CBS Interactive gets new leader

Quincy Smith -- an investment banker and former Netscape exec who has advised on Internet deals involving Google, AOL, Yahoo and Viacom -- has been named president of CBS Interactive, the company will announce today.

Smith will replace Larry Kramer, who held the job for the last year and a half. Kramer is the creator of financial Web site CBS MarketWatch, which was bought by Dow Jones. He will remain at CBS as an adviser.

Smith has been charged with plotting the media giant's interactive strategy and identifying the next hot Internet companies. The goal, he said, is to snap them up just before they take off.

"We will be looking for the next YouTube," Smith told the Daily News, adding, "but we won't pay $2 billion for it."

Smith's appointment signals CBS CEO Leslie Moonves' efforts to ramp up digital acquisitions and investments. With limited growth possibilities for the network television business, old line media companies are pushing hard into interactive media.

NBC recently slashed 700 jobs and announced a major restructuring aimed at redirecting its efforts into the digital world.

"This announcement is particularly significant because it reflects our belief that the future of media lies increasingly in the interactive realm," Moonves said in a statement. "[Smith has] had his hand in building many of the biggest interactive companies of our time."

Smith comes to CBS from investment banking firm Allen & Co. Before that, he was a founding partner of venture capital firm The Barksdale Group. He spent five years at Netscape, where he played a role in numerous deals that included Netscape's sale to AOL.