The annual EPpy Awards, put on by Editor & Publisher and MediaWeek, were just announced in Las Vegas. NYTimes.com and LJWorld.com won in the best news site categories. KING5.com took the best overall TV-affiliated site award (woo hoo!), edging out our friends at WRAL and Fox Chicago. MSNBC.com and DenverPost.com won in the best community site categories. And CNN.com (with iReport) won the Knight News innovation award. Full list of winners here. Congrats, everyone!
May 15th, 2008
Congratulations to the sixteen winners who split $5.5. million on various projects that advance communicating news and information in the public interest using open-source digital technology focused on geographic community. The inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, received a grant to address issues surrounding sourcing and accuracy online. The 2008 awards were smaller than the inaugural round last year, and many projects were internationally focused.
Now that the news is official, I can break the silence. Yes, I had a proposal that made the top 25 finalists. Of course it is disappointing to show and not place, but the winners and other finalists who didn’t get funded have amazing ideas and it is an honor to be in this company. There were 3,000 applicants this year.
May 15th, 2008
CBS Interactive is making its largest digital acquisition ever, buying CNET Networks for $1.8 billion, according to the NY Times. This price tops the $1.6 billion that YouTube sold for to Google.
“There are very few opportunities to acquire a profitable, growing, well-managed Internet company like CNET Networks,” he said in a press release Thursday. “Together, CBS and CNET Networks will have significant additional exposure to the fastest-growing advertising sector and can accelerate our growth through a number of new content, promotion and advertising initiatives.”
CNET Networks includes cnet.com, bnet.com, news.com, tv.com, gamespot.com, mp3.com and search.com, among others.
Update: The acquisition will make CBS one of the 10 most popular Internet companies in the U.S. Says Les Moonves in an interview with PaidContent, “You see what we can do with integration, we can do with TV.com, News.com, the local things we can do with UrbanBaby and Chow, where we have a great deal of local presence on the CBS side, and the integration of CBS Sports with CNET and GameSport, the male-oriented sites.” So it looks like the local CBS O&Os will benefit from some content as well as some exposure.
Plus: Why the deal makes sense for CBS, and conversely, why it’s the “worst M&A deal of the year.” Let us know what you think in comments…
May 15th, 2008
Comcast is adding Plaxo to its internet stable in a deal worth $170 million.
May 15th, 2008
