-By Katy Bachman

In a deal that unites two of the largest online radio providers, CBS Radio and Yahoo announced Wednesday (Dec. 3) the two would combine their online radio stations.

Beginning early next year, LAUNCHcast's 150 online stations and more than 150 CBS Radio stations will be integrated into Yahoo's music site powered by CBS Radio's player. CBS Radio will assume sales responsibility for the entire portfolio.

As part of the partnership, Yahoo news and sports will incorporate dedicated CBS Radio players into their sites, featuring popular CBS Radio sports, news and Talk stations such as WFAN-AM in New York, KNX-AM in Los Angeles, and WPHT-AM in Philadelphia. Also for the first time, LAUNCHcast will be available to Firefox, Mac and Safari users.

The deal between CBS Radio and Yahoo is similar to the deal CBS Radio struck with AOL Radio in June. That groundbreaking partnership introduced CBS Radio's player, which broke the mold of how stations were streamed on the Internet by including a suite of interactive features.

For LAUNCHcast, the agreement with CBS also addresses the problem faced by pure play Internet radio services whose business models have been hard hit by steep, new music royalty fees. By partnering with CBS Radio, LAUNCHcast will also be able to maximize ad sales both through CBS' sales resources and via TargetSpot, which offers both an online geo-targeting system and through its recent acquisition of Ronning Lipset Radio, the largest online audio ad network.

"Partnering with Yahoo ensures advertisers will be able to reach the greatest possible audience as we leverage our local and national sales force, as well as TargetSpot, to create distinctive campaigns and one of a kind integrated opportunities," said David Goodman, president of digital media and integrated marketing for CBS Radio.