After the split of CBS (NYSE: CBS) from Viacom (NYSE: VIA), Wall St. wondered whether either company would do well. Both were in old-world media, and neither had a major internet presence the way that TimeWarner (NYSE: TWX) did with AOL and News Corp (NYSE: NWS) did with MySpace.

But, CBS's plans have caught investors' eyes. The stock is up 27% over the last year, compared to Viacom at 15%. And, CBS has created its own internet marketing program that has led Wall St. to believe that the company can capitalize on new media.

Recently, the media company bought online ticket sales firm TicketReserve. CBS also paid $280 million for radio streaming company Last.FM.

The CBS core businesses are also doing well. The network will finish the current TV season as the most watched network for the fifth year in a row. In the most recent quarter, the company's broadcast properties showed a modest increase in revenue compared to the same quarter a year ago.

Short interest in CBS dropped six million shares in June to 43 million. If the compay's internet plans go well and network rating stay high, there is little reason to think the stock will not keep rising.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 WallSt.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Schering-Plough Corp (SGP), Southwest Airlines Co (LUV), Capital One Financial Corp (COF), Robert Half International Inc (RHI) and Heartland Express, Inc (HTLD) were today's more noteworthy downgrades:

• Schering-Plough Corp (NYSE: SGP) was downgraded to Market Perform from Strong Buy at Raymond James, to Neutral from Overweight at HSBC and to Hold from Buy at AG Edwards on valuation.

• HSBC also cut Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE: LUV) to Neutral from Overweight.

• Capital One Financial (NYSE: COF) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform at Freidman Billings and to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch following its first quarter miss.

• Stifel downgraded Robert Half International (NYSE: RHI) to Sell from Hold after its disappointing first quarter report.

• Stifel also cut Heartland Express Inc (NASDAQ: HTLD) to Hold from Buy on valuation.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Jefferies downgraded shares of RightNow Technologies (NASDAQ: RNOW) to Hold from Buy with a $17 target. William Blair downgraded RightNow to Market Perform from Outperform based on the company's sales organization changes and weak bookings.

• Shares of CBRL Group, Inc (NASDAQ: CBRL) were downgraded at JP Morgan to Neutral from Overweight based on difficult near-term fundamentals and limited visibility.

• Baird cut HNI Corp (NYSE: HNI) to Underperform from Neutral.

• China Eastern Airlines (NYSE: CEA) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

• Brean Murray downgraded Genitope (NASDAQ: GTOP) to Sell from Hold.

• Sandler O'Neill downgraded shares of Capitol Bancorp Ltd (NYSE: CBC) to Sell from Hold.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

When I read on our sister blog TV Squad that CNBC was developing an animated show, I couldn't believe it. Then again, this is the same TV network that thinks Donny Deutsch is a talk show host and that Maria Bartiromo is a journalist. Anything is possible.

Just to be clear, I am talking about a cartoon. Not the type of "animation" that viewers of Jim Cramer's Mad Money show regularly enjoy. I used to work for The Street.com, the company he co-founded, and I can tell you from firsthand experience that Cramer is almost as energetic in real life.

Getting back to the cartoon, CNBC's show is based on a comic strip called CEO Dad. I checked out the strip's Web site and found it amusing in a Dilbertish sort of way. The strip features the adventures of Frank Pitt, "President and CEO of Pitt Packaging International, the third largest manufacturer of Styrofoam peanuts in Bucks County, Pennsylvania."

I'm not smart enough to predict whether CEO Dad will be a smash hit. I didn't think Sanjaya Malakar would last on American Idol and the appeal of Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ:CROX) shoes eludes me.

This got me thinking what could be next for CNBC. Perhaps a musical version of Squawk Box? What about Cramer action figures? The possibilities are endless.