CBS Radio, which recently posted disappointing earnings, announced today that their sales team is now combining their 150 online stations with AOL Radio network's 200 online networks. In addition -- as if that weren't big enough news -- CBS Radio will unveil a ''brand new state of the art player'' in the spring in order to compete against iPods, satellite radio, internet radio and PDAs. FishbowlNY emailed CBS Radio's Karen Mateo, the Vice President of Communications for CBS, about the groundbreaking agreement and, of course, the new player.

FishbowlNY: Could you tell our readers a bit about the brand new state of the art player? How will this compete against the various other PDA's?

Karen Mateo: The new player will allow audiences to toggle between AOL and CBS RADIO stations; view song titles, album information and link to websites featuring the current artist being streamed; access favorite stations via presets, rate and share songs with family, friends, and coworkers; purchase individual songs, albums and concert tickets; and link to a host of additional web content, including photos, videos, promotions, contests, news headlines, sports scores, trivia, and concert information, among other topics.

FishbowlNY: It would seem that traditional terrestrial radio is dead and -- from what the press release says -- ''interactive radio'' is in. Is that an accurate comment?

Karen Mateo: Radio is far from dead. Despite increasing demands on our time from all quarters -- and despite ever-expanding media choices -- an impressive 93 percent of all Americans age 12 and older tune in to Radio for information, entertainment or discussion over the course of each and every week. The total U.S. 12+ Listening Audience is just shy of 233,000,000 people. And even with the explosion of new media, Radio remains relevant. Radio has retained 85 percent of its TSL (time-spent-listening) levels over the past ten years.
FishbowlNY: Does CBS Radio have any appetite to outright buy AOL Radio's stations?

Karen Mateo: We are pleased with the agreement we have reached with AOL. The partnership provides a number of benefits to the consumer, including more programming choices than ever before, and affords us the opportunity to drive sales for AOL Radio's stations leveraging the combination of our audiences with advertisers.

FishbowlNY: I'm curious: considering Apple's market share -- small but significant -- why was complete support for the Mac a priority?

Karen Mateo: We want all listeners -- no matter what platform they choose to interact with us on -- to be able to experience the rich content that CBS RADIO and AOL Radio deliver.

(image via clipart)