CNET built its brand with cable television shows about computers, then sent the audience to its websites. In 1996 the computer industry was booming, and millions of people were buying their first PC or going online for the first time. CNET set out to explain it all. Its websites offered news, reviews, and software downloads. The San Francisco company went public in July 1996, one of the first media companies built for the internet age.

Download.com and News.com

Halsey Minor founded CNET in 1992, and Shelby Bonnie joined him early and later ran the company. The bet was that technology was becoming a mainstream subject, worthy of its own network. CNET used television to build its brand and the web to reach readers directly. Its sites, including Download.com and News.com, became regular stops for computer users. It sold advertising to the technology companies its readers followed.

CBS, Red Ventures, Ziff Davis

CNET priced its offering at $16 a share in July 1996. It grew through the boom and bought the comparison shopping site mySimon and the media company ZDNet. It survived the crash as one of the largest web publishers. CBS acquired CNET in 2008 for about $1.8 billion. In 2020 Red Ventures bought it for $500 million. In 2024 Ziff Davis agreed to buy CNET for about $100 million.

Cover: The Magic Lantern, Paul Gavarni. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a magic lantern (the screen).