• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, October 28, 2009

Quincy Smith, CEO of CBS Interactive, will step down in January to run his own advisory business, CBS said Wednesday. Smith, who has led CBS Interactive since November 2006, is expected to be replaced by CBS Interactive president Neil Ashe. BoomTown's Kara Swisher broke the news on Wednesday.

In his newly independent role, Smith will advise CBS as a paying client on "strategies and opportunities for growth" across the company's interactive businesses.

"It's a huge honor to count CBS as my first client," said Smith. "In three years, this company has grown its Interactive profile immeasurably, and yet there is so much more to be done."

Specifically, Smith is expected to work closely on CBS's continued video monetization efforts, including oversight of authentication efforts and additive methods of distribution.

He is also expected to advise on partnering with technology companies to expand CBS's digital presence, and to explore new growth opportunities related to content, services and applications.

"Quincy helped put CBS Interactive on the map," Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of CBS Corp., said in a statement. "We're very happy to have Quincy working with us in this new role."

During Smith's tenure, CBS's most notable digital play was its acquisition of CNET last year -- which added CNET.com, GameSpot, TV.com, chow.com and BNET.com to its portfolio of Web properties. Thanks to the acquisition, CBS Corp.'s interactive revenues more than tripled to $126.4 million -- from $40.2 million the year before -- for the second quarter of the year.

Prior to CBS, Smith was an executive with Allen & Company, where he advised companies such as Comcast, Google and CBS.

CBS Interactive is currently the ninth-largest Internet property worldwide, reaching nearly 200 million people a month, according to comScore MediaMetrix.

Its CNET property recently reported 27% growth in unique users, whlie GameSpot increased unique users by 13%, and Last.fm grew unique users 52%. TheInsider.com grew 473%, and Chow grew unique users 45%.