and the site's dedicated producer, Chris Stevens, produces 'Space Bubble' - a weekly show on CNET.co.uk's Crave TV - which launched in April 2007, along with the site's weekly podcast.
CNET also owns some of the Internet's most generic domain names, including download.com, upload.com, news.com, search.com, tv.com, mp3.com, chat.com, computers.com, help.com, shopper.com, and com.com.
GameSpot, GameFAQs, Metacritic, MP3.com, TV.com, and FilmSpot operate under the "CNET Entertainment" brand name; while Chow, Chowhound, Webshots, UrbanBaby and Consumating operate under the "CNET Lifestyle and Community" brand
[edit] Podcasts
The network produces several audio and video podcasts. These are:[5]
- Buzz Out Loud (audio: Molly Wood, Tom Merritt, and Veronica Belmont)
- Crave (video: Veronica Belmont) formerly featuring the late James Kim
- Daily Tech News (audio)
- The Buzz Report (video: Molly Wood)
- Gadgettes (audio: Molly Wood and Kelly Morrison)
- MP3 Insider (audio: Jasmine France and Veronica Belmont) formerly featuring the late James Kim
- The Real Deal (audio: Tom Merritt)
- Security Bites (audio & video) video podcast is found on CNET TV
- News.com Podcast (audio)
- Studio C (audio)
- Car Tech
[edit] References
- ^ "CNET CEO quits after options review; outlook cut", Reuters, 2006-10-11. Retrieved on October 24, 2006.
- ^ CNET Networks rolls out BNET, Web site targeting business managers. By BtoB Magazine on March 1, 2007. Accessed on March 6, 2007.
- ^ a b c CNET History. Accessed February 21, 2007.
- ^ Interview With CNETnews.com's Sydnie Kohara by Journalism Jobs on January, 2000. Accessed on March 6, 2007
- ^ CNET Podcast Central. Accessed on March 6, 2007
[edit] External links
| CNET |
|---|
| Websites |
| Consumating | Download.com | GameFAQs | Game Rankings | GameSpot | Metacritic | MP3.com | mySimon | TechRepublic | TV.com | Webshots | ZDNet |
| People |
| Veronica Belmont | Ina Fried | Jeff Gerstmann | Greg Kasavin | James Kim | Declan McCullagh | Tom Merritt | Halsey Minor | Alex Navarro | Daniel Terdiman | Molly Wood |
| Other |
| Buzz Out Loud | CNET TV |
