CNET

'CNET Networks, Inc.' () is a publicly-held media company based in San Francisco, California and co-founded in 1993 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie.

Contents

History

Other properties

CNET TV

Podcasts

References

External links

History

In 1994, with the help from Fox co-founder Kevin Windle,^[1] 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 the USA Network. Later, it began airing on USA's sister network Sci Fi Channel along with ''The Web'' and ''The New Edge''. These were later followed by ''TV.com'' in 1996. Current ''American Idol'' host Ryan Seacrest first came to national prominence at CNET, as the host of ''The New Edge'' and doing various voice-over work for CNET.
In addition, CNET produced another television technology news program called ''News.com'' that aired on CNBC beginning in 1999.
CNET acquired the Swiss-based company GDT in 1999. GDT was later renamed to CNET Channel.
In 1999, CNET granted the right to Asiacontent to set up CNET Asia, operation was brought back in December 2000.
In early 2000, the same time CNET became CNET Networks, they acquired comparison shopping site mySimon for US$700 million.
In October 2000, CNET Networks acquired ZDNet for approximately $1.6 billion.^[2][3] 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. () 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).
From 2001 to 2003, CNET operated CNET Radio on the Clear Channel-owned KNEW 910 AM in the San Francisco Bay Area. CNET Radio offered technology-themed programing. After failing to attract a sufficient audience, CNET Radio ceased operating in January 2003 due to financial losses.^[4]
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 focused 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, alongside reviews editor Jason Jenkins (formerly of T3 Magazine) and managing editor Mary Lojkine. The small CNET.co.uk editorial team consists of Rory Reid, Ian Morris, Nate Lanxon and Richard Trenholm. CNET.co.uk produced the popular tech show 'Space Bubble', which ran weekly on CNET.co.uk's Crave TV , from April 2007. CNET.co.uk also has a weekly podcast called the 'Crave Podcast'.
On October 11, 2006, Shelby Bonnie resigned as chairman and CEO as a result of stock options backdating scandal that occurred between 1996 and 2003. Neil Ashe was named as the new CEO.^[5]
In December 2006, James Kim, an editor at CNET, died in the Oregon wilderness. CNET hosted a memorial show and podcasts dedicated to him.
On March 1, 2007, CNET announced the public launch of BNET. BNET, a website targeted towards business managers, was launched in 2005 in beta form.^[6]

Other properties

CNET 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. Chow, Chowhound, Webshots, UrbanBaby and Consumating operate under the "CNET Lifestyle and Community" brand.

CNET TV

CNET TV is a part of CNET that plays various videos CNET reviews, cars, electronics, etc. CNET editors such as Brian Cooley, Molly Wood, Rich DeMuro, Tom Merritt, Veronica Belmont and others host shows like Car Tech, The Queue, Buzz Report, Crave, Quick Tips, CNET Top 5, and others as well as special reports and reviews.
On April 12, 2007, CNET TV aired its first episode of CNET LIVE, hosted by Brian Cooley and Tom Merritt. The first episode featured Justin Kan of justin.tv.

Podcasts

Screenshot from CNET's podcast page on the iTunes Store.

The network produces several audio and video podcasts. They are related to the core areas of technology: General news, DAPs, Cars, Security, and the ongoing wars between the politicos and the industry. The network has several different brandings on their podcasts. CNET.com, the Network's most viewed site, has more than eight to date. The other sites in the CNET Network that have podcasts are Gamespot, News.com, TV.com, and MP3.com. Here are some of the most popular CNET Network podcasts.CNET Podcast Central. Accessed on March 6, 2007

Name	Brand	Hosts	Type	Frequency
Buzz Out Loud	CNET.com	Molly Wood, Tom Merritt, and Veronica Belmont (former)	Audio	Daily
Crave	CNET.com's Crave Blog	Veronica Belmont and James Kim (former)	Video	Weekly
Daily Tech News	News.com	Typically Charles Cooper	Audio	Daily
The Buzz Report	CNET.com	Molly Wood (interim host Brian Cooley)	Video	Weekly
Gadgettes	CNET.com	Molly Wood and Kelly Morrison	Audio	Weekly
MP3 Insider	CNET.com	Veronica Belmont, Jasmine France, and James Kim (former)	Audio	Weekly
The Real Deal	CNET.com	Tom Merritt and Rafe Needleman	Audio	Weekly
Security Bites	CNET.com and News.com	Robert Vamosi	Audio and Video (on CNET TV)	Weekly
Studio C	CNET.com, Download.com, and MP3.com	Kurt Wolff, Ariel Nunez, Mike Tao and Peter Gavin	Audio	Weekly
Car Tech	CNET.com	Brian Cooley, Kevin Massy, and Wayne Cunningham	Audio and Video (on CNET TV)	Weekly
The Queue	CNET.com	Rich DeMuro	Video (CNET TV)	Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays
Tech and Politics Rundown	CNET.com and News.com	Charles Cooper and Declan McCullagh	Audio	Weekly

References

1. CNET Networks - About Us - History
2. Cnet To Buy Ziff Davis
3. Interview With CNETnews.com's Sydnie Kohara
4. CNet pulls plug on radio program
5. CNET CEO quits after options review; outlook cut
6. CNET Networks rolls out BNET, Web site targeting business managers

External links

★ CNET global corporate site

★ CNET UK corporate site

★ CNET.com

★ CNET.co.uk

★ Transcripts of CNET Network's quarterly conference calls