The C in CNET Stands for CBS

May 16th, 2008 by Justin Ryan

The former Colombia Broadcasting System — better known to viewers as CBS — has decided it's not doing enough to reach the technology market, and with a swish of the pen, have found a remedy: Buy CNET for just under $2 billion.

The acquisition was announced early yesterday morning, with the television giant offering a 45% cash premium to stockholders to get their hands on web properties including News.com, Gamespot, TV. com, MP3.com, and ZDNet. CBS has been busy proclaiming the wonders of the company-to-come, saying they will be one of the "10 most popular Internet companies" in the United States. Company executives are forecasting a user presence of 54,000,000 in the U.S., and more than 200 million globally.

The deal, as with another recent deal, must be approved by CNET's stockholders, and will undergo scrutiny by regulators. Given the positive reception the plan has received from CNET brass, it would surprise us to see any stockholder resistance at all.
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Justin Ryan is News Editor for LinuxJournal.com.
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