The latest bidder in the potential Yahoo takeover is Thomas H. Lee Partners, Reuters learned. THL is said to be looking at a leveraged buyout of Yahoo's US business, which could be worth between $5 and $6 billion. THL has run other media companies such as Nielsen Co, Clear Channel, and Univision.
Thumbplay has reportedly failed to fetch enough subscribers to justify continuing forward, leading the company to sell its music subscription service to Clear Channel Radio. Although the company had better luck with its ringtone business, that too will be sold in a separate transaction that has yet to be publicly tied to a specific buyer.
RIM gave an early look at a new media app of its own on Thursday to those in its BlackBerry Beta Zone. BlackBerry Radio combines both Internet only services like Slacker with traditional radio station sources such as Corus and Clear Channel's iheartradio in a single app. The service gives at least a sample even if it would normally require a subscription and gives the option of downloading the relevant app.
Transit riders who wait for a Muni bus in a transit stop can now pass the time by playing video games at some bus shelters in downtown San Francisco. A promotional campaign headed up by Yahoo involves digital video touchscreens that are tied together, letting commuters play head to head. The games are part of a contest and include visual puzzles and sports trivia competitions.
Starting Tuesday, Verizon FiOS TV subscribers will have access to 387 streaming Internet radio stations. The beta service uses Clear Channel's iHeartRadio software to access the stations, which are classified by genre and region. FiOS TV requires a PC to be connected to transcode video, which will allow users to type in URLs to stream MP3, WAV, WMA audio files. At the same time, it will also support ASX, WAX, WVX, PLS and M3U playlists.
