CBS acquired Clicker Media, a startup that provides an online video guide and search engine spanning more than 1 million pieces of video content, and named Clicker CEO Jim Lanzone president of CBS Interactive.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Clicker had raised about $19 million from investors including JAFCO Ventures, Benchmark Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Blake Krikorian, founder and former CEO of Sling Media, and Lanzone.
Upon closing of the deal, Clicker.com will join CBS Interactive's roster of Internet properties, including CNET.com, TV.com, CBS.com, CBSSports.com,
CBSNews.com and Gamespot.com. As president of the division, Lanzone -- previously CEO of search engine Ask.com -- will oversee all of CBS Interactive's operations worldwide.
Lanzone succeeds Neil Ashe, who headed CBS Interactive since the company acquired CNET Networks in June 2008. Ashe in December 2010 announced that he would depart the company once CBS found a replacement.
"In these last couple of years, we've grown CBS into a top 10 global Internet property," CBS president and CEO Les Moonves said in a statement. "I'm confident that with Jim at the helm, we will continue to expand our digital footprint, and capitalize on our scale in this fast-growing marketplace."
Clicker's products and proprietary technologies, Moonves added, "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."
Launched in November 2009, Clicker.com provides personalized content recommendations based on its proprietary recommendation engine and social integration with Facebook. The website claims to have 2.5 million monthly users.
