NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — TV networks aren’t the only media outlets throwing glitzy midtown events for advertisers this week. CBS Corp. held a showy presentation in New York yesterday to announce the formation of the CBS Radio Digital Network, a new division of its CBS Radio group and one of the terrestrial radio industry’s first major bids for new-media relevance.
The event comes on the heels of CBS Radio’s news in March that it would power the AOL Radio player, which would allow online radio listeners to toggle seamlessly between CBS and AOL radio stations. The group is also working more closely with CBS sister company Last.FM.
Play it your way
One of the first projects to emerge from those new partnerships is an application called Play.It, which will allow listeners to create their own personalized internet radio station with iTunes-like functionality. Play.It essentially allows users to act as their own digital DJs. David Goodman, CBS Radio’s president-digital media and integrated marketing, gave the example of creating his own playlist around Bruce Springsteen. If he wanted to skip ahead to a new song, he could, a feature streaming radio can’t offer. He could then share it with his friends on Facebook and MySpace and invite them to suggest other artists and songs to add to the station’s playlist. If he wanted to keep any of his least-favorite bands off his online airwaves, say The Eagles, he could add them to a list of forbidden artists.
“It’s a way to create a cool and dynamic page for radio in a way that never existed before,” Mr. Goodman said.
CBS Radio is likely the first major radio group to introduce a customized online radio feature of this scale, although Clear Channel is expected to announce a similar application with a best-of-breed partner later this summer.

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