CBS Corp. Thursday announced that it has
taken a 20 percent stake in online drugstore Rx.com, Inc. in exchange for $37.5 million in
advertising and promotion over a term of four years.
CBS followed up its newfound health care interest with the purchase of the
online retail pharmacy, exactly two weeks after it took a 35 percent in
medical information site Medscape.
CBS will receive warrants to purchase an additional 700,000 shares of
Rx.com stock.
Rx.com currently sells over-the-counter medicines and vitamin products
online, and plans offer prescription medication and health care information
later this year.
“Direct-to-consumer healthcare continues to be one of the fastest growing
sectors on the Internet and one of our leading advertising segments,” said
Mel Karmazin, CBS Corp.’s president and CEO.
“In that regard, Rx.com goes hand-in-hand with our recently announced
investment in CBS Medscape.com, offering us another stake in a key Internet
destination site that serves as a convenient, reliable solution to
consumers’ health care needs and pharmacy services.”
The site will go up against drugstore.com, which has equity investments
from mega e-tailer Amazon and drugstore
chain Rite Aid, and planetRx.com.
CBS currently has Internet investments in SportsLine USA, Inc., MarketWatch.com, Inc., StoreRunner Inc., WinStar’s Office.com Inc., ThirdAge Media, Inc., and Switchboard Inc., and deals with
Medscape and hollywood.com are in
the works.
It is rumored that the network is planning to pool its Internet interests
in thinly veiled portal or tethered site plans dubbed the Bulldog Project.