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Comments on news posted 2013-01-25 12:08:34: You'll recall that executives at CBS recently shot themselves in their very expensive loafers when they decided to prevent CBS-owned CNET from giving a CES best-of-show award to Dish's ad-skipping Hopper DVR. ..

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morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000

morbo

Member

Goodbye CNET

CBS has killed CNET as a source of reliable tech information. The slippery slope is here. It was a fast, steep drop.
silbaco
Premium Member
join:2009-08-03
USA

silbaco

Premium Member

I'd say it has been going on for some time. CNET has been excessively pro-Apple for a while now.

Mike
Mod
join:2000-09-17
Pittsburgh, PA

Mike to morbo

Mod

to morbo
CNET has killed CNET long before CBS. The horse is pulp now.

sk1939
Premium Member
join:2010-10-23
Frederick, MD

sk1939

Premium Member

What is it with companies....

...with giant sphere's as logos being run by immense buffoons who apparently are paid way too much.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Bring on the Streisand Effect

I don't think Aereo will succeed - industry has way too much to lose from so many angles, and Diller's clever technical legal argument will be squashed like a bug, no matter how much merit the actual idea of competitive OTT/IPTV might have.

But CBS is only bringing attention to the plight of the "underdog" here, by trying to ignore them.

elios
join:2005-11-15
Springfield, MO

elios to sk1939

Member

to sk1939

Re: What is it with companies....

railroads and oil companies
elefante72
join:2010-12-03
East Amherst, NY

elefante72 to elray

Member

to elray

Re: Bring on the Streisand Effect

I worry too, however I remember back in the day when Netflix started sending DVD in the mail that people said that would never succeed. Last time I checked Hollywood Video and Blockbuster were single-handedly killed by Netflix...

Aereo's disruptive piece of technology isn't even spoken about, but the real killer is that they have the DVR (time shifting) in the cloud, and that is going to pillage all the box pushers in the next 5 years (sorry Arris), and at which time it won' t matter WHAT the content people say, the genie will be out of the bottle in the cloud. Boxee is trying the same thing, except they bent over and are taking it in the *** by the content owners. A sure way to die. They also continually screw their install base.

I also like their antenna thingy, but that is not a long term strategy anyways. I don't see free OTA making it through the next decade...

Bill Neilson
Premium Member
join:2009-07-08
Alexandria, VA

Bill Neilson

Premium Member

I love CNet or specifically the writers

but this crap really needs to stop.

I am an attorney and the thinking of CBS and its men that blocking these reviews would in ANY WAY hurt their lawsuit is...mind-boggling to me.

CNet's rep has not just taken a hit but has just about destroyed it from even being looked upon as a truly legitimate news site.
Terabit
join:2008-12-19

Terabit

Member

Anti-trust

Why is there no anti-trust case against cable and traditional media.

Much like following the financial crisis, the GOP congress killed off any possible action (investigation) by government against a business. After all, they apparently do everything better, ethically, and can even self-regulate.

jjoshua
Premium Member
join:2001-06-01
Scotch Plains, NJ

jjoshua

Premium Member

Disclosure is all they need

CBS is worried that CNET can't objectively review something because litigation is taking place?

CNET just needs to disclose this to the reader and they can make up their own mind.
Os
join:2011-01-26
US

Os

Member

Cnet

should just go away permanently.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Cnet spin-off

CBS should just spin-off Cnet into an independent company. They'd sell more advertising without CBS poisoning their journalism.

The hopper sounds like a good idea but I'll never do business with Dish again based on a past experience.

I just wish the distribution companies were forced to split from content companies.

MovieLover76
join:2009-09-11
Cherry Hill, NJ
(Software) pfSense
Asus RT-AC68
Asus RT-AC66

MovieLover76

Member

Someone please just kill off CNET

Their reviews are so scare on details, and their ratings are so arbitrary. I haven't looked at a CNET review in years because they are worthless to anyone with even a small amount of tech understanding. They live in the apple distortion field and now they are adding more and more biases thanks to their parent company.

This is why centralized media conglomerates are bad.

dnoyeB
Ferrous Phallus
join:2000-10-09
Southfield, MI

dnoyeB

Member

isAConflict()

If CNET was giving the Hopper a worst of show, then it might have looked like a conflict of interest. With that being said, it has to work both ways.

It is most definitely a conflict of interest because CBS says it is. Simply by them saying that, the reviewer can no longer be objective without having a backup job in the works.

It does not have to be a conflict, but CBS made it so.

OneEye
join:2006-04-15
Peachtree City, GA

1 recommendation

OneEye to Terabit

Member

to Terabit

Re: Anti-trust

Please give blame to all that should receive it.

Start with the crooked, conservative Supreme Court with several decisions giving corporations the same rights as those given to an individual.

Oh, well. You live and you die.

BimmerE38FN
join:2002-09-15
Boise, ID

BimmerE38FN

Member

Tortious Interference

CBS did this in the portrayal movie "The Insider". Almost seems like there up to it again. I left CNET a while ago. Way to biased and never got other competitor HW reviews. They always seem to favor MS and Intel Platforms and HW over anyone else. People stopped watching CBS and CNET and go else where, might send a message to CBS Corp.
firedrakes
join:2009-01-29
Arcadia, FL

firedrakes

Member

let them kept shooting themselves in the foot. sooner or later they will notice something
wahoospa
join:2006-03-23
Charleston, SC

wahoospa

Member

Strong Arm of CBS

I like CNET but if this is how it is run by the strong arm of the parent, CBS, then someone should make a competing website and let the news freely flow as it should.
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

ISurfTooMuch

Member

I wonder how Lindsey Turrentine feels now

After the Hopper debacle, CNET's Editor-in-Chief, Lindsey Turrentine, posted an article trying to explain the whole thing and justifying why she didn't quit.

»news.cnet.com/8301-30677 ··· s-story/

In it, she said she would do everything in her power to see that such interference didn't happen again. Naturally, most of the commenters called BS on this and reminded her that she couldn't do a thing.

So, Lindsey, how do you feel now? You were either naive thinking that you could do a thing about it, or you were simply rationalizing why you didn't walk like you should have. Which was it? And I'll remind you that, if you ever were a journalist, you aren't one now. Whether you intended it or not, you're now simply a shill for CBS.

MovieLover76
join:2009-09-11
Cherry Hill, NJ

MovieLover76 to wahoospa

Member

to wahoospa

Re: Strong Arm of CBS

There are tons of hardware review and tech commentary sites around other than CNET.

cdru
Go Colts
MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN

cdru to Mike

MVM

to Mike

Re: Goodbye CNET

said by Mike:

CNET has killed CNET long before CBS.

I was going to say just that. I personally thin CNET started it's downhill journey when it acquired ZDNet. Since about then I've never regarded anything that I've read from them as anything but a shill...a paid advertisement for whatever was being reviewed. And if something was a negative review, it was a paid shill for said product's competitors.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray to Terabit

Member

to Terabit

Re: Anti-trust

said by Terabit:

Why is there no anti-trust case against cable and traditional media.

Because there isn't even an inkling of a hint of a case.

Generally, content is cheaper than ever.

Just because we can't buy/rent the content in the manner, format, time, density and bundling we prefer, doesn't make for a conspiracy among the content owners - quite the opposite - they lose the potential sale.

Much as I'd like to see content sold dynamically, ala-carte, and I'm confident that such a system would result in huge revenue increases - people buy more when they can choose what they want, business prefers predictable revenues, just as consumers want consistent flat-rate billing, even when measured plans would save them lots of money.

So absent the second coming of Steve Jobs holding a World-Wide content sales summit, where all the players can see the light (more $$$$ for everyone, not just the newcomers), the established players are going to protect their investment, and they have every right to do so.

Bootes
Premium Member
join:2005-01-28
New York, NY

Bootes to elray

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to elray

Re: Bring on the Streisand Effect

I see them making an agreement where Aereo starts paying fees per viewer similar to the cable companies. Then Aereo turns into the first internet cable company and starts picking up other cable channels as well, which I'm pretty sure is exactly what they would like to be.

PP
@swbell.net

PP to ISurfTooMuch

Anon

to ISurfTooMuch

Re: I wonder how Lindsey Turrentine feels now

I agree with you in theory. However, times are tough, and to walk away from a gig that pays well and allows her to be around, play with/evaluate, and report on technology (something I suspect she enjoys) is hard.

As the old saying goes those with the gold make the rules. In this case, big corps have us all by the short curlies. Sad that most of us have to sell a part of our soul to live comfortably.
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

ISurfTooMuch to elray

Member

to elray

Re: Bring on the Streisand Effect

What Aereo needs to do is to start cutting deals with any programmers they can, be it niche cable/sat channels that can't get good carriage agreements from the big cable companies, foreign channels that want to enter the market, independent producers, and even smaller OTA TV stations that want carriage into a market. Tell these guys that, if they'll agree to waive carriage fees and allow Aereo to insert ads in any local ad slots the channels provide, Aereo will agree to make their service available for free to consumers for a specified amount of time, say maybe five years. Then either distribute via Roku or, if that doesn't work out, build their own similar streaming box.

Yes, caps will be an issue for heavy viewers, but that's something that the cable companies and telcos are going to have to defend someday, either in court or in the court of public opinion, and I suspect it's an issue they'd rather not have to air out in public. But, at any rate, if Aereo goes this route, and if it can build an even decent selection of programming, it will serve to really pull away the budget-conscious TV households.

At that point, the big programmers may have wished they'd left them along or gotten on the bandwagon.
ISurfTooMuch

ISurfTooMuch to PP

Member

to PP

Re: I wonder how Lindsey Turrentine feels now

I agree with you. In the short term, she made the right decision from a purely financial standpoint, but this assumes that CNET won't end up taking a hit for this. If it does, she may, at some point, find herself looking for employment, and people are going to remember where she was when this happened. Still, if she'd at least been honest and said that she stayed because she needed the money, I could respect that, but neither I nor anyone else bought that line about her not allowing this to happen again. It makes her look like either a terribly naive individual or a liar. Either way, her credibility is severely diminished.

She and the other CNET staff had a golden opportunity. If they'd walked and started up their own news site, they'd have grabbed many of CNET's visitors. And, if you think about it, a site's writers are its backbone. Servers and bandwidth are relatively cheap and widely available, but good, seasoned writers are harder to come by.

chip89
Premium Member
join:2012-07-05
Columbia Station, OH

chip89 to IowaCowboy

Premium Member

to IowaCowboy

Re: Cnet spin-off

Yes CBS should spin off Cent it would be a lot better that way.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5 to jjoshua

Premium Member

to jjoshua

Re: Disclosure is all they need

said by jjoshua:

CBS is worried that CNET can't objectively review something because litigation is taking place?

CNET just needs to disclose this to the reader and they can make up their own mind.

I disagree. The lawyers for those that CBS is suing would use the fact that a CBS subsidiary has supported them as a point in a civil lawsuit proceeding. And I evidently have much less confidence that a jury or even a judge would be impartial and not take those facts in to account.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray to Bootes

Member

to Bootes

Re: Bring on the Streisand Effect

said by Bootes:

I see them making an agreement where Aereo starts paying fees per viewer similar to the cable companies. Then Aereo turns into the first internet cable company and starts picking up other cable channels as well, which I'm pretty sure is exactly what they would like to be.

Again, i doubt they will succeed, as industry isn't likely to be caught snoozing, and Aereo doesn't have the 11-figure deep pockets necessary to bribe its way through network resistance.

But USDTV and Sezmi actually did manage to get a dozen cable channels to sell to them before they imploded, so it isn't impossible.

amenite
The Soylent - It's People
Premium Member
join:2002-11-21
Ridgewood, NJ

amenite to FFH5

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to FFH5

Re: Disclosure is all they need

said by FFH5:

I disagree. The lawyers for those that CBS is suing would use the fact that a CBS subsidiary has supported them as a point in a civil lawsuit proceeding.
...

If that argument had been made prior to HopperGate, other things being equal it would have been easily refuted to judge, jury and public. As it stands now CBS has poisoned that well. Since everyone now knows that CBS management is actively involved in editorial actions, dictating terms to CNET and so forth, there is no counter to the argument. Congratulations CBS, done and done!
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