Pioneering Tech Site CNET Sold To Digital Media Publisher Ziff Davis

CNET, one of the first digital news sites, has been sold to Ziff Davis for a price tag said to be north of $100 million, according to the New York Times.

The site, which covers tech, was owned by Red Venture, which acquired it from the company formerly called ViacomCBS in 2020. It was the first in a stream of asset sales since by Paramount Global.

CBS paid $1.8 billion for the site in 2008. Digital media company Red Ventures laid down about $500 million. There’s been some pain in digital publishing as giant Meta and Google dominate online advertising.

CNET was founded in 1994. In 1996, it was one of the first Internet companies to go public, riding the Internet boom.

Publicly traded Ziff Davis owns Mashable and dozens of other brands in technology, shopping, gaming and entertainment, connectivity, health and wellness and cybersecurity. It’s acquisitive, having spent $3 billion on deals, according to its website. The company has annual revenue of $1.4 billion.

The NYT, which had the story first, said Ziff Davis CEO Vivek Shah sees the CNET purchase as part of an ongoing strategy to acquire digital media assets in a challenging time. Shah, who led the publisher’s buyout from Red Ventures, said that while many may be discouraged, he still sees opportunity in online content.