I had no idea that CBS was even contemplating the purchase of CNET. Color me shocked.

Media and entertainment company CBS Corp. is buying CNet Networks Inc., an online news and information provider, for $1.8 billion in cash in its latest bid to expand its reach on the Internet, the companies announced Thursday.

The price of $11.50 per share represents a massive premium of 45 percent over CNet’s closing stock price on Wednesday, and appears to get CNet out of a nasty battle with one of its largest shareholders, which had been agitating for a shakeup at the company after its stock slumped.

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CBS’s CEO Leslie Moonves told reporters on a conference call that acquiring access to CNet’s large online audience in order to distribute media content from CBS was “a large part” of CBS’ motivation in going after the San Francisco-based online company.

“Our idea is to have our content wherever, whenever you can get it, and adding CNet just makes that happen faster,” Moonves said.

Overall, I think this is an excellent move by CBS, but I am a bit skeptical about how it will all pan out. There is some content on CNET that I rely on, daily, that would make my life more difficult if it was eliminated. It’s kind of like having the wrong bathroom lighting. The wrong lighting changes everything. I hope CBS takes this ball and runs with it and makes CNET an even better resource than it has been for years.

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