National Public Radio is going to try anew to rev up hyperlocal on the Web sites of its affiliates, according to a paidContent.org interview with incoming CEO Vivian Schiller, who was recruited from a leadership position at NYTimes.com. Schiller is a resident of Washington, D.C., where NPR is located.
The  proposed hyperlocal effort harkens back to …

We’ve long known Google to be on a path toward facilitating media buys across a cluster of offline traditional media. A clearer glimpse into this vision was given yesterday by Meredith Papp, product marketing manager at Google, during TKG’s session at SES.
Papp, who works for the division that handles traditional media advertising strategies, presented a …

These are tough, fast-changing times for newspapers, and many of them are taking severe measures to get back on track. Sometimes, it means putting the innovative online guy in charge of print too, as Bay Area News Group has done with online advertising head David Prizer. But sometimes, it means consolidating power under the old …

Google’s ambitious effort to take its bidding system across media might be hitting a bump in radio. The company’s program started out fairly well when it bought dMarc (since renamed Google Audio Ads) for $102 million plus incentives in 2006. Since then, it must have been doing something right. It now claims affiliations with 1,600 …

The rise of Web-oriented behavioral targeting and the tough economics and unwieldiness of user diaries and phone calls have pushed radio rating giant Arbitron to focus less on radio station ranking and more on providing qualitative data about specific local businesses. The shift might have ramifications across all media, especially in smaller markets.
Leveraging its ownership …

When a local team headed by ad agency and PR veteran Brian Tierney bought The Philadelphia Inquirer and related holdings 18 months ago, it was seen as a possible model for how “new thinking” could transform the newspaper industry.
Since then, Tierney and his team have had a tumultuous time, with major union problems, declining circulation and …

CBS Radio will begin selling inventory for audio and video ads across all its stations in a three-year deal it has signed with New York City-based TargetSpot, an 18-person specialized agency run by Kanoodle vet Doug Perlson. Union Square Ventures’ Fred Wilson is among the investors who have put more than $2 million in …

CBS Radio will begin selling inventory for audio and video ads across all its stations in a three-year deal it has signed with New York City-based TargetSpot, an 18-person specialized agency run by Kanoodle vet Doug Perlson. Union Square Ventures’ Fred Wilson is among the investors who have put more than $2 million in …

Executive Interview: The Leading Edge: Auto Advertising in Transition had very much the same ring to it as yesterday’s session on real estate in transition. At The Kelsey Group’s ILM:07 event, the final panel each day was on two of the most rapidly changing classified advertising verticals. Since home and automobile buying are typically the two …

Last week Bebo, the global social network, announced its new OpenMedia platform partnerships. The network has partnered with major media brands to deliver premium content to its 40 million users.
Partnerships include CBS, MTV Networks, ESPN, the BBC, Channel Four, ITN, Yahoo! and BSkyB, as well as emerging media companies like Music Nation, Next New Networks, …

Summary
EBay announced today that it will begin working with radio ad start-up Bid4Spots. The deal will bring Bid4Spots’ auction-based radio ad sales capability to eBay’s Media Marketplace. This represents a growing direction for eBay to broker ads to cable television and radio and brings the online giant in head-to-head competition with Google’s parallel efforts to …

Summary
CBS announced today that it has acquired London-based social networking site Last.fm for $280 million. The site claims about 15 million monthly users (4 million in the U.S.) and hangs its hat on music video distribution – thought to be a good fit with the traditional broadcast giant. The site also has video distribution in …

A new ad serving technology for Internet broadcasters launched this week with funding from Union Square Ventures, CBS Radio and Oddcast. Known as TargetSpot, the technology will allow advertisers to create buy and place their own advertising in online streaming audio outlets.
This will include a customizable menu of audio, video, banner and text ads. In …

A new Interactive Local Media Advisory looks at Google’s moves over the past week to continue its march toward becoming a one-stop shop advertising powerhouse across all media. They include of course the massive DoubleClick acquisition and the deal with Clear Channel.
The paid search market where Google hangs its giant hat is maturing. Like any …

Google and Clear Channel Communications will announce a partnership today whereby the search company will sell 5 percent of the radio group’s inventory in 100 top U.S. markets. The agreement covers roughly 675 Clear Channel stations. Terms of the deal, including any potential cash or revenue share agreements, were not released.
Clear Channel is the largest …

Google is pushing hard to jumpstart its radio ad business, leveraging its $1.245 billion acquisition of the DMarc rep business in 2005. The search leader says it is working with 900 stations in 200 markets.
But so far, according to an article by Miguel Helft in The New York Times, its list of participating stations in …

Pushing hard on “multimedia” capabilities to sell national ads on 1,200 local radio, TV and newspaper Web sites, Media Span and Broadcast Interactive Media  mostly known as Web enablers and sales consultants  are teaming up to provide a one-stop shop for national advertisers.
While the network is a good idea, there is little that …