shaydm h's Library tagged la →  View Popular, Search in Google

When CBS Interactive announced on Tuesday that its CBSNews.com property had entered a content partnership with Digg, there wasn't a whole lot of information released other than the fact that election-related headlines from Digg would appear on CBSNews.com and that the news site's political news and video clips would be accompanied by Digg buttons.

  

The amorphous press release was intentional, CBS Interactive President Quincy Smith said later Tuesday in an interview with CNET News.com. It's not always easy to deal with Digg's notoriously opinionated community, which has shown a tendency to cause a mild to major uprising if something pops up suggesting the site has made a move without the users in mind.  

CBS Interactive, the media giant's digital division, has announced the opening of a Silicon Valley office and an executive reshuffling to focus on growth, President Quincy Smith announced Thursday.

  

The CBS Interactive satellite office in Menlo Park, Calif., has opened, with its eye on tech partnerships and acquisitions. The Valley branch will "allow the company to better facilitate existing partnerships in the area, and future ones as well," a release from CBS explained.

All manner of Hollywood businesses are looking at how they can make themselves profitable online. The future isn’t clear for stalwarts like the larger music labels and movie studios. But there are other power players in the media who are making moves. In particular it’s worth looking at the role that Hollywood talent agencies are starting to play in connecting technology companies with the media and advertising industries.

All four of the largest talent agencies are looking at how to put themselves at the center of digital media. Perhaps the one most open about its efforts is the William Morris Agency, which recently partnered with Silicon Valley venture firms Accel Partners and Venrock, and telecommunications giant AT&T, to co-invest in promising media-related startups. WMA’s rival, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), has also been looking at raising a large digital media fund, together with Draper Richards Jurvetson — although it’s still little more than rumor.

Beyond investing in promising startups, WMA sees itself as a sort of “extended business development” arm of a technology startup, much like the role that it takes for the actors, directors, writers, musicians, professional athletes and other “talent” (celebrities) it represents. Take, for example, its role in helping Sunnyvale, Calif.-based mobile video company MyWaves.

William Morris and MyWaves’ growth