• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, November 27, 2007

TargetSpot, one of the largest online radio ad brokers, announced Monday that it has signed deals with a number of new partners for its online ad service. The new broadcasters--Nassau Broadcasting Partners, Soundpedia.com and FNX Radio--bring more than 50 new online radio stations into the TargetSpot fold, most of them owned by Nassau. Soundpedia.com and FNX Radio are popular stand-alone Web destinations.

Partially owned by CBS Radio, Union Square Ventures and Oddcast, TargetSpot went live in September and aims to serve 450 stations around the country by the beginning of 2008. Its major broadcast partners currently include CBS Radio, Entercom, Beasley, WarpRadio and Haystack Media. Partners use TargetSpot's technology to create, buy, and place audio, display and text advertising in streaming audio content online. Ads can be targeted using demographic criteria, location (using ZIP codes), or by specific stations.

The new TargetSpot partnerships are just the latest in a flurry of deals to create and expand online radio ad networks.

Triton Media Group bought Excelsior Radio Networks and its two subsidiaries, Dial Global and MJI Interactive, in mid-November. With a price tag said to exceed $100 million, the deal will allow Triton to expand the reach of ads through Excelsior's online network. Excelsior Radio Networks' two divisions provide complementary services to radio broadcasters, including a growing online component.

Currently, Dial Global provides sales representation to more than 50 national production companies, as well as producing and syndicating 25 shows. Sister firm MJI provides partner stations with Web content and software tools.

In July, Katz Media Group acquired Net Radio Sales, renamed Katz Net Radio Sales--allowing advertisers to deliver ads across a variety of audio and Web-based platforms, including hundreds of station Web sites in its digital network. The company also provides a variety of interactive ads to station Web sites.

Also in July, Ronning Lipset Radio announced that it had partnered with Corstarr to use its Adcor technology for delivering Internet radio ads. Adcor allows broadcasters to set up multiple radio channels and deliver ads across one or all of them, targeting audiences by demographic characteristics and daypart.

According to market research from the Media Audit released in September, about 18% of Internet users visit the Web site of a radio station at least once a month. With 70% of the total American population on the Internet--about 212 million people--that equals roughly 38.6 million unique visitors a month.