CBS Interactive CEO Quincy Smith is resigning and returning to his roots of dealmaking.
The former Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and Allen & Co. executive resigned Wednesday as head of CBS digital to start his his own media advisory firm in Silicon Valley. The move was hardly a surprise as Smith reportedly has been planning his departure and the creation of a company since this spring.
Smith's departure now leaves CBS Corp. (NYSE:CBS) CEO Les Moonves with the question: what to do with the digital unit, which is still a work in progress that Smith has overhauled during his three-year tenure?
Moonves has publicly stated that he's pleased with the job that Smith has done with CBS Interactive. But is that just all talk? CBS is still struggling to make the tech-focused Web property Cnet, which Smith pushed to acquire for $1.8 billion in 2008, the revenue generator it was billed to be. Critics argue that CBS overpaid for Cnet and its network of sites.
Meanwhile, Smith spurned leading video-sharing site Hulu.com, instead pushing for the development of CBS' own video site TV.com, which it inherited from Cnet. The move has been highly questionable and magnified as CBS is having a difficult
time monetizing Cnet and TV.com in this soft advertising atmosphere. Meanwhile, Hulu.com, which is a joint venture between NBC Universal and News Corp. (NASDAQ:NWSA), has grown to become the second-largest video site on the Web, according to Nielsen.
Despite those strategies, Smith has been vocal that one of the reasons for his departure was the lack of dealmaking at CBS. Ironically, Business Insider reports Smith's first client will be CBS, which signed him to a multiyear deal to focus on a TV Everywhere project, which is a movement that would allow broadcast and cable programming available online, on-demand and free with a cable subscription. - Gerald Magpily
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