Audio4cast

Internet radio advertising network Targetspot announced that they have added independant Internet radio brand Slacker to their network, making the largest Internet radio network even bigger. In October, Targetspot announced the purchase of RL Radio, an Internet radio advertising network that represented CBS/AOL and Yahoo Launchcast (read about that here). Since then, CBS RADIO has announced that they will now sell the ads for Yahoo’s Launchcast. CBS RADIO has some undefined investor role in Targetspot as well.

Slacker is an interactive Internet radio service that offers listeners the choice of programmed channels of music or the ability to design music streams to their own liking. Originally a subscriber only service, Slacker has more recently opened up some of their services to free listening, and were exploring ad based revenue models. They were the first service to market mobility - they have a handheld personal player that plays only their service – but more recently they announced a partnership with Blackberry (covered, here) which promises to add significant audience.

Targetspot’s partnership with Slacker will enable them to target ads to listeners based on demographic or geographic criteria. The ability to target audio ads to listeners based on their age, gender, or geographic location is a unique service to Targetspot.

“Slacker has developed a ground breaking product to ensure that the listener gets the music they want to hear – whether it’s in the car, on the street or at work. Similarly, TargetSpot’s unique hypertargeting platform and cost effective and easy to use ad creation technology is focused on having the advertiser reach that enables the advertiser to follow the listener – the right listener – whether it is by geography, demographic or any other category,” said TargetSpot CEO Doug Perlson.

This is a significant win for Targetspot, not surprising given the strength that their network has gained in recent months. It also adds some nice diversity to their network by adding a significant independant Internet radio brand following last week’s announcement that CBS would “power” Yahoo’s Launchcast in the same way they do AOL. Although, given the close association between CBS and Targetspot, one does wonder whether CBS has set its sights on Slacker as well…