Yahoo hands off webcasting business to CBS

Yahoo is trying to refocus its business and trim many of its operations

Yahoo is planning to transfer control of its web-based Launchcast Radio service to CBS Radio in 2009.

The handover will involve around 150 Launchcast stations, bringing CBS Radio's webcast portfolio up to roughly 300 stations.

As part of the move, Yahoo plans to discontinue its own music player in favour of a new CBS Radio branded browser-based player.

The new player will add support for the Firefox and Safari browsers and will allow Mac users to access the former Launchcast stations, which had previously been limited to Internet Explorer.

"Launchcast Radio stations have a sizeable and loyal following and we are thrilled to expose them to an ever greater depth of content offerings," said David Goodman, digital media and integrated marketing president at CBS Radio.

"Partnering with Yahoo ensures that advertisers will be able to reach the greatest possible audience as we leverage our local and national salesforce to create distinctive campaigns and one-of-a-kind integrated opportunities."

The move is the latest in an ongoing project by Yahoo to refocus its business and trim many of its operations in the midst of a rough 2008.

As early as 2006, Yahoo executives had complained that the company was spread too thinly over various markets and would need to restructure around its more profitable ventures.

Refocusing the company was also a major goal of former chief executive Jerry Yang, who recently stepped down in the aftermath of failed buyout talks with Microsoft, an unsuccessful search deal with Google and economic trouble which led to 1,500 layoffs.