Last FM goes to CBS

Last FM, the popular personalized online radio station, has been acquired in one of the richest deals yet for a new-generation web venture, and one with minimal revenue. The UK-based site, which tracks the choices of a user's friends to make suggestions, is going to CBS for about $280m. Superficially, the deal makes sense. CBS, the TV network, also has one of the largest radio networks in the US; and Last FM represents a new way of listening to music. But that's about the limit of any synergy.

The transaction has more to do with the boom in search and banner advertising, which has spilled over into an indiscriminate enthusiasm for internet assets. CBS, since it hired Quincy Smith, a former banker, to run its online operations, has become one of the more frenzied dealmakers.

Though this deal won't really matter, it will be amusing to imagine the panic at Viacom, which is also controlled by crotchety billionaire Sumner Redstone. At the core of CBS's sister company is MTV Networks; and Last FM has been described as MTV for the new web-native generation. That will sting.

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