CBS has named former Ask.com CEO Jim Lanzone the new president of CBS Interactive. And in conjunction with that announcement, CBS has acquired Lanzone’s startup firm Clicker Media, which includes the Web video aggregation site Clicker.com.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Lanzone is replacing former CBS Interactive president Neil Ashe, who is leaving the company. Ashe, the former CEO of CNET, had held the top digital job at CBS since the network acquired CNET in 2008.
In his new role Lanzone will oversee CNET, CBS.com, CBSSports.com, CBSNews.com, TV.com and GameSpot.com.
Back in 2008, Lanzone left IAC’s Ask.com to become an an entrepreneur-in-residence at the venture capital firm Redpoint Ventures. From that perch, he launched Clicker Media in November of 2009.
The company’s signature property, Clicker.com, is something of an electronic programming guide for Web video. Users can use the site to sift through full-length episodes of network shows like How I Met Your Mother as well as Web-only fare like Yahoo’s Who Knew?. Clicker would seem to make a good fit with CBS’ similarly conceived TV.com. The site’s tools allow users to build a personalized guide which makes automated suggestions on what to watch.
"In just over a year, Jim has created one of the leading navigation and discovery tools for video programming on the Internet," said CBS Corp. president and CEO Leslie Moonves in a statement. "Clicker's products and proprietary technologies add firepower to our existing portfolio of entertainment properties, and if we can help grow Clicker to its full potential in the years ahead, the strategic value could be tremendous."
