Jim Lanzone of CBS Interactive #217

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On TWiST, Jim Lanzone, Clickr founder and president of CBS Interactive, sat down with us at the CNET studios--his home turf. Jim detailed his journey from startup guy to head of one of the largest media companies in the world, what he learned along the way and what his vision of TV and Web synergy looks like.

0:00-1:45 Welcome everyone, we’re here today at CNET studios at CBS Interactive with their CEO, Jim Lanzone.
1:45-3:00 You know Jim from running Ask.com and Clickr. When you were on the program the last time, you had about ten employees and now you have over a thousand here at CBS.
3:00-5:30 Thank you, SurveyMonkey, for sponsoring the show. Everyone remember to thank them @surveymonkey!
5:30-7:15 You were on the program almost two years ago to tell us about Clickr. How did you go from running that to running CBS Interactive?
7:15-8:45 How did you decide that the time was right to sell Clickr?
10:00-11:00 And then CBS bought CNET, who was a big in the advertising space and who was also coveted by AOL, right?
11:00-12:30 How much of the acquisition was CBS needing you versus needing Clickr.
12:30-15:00 You consider yourself a branded house, as opposed to a house of brands, right? What’s the biggest challenge there?
18:00-19:15 Jim: We just launched the CNET iPad app and it’s already the number two news app.
19:15-23:15 How are the online properties and broadcast TV working together?
24:45-27:00 Thank you to MailChimp for sponsoring the show. Everyone thank them @MailChimp!
27:00-30:30 Are we going to see CBS buying some more teams and companies or building from within?
30:30-34:00 Two of my favorite sites are Chowhound and Metacritic, but they’re very niche. What do you do with smaller sites like that?
35:00-37:00 Why isn’t CBS including stats from Metacritic on every program? Why isn’t there more tie-in?
37:00-38:30 What about producing shows based on your higher-visibility brands?
38:30-40:00 Do you think the budgets for online programming will increase dramatically in the future?
40:00-41:00 How important is video? How much of the revenue is video vs. non-video based?
42:15-43:45 Interactive divisions are still entirely different businesses from cable divisions, right?
43:45-46:30 Sometimes there are cultural differences, like when Shira Lazar tweeted under the CBS brand that Steve Jobs had died a month before he did. Tell us about that.
46:30-48:00 Do you see a time when a show like ‘60 Minutes’ could be produced solely for the Web?
48:00-50:45 What’s your relationship with YouTube like? How does CBS Interactive view them?
52:15-54:00 So your thesis is that a brand can only mean so many things to a consumer?
54:00-54:30 Jim: Did you see the documentary about A Tribe Called Quest?
54:30-57:45 Jason recounts when he first heard that Apple was working on a TV.
1:00:00-1:00:30 For a guy at a BDC (big dumb company), you’re really honest. How are the PR people here, do they mind you doing interviews like this?
1:03:30-1:04:30 What could Yahoo possibly be doing with 20,000 employees?
1:06:45-1:07:30 Jim, thank you for joining us and I wish you continued success. Thank you to SurveyMonkey and MailChimp for sponsoring the program.

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Jim: @jlanzone
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