Quincy Smith

After three years, two big acquisitions and one shift in corporate strategy, CBS said Wednesday that its chief of new media, Quincy Smith, was leaving in January to start his own advisory firm. The tenure of Smith, 38, provides a window into the shifting Internet strategies of CBS and other media companies. All are struggling to preserve traditional businesses while also appealing to the growing audiences that want to watch entertainment on the Web -- for free. "Clearly, that's the big question mark," said CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves.

After three years, two big acquisitions and one shift in corporate strategy, CBS said Wednesday that its chief of new media, Quincy Smith, was leaving in January to start his own advisory firm. The tenure of Smith, 38, provides a window into the shifting Internet strategies of CBS and other media companies. All are struggling to preserve traditional businesses while also appealing to the growing audiences that want to watch entertainment on the Web -- for free. "Clearly, that's the big question mark," said CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves.

Last week, CBS Corp. Chief Executive Leslie Moonves told Wall Street that his team was sniffing around for up-and-coming Internet properties to buy, preferably on the cheap. "We're not going to buy YouTube," Moonves said, referring to the wildly popular video-sharing website that Google Inc. agreed to acquire last month for $1.65 billion. "But it's not a bad idea to buy the next YouTube."

Last week, CBS Corp. Chief Executive Leslie Moonves told Wall Street that his team was sniffing around for up-and-coming Internet properties to buy, preferably on the cheap. "We're not going to buy YouTube," Moonves said, referring to the wildly popular video-sharing website that Google Inc. agreed to acquire last month for $1.65 billion. "But it's not a bad idea to buy the next YouTube."

CBS Corp., the U.S. broadcaster controlled by Sumner Redstone, completed its $1.8-billion acquisition of CNet Networks Inc., becoming one of the 10 largest website companies. CNet, along with existing Internet businesses, will form a new digital division led by Quincy Smith, New York-based CBS said. Chief Executive Leslie Moonves sought CNet, owner of GameSpot.com and TV.com, to add Web businesses that are growing faster than the company's television and radio networks.

Media mogul Sumner Redstone has had a love-hate affair with YouTube Inc. this week. No sooner had one company he controls, Viacom Inc., sued the online video site for $1 billion than CBS Inc., which he also controls, struck a major deal with it. Under an agreement announced Thursday, YouTube will show CBS clips from the March Madness NCAA basketball tournament.

CBS Corp. is buying a popular social-networking website organized around musical tastes for $280 million, combining a traditional broadcast giant with an early leader in online radio. CBS is expected to announce today that it has acquired London-based Last.fm, which claims more than 15 million monthly users, including more than 4 million in the U.S. The initial payout is well beneath that paid by rivals in the last two years for video-sharing site YouTube Inc., now owned by Google Inc.

Apple Inc. has surpassed Wal-Mart to become America's No. 1 music store, the first time that a seller of digital downloads has ever beaten the big CD retailers. Apple sold more albums in January and February than any other U.S. retailer, market research firm NPD Group said Thursday, underscoring how the music industry is on the front edge of a digital media shift that is upending businesses as diverse as bookstores and video game makers. U.S.

"Swingtown" is a CBS television show, scheduled for midseason, about partner-swapping couples. It's also what CBS executives lightheartedly call their new Internet strategy. The idea is to let their online material be promiscuous: Instead of limiting their shows and other online video to CBS.com, the network is letting them couple with any website that people might visit. "CBS is all about open, nonexclusive, multiple partnerships," said Quincy Smith, president of CBS Interactive.

A plan by Time Warner Inc. and Comcast Corp. to ensure that people who watch TV on the Web are already cable-TV subscribers faces several hurdles, including the technical -- a workable encryption system -- and the political -- whether consumers will view it as an attempt to wall off free content.

So, assume you may have heard about this writers strike thing. Most of us might not notice much difference in prime time right away, but as of tonight, if the Writers Guild of America strike was called as planned, Leno and Stewart and Colbert, and perhaps Letterman and Kimmel too, are likely zapped till further notice (and it's five nights into November sweeps -- how great is that for local stations?). The supply of series such as "House" and "The Office" won't hold out forever, either.

The sounds of war broke out in Larry August's Compton home as he lay sleeping in his upstairs bedroom. First, he was jarred awake by gunfire, startlingly loud and close. Next, the sound of two intruders crashing through the home's back door, despite its steel security bars. The pop, pop, pop of gunshots as armed strangers shot out the locks, setting off the alarm system. He heard glass shattering and falling to the floor. Four close relatives had just gone to bed.