VentureBeat

Roundup: “Hurricane Carol” close to landfall at Yahoo, VC stimulus package is silly, Microsoft cooks up a PR nightmare and more

Here’s the latest action:

Bartz to rock Yahoo like a hurricane — The new Yahoo chief executive is planning a major shakeup which could happen as soon as this week, according to BoomTown. Many top execs could be out, and a lot of the recent changes made by former chief executive Jerry Yang and president Sue Decker could be undone. Apparently, they don’t call Bartz “Hurricane Carol” for nothing.

VC stimulus plan is silly – We agree with everyone else…. Continue Reading

Hulu channels Michael Corleone, Boxee support also whacked

Hulu, it seems, is tying up some loose ends.

Earlier today, it was revealed that the online streaming service had pulled its content off of CBS-owned TV.com — but that’s not all. It has also requested its content be removed from the media center software startup Boxee, an email from the company says. There’s the big media we all love to hate.

Hulu, which is backed by both NBC and Fox, offers many of the hit shows… Continue Reading

Online audiences love Joaquin Phoenix as the crazed Unabomber rapper

Actor Joaquin Phoenix and late night talk show host David Letterman shared a special moment a couple nights ago on the Late Show. Phoenix, who is now clearly either insane or doing one hell of a publicity stunt, appeared on the show to promote his new film Two Lovers – and did anything but. As Letterman asked him questions, Phoenix, with long hair, a Moses-like beard and wearing sunglasses sat quietly and occasionally muttered to himself,… Continue Reading

Roundup: Yahoo flushes its “poison pill,” Crain’s goes out of print, WordPress goes 2.7 and more

Here’s the latest action:

Yahoo flushes its “poison pill” — One of the reasons Microsoft decided not to go hostile in its bid to buy Yahoo was that the company had a so-called “poison pill” plan in place in which hundreds of millions of dollars would have likely been due to employees who left due to their unhappiness with any Microsoft/Yahoo merger. A few Yahoo shareholders decided to sue the company to remove this plan, and today… Continue Reading

You’ll love Sling.com if you have a Slingbox or can’t live without CBS — otherwise you’ll still love Hulu

Sling Media, makers of the Slingbox, have just opened up their television streaming site, Sling.com, to the public. The service, which is not only just like Hulu but actually streams some of Hulu’s content as well, also allows you to watch any content you have on your Slingbox at home right on your browser. That’s a nice feature, but it’s hardly enough to make the masses turn to Sling.com rather than Hulu. That will only… Continue Reading

YouTube’s video revolution will be monetized (if the numbers hold)

The online video sharing site YouTube is a great product with a rich community. To say it has a stranglehold on the online video space would be putting it lightly. Yet, as with most things in the tech world, all anyone seems to ever want to talk about YouTube is its monetization. Today, Google, which bought YouTube for $1.65 billion back in 2006, is doing some talking of its own.

In what has to be considered… Continue Reading

ComScore: Google’s still the king; buying CNET puts CBS in the top 10

There aren’t many big changes in comScore’s July list of the United States’ 50 most popular online properties. Google’s websites continue to occupy the top spot, with more than 141 million unique visitors in July, followed by Yahoo with 140 million, then Microsoft and AOL. But some companies are moving up fast, including CBS and Facebook.

We received an early copy of the list, and you can see the top 20 at the end of the… Continue Reading

CBS to buy CNET Networks for $1.8 billion

In a marriage between old media and new, CBS has agreed to buy online news site CNET Networks for $1.8 billion in a deal that should end the recent struggle to control the board of CNET.

The move comes after CNET’s management had come under attack by shareholders for not doing enough to increase its market value. CNET is one of the earliest movers to embrace an online only format, and is one of the largest… Continue Reading

Should television and Internet ratings for shows be combined?

With more content making its way from the small screen to your computer screen, it was only a matter of time before television executives realized the number of viewers watching a show on the Internet is probably important too.

At the OMMA Global conference in Hollywood yesterday, CBS Interactive’s vice president and chief marketing officer, Patrick Keane, suggested that perhaps shows should combine television and Internet ratings, reports Online Media Daily.

The case Keane cited was CBS’s… Continue Reading

Big media in little places: CBS, DoubleClick, expand widget ad options

Big media is getting into widget advertising, in order to reach people on sites across the web. One example: Media conglomerate CBS is launching a local widget ad network today, with the goal of drawing more traffic to its own web sites — and making money from partner sites in the process. Another example: DoubleClick, the advertising giant (that Google has just gotten final approval to purchase), has announced its own widget ad network today.

Widgets… Continue Reading

Roundup: [Update: Facebook takes dip, maybe?], Crescendo Ventures, and more

Here’s the latest:

1) Another Googler goes to Facebook, to head its developer platform
2) Facebook traffic apparently took a dip last month — [Update: Or didn't. See Om's update, and a big looping conversation about Facebook on Techmeme]
3) Madonna latest in string of musicians to ditch record labels
4) Mozilla preparing mobile web browser, may improve mobile web user experience?
5) Mixx.com launches to let publishers give users relevant content
6) CBS acquires gossip site Dotspotter for $10 million
7)… Continue Reading

CBS buys music recommendation service Last.fm for $280M

Updated

CBS has bought music recommendation website Last.fm for $280 million, the extremely popular London-based company that lets users search for and listen to music based on their past preferences and recommendations of other users.

Last.fm says it has around 20 million active users each month, four million of which are in the US. The purchase comes at a time when services such as Last.fm are growing extremely quickly. Other private competitors showing growth are Pandora and… Continue Reading

Wallstrip acquired by CBS

Wallstrip, the financial video site that was really all about just one person, attractive anchor Lindsay Campbell, has been sold to CBS, for a rumored $5 million.

Union Square Ventures investor Fred Wilson made a small investment in the company, as part of a $600,000 angel round. Not bad for less than a year’s work.