Clicker acquired by CBS Interactive

Clicker CEO Jim Lanzone has been named the new president of CBS Interactive

Following on the heels of Rovi's acquisition of TV-tracking site SideReel earlier this week, another TV-tracking site, Clicker, has been acquired by CBS Interactive. The announcement was made Friday, along with the announcement that Clicker CEO Jim Lanzone has been named president of CBS Interactive, which puts Lanzone in the position of overseeing CBS Interactive's global operations. 

While the terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, Clicker has raised $19 million to date since its creation in January 2009.  It will be joining CBS Interactive's portfolio of Web properties, including CNET.com, TV.com, CBS.com, CBSSports.com, CBSNews.com, Last.fm, and Gamespot.com.  Combined, the Web properties draw some 200 million unique monthly visitors, making CBS Interactive one of the top ten Web properties in the world and one of the top five in the U.S.

Indexing more than one million online TV shows, movies, and videos, Clicker draws approximately 2.5 million unique month users and was recently named one of the Top 100 Sites in 2010 by PC Magazine. In December, Clicker integrated Facebook Connect, allowing users to connect with friends on the site while received personalized video recommendations using the company's proprietary recommendation engine, Clicker Predict. 

"In just over a year, Jim has created one of the leading navigation and discovery tools for video programming on the Internet," said Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of CBS Corporation, in a prepared statement.  "Clicker's products and proprietary technologies add firepower to our existing portfolio of entertainment properties, and if we can help grow Clicker to its full potential in the years ahead, the strategic value could be tremendous."

Prior to heading Clicker, Lanzone was the former CEO of Ask.com, which was acquired by IAC in 2005. He has had a fairly illustrious career and was recently named one of Forbes' "Names You Need to Know in 2011." He succeeds Neil Ashe, who has served as president of CBS Interactive since 2008, when the company acquired CNET. He had announced back in December that he would be stepping down.

"This is such an incredible opportunity," said Lanzone in the company's announcement.  "Leslie and the CBS Interactive team have created an unrivaled arsenal of Internet properties – properties that have unlimited potential for expansion.  I look forward to beginning my new role and working with the team to help lead CBS into the future of online information and entertainment." 

Jim Lanzone spoke with VatorNews' Bambi Francisco last year to talk about what sets it apart from other Web video guide services. 

Neither Clicker nor CBS Interactive were available for comment.

In a similar announcement on Tuesday, digital entertainment company Rovi acquired SideReel for an undisclosed sum and leveraged SideReel's vast library of TV shows to launch AllRovi.com, a YouTube-like Web video site which, like Clicker, offers personalized video recommendations based on users' interest and behavior. 

Another one to watch is movie-based social networking site Flixster, which has raised $7.16 million to date since launching in 2006. 

Image source: BusinessInsider.com