CBS
Interactive entertainment head Anthony Soohoo said Wednesday he is leaving the
company.
The move
comes after CBS acquired Clicker.com last week and named its CEO Jim Lanzone
president of CBS Interactive.
In a memo to
staff, Soohoo said he decided to move on months ago, but "made a
personal commitment to work through the transition until we had a new
leader at CBS Interactive."
Soohoo
joined CBS in 2007 when it acquired Dotspotter, an entertainment site he
co-founded.
Soohoo's
full memo below:
Dear
Colleagues,
After
three rewarding years with CBS, I have decided it is time for me to pursue
the next chapter in my life. In discussions with Leslie and Neil over the
past eight months, I made a personal commitment to work through the
transition until we had a new leader at CBS Interactive. Now that we have
named Jim Lanzone as our new President, the time is right for me to step
out and seek my next challenge.
I've
always embraced the Taoist proverb that the journey is the reward and
to say that we've had an amazing journey together is an understatement. I
am especially proud of the product innovations and business growth that we
have accomplished together. Reflecting on the past 3 years:
• We've increased our business unit s
revenue by 700%. CBS.com has increased its audience 10x and jumped from
the 3rd ranked network video site to the top ranked network property for
the past 27 months. We are now one of the top media properties
around.
• The CBS Audience Network became the
fastest growing network growing video streams the past year by 206% and
total minutes spent by 149%.
• We've grown CHOW's audience by
16x since 2008 - hitting the big time as a Top 10 food site in 2010 and
winning the prestigious James Beard Award for "Best Web Site Focusing
on Food".
In
short, this has been every bit an extraordinary ride and I thank you for
your work in making this experience special for me, both personally and
professionally. As I set off back into the entrepreneurial world, I
want to extend my sincerest wishes to all of you for continued success.
Dream.
Invent. Deliver.
Anthony
