CBS Buys Majority Stake in IWon.com

CBS Corp., owner of the top-rated U.S. television network, said Tuesday that it bought a majority stake in IWon.com, a new Internet search directory that will try to attract users by giving away millions of dollars.

Closely held IWon.com, known until Tuesday as CTC Bulldog, will get about $70 million in advertising from CBS in exchange for a majority ownership stake. CBS Chief Executive Mel Karmazin will be a director of IWon.com, and Neil Austrian, president and chief operating officer of the National Football League, will be nonexecutive chairman. He will retain his posts at the NFL.

Through IWon.com, whose smallest prize will be a $10,000-a-day giveaway, CBS hopes to tempt people to its online sites, which will be part of the new service. IWon.com, which also will give away a guaranteed $1 million a month and $10 million once a year, is trying to stand out among a raft of Internet portals that perform the same basic services.

“If you get up on the roof and start throwing dollar bills off the roof, you are going to get noticed,” said Bill Daugherty, co-founder and co-chief executive of IWon.com. “There’s never been a large-scale cash sweepstakes that has failed to generate a considerable response.”

Irvington, N.Y.-based IWon.com will offer e-mail, search services and online shopping, as well as content from Internet sites owned or partly owned by CBS, including CBS.com, MarketWatch.com, SportsLine USA and Hollywood.com.

CBS plans to make IWon.com a separately traded company in the first half of 2000, people familiar with the companies’ plans said.

CBS shares fell 25 cents to close at $47.50 on the New York Stock Exchange.