Broadcast.com was an

Internet radio Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...

company founded as AudioNet in September 1995 by Cameron Christopher Jaeb.

Todd Wagner Todd R. Wagner (born August 2, 1960) is an American entrepreneur, co-founder of Broadcast.com and founder and CEO of a company called Charity Network which organizes regular fund raisings. He also co-owns 2929 Entertainment with Mark Cuban, alo ...

and

Mark Cuban Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.8 billion, according to ''Forbes'', and ranked No. 177 on the 2020 ''Forbes'' 400 list ...

later led the organization and eventually sold to

Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Manage ...

on April 1, 1999, for $5.7 billion, making it the most expensive acquisition Yahoo! has made. The service has since been discontinued.

History

The company was founded in 1989 as Cameron Audio Networks, named after its founder Cameron Christopher Jaeb, who received an initial investment from his father. Jaeb wanted a method for people to be able to listen to out-of-town sports games. The original idea, a shortwave radio that would receive broadcasts inside a sports venue, morphed into a handheld device that would receive customized satellite broadcasts. With the support of his father Tom, Jaeb incorporated. Jaeb then began soliciting the rights to broadcast radio and professional sports games live on the Internet, making 80–100 calls per day. In 1994, through a class that his girlfriend was taking, Jaeb was introduced to Todd Wagner, an attorney at

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in Washington, DC. It is the largest lobbying firm in the United States by revenue. Akin Gump has consistently been ranked as among the top law firms in the Un ...

. Wagner introduced Jaeb to

, who invested $10,000 in exchange for 2% of the company. Cuban wanted to listen to the basketball games of his alma mater,

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

. Cuban and Wagner worked out a deal whereby Jaeb would keep 10% of the company and would get a monthly salary of $2,500 but Cuban would take control of the company. The company was renamed AudioNet.com in September 1995 in conjunction with the reorganization. At first, Cuban picked up signals from

KLIF (AM) KLIF () is a commercial AM radio radio station licensed to Dallas, Texas. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts a talk radio format to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The studios are in the Victory Park district in Dallas, j ...

in his bedroom and then streamed them on the Internet. The company grew from mainly broadcasting sporting events to broadcasting U.S. presidential nominating conventions and many other events. In 1998, AudioNet was renamed to Broadcast.com and in July 1998, the company became a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( ...

via an initial public offering. The stock price soared 250% on its first day of trading, a record for a newly-issued public stock. After the IPO, the company was worth $1 billion, Mark Cuban was worth $300 million, and Todd Wagner was worth $170 million. On April 1, 1999, less than nine months after the IPO,

announced the acquisition of Broadcast.com for $5.7 billion in stock. At the time, Broadcast.com had 570,000 users and the purchase price was $10,000 per user. Cuban sold most of his Yahoo! stock that same year, netting over $1 billion. Founder Chris Jaeb, whose stake was diluted to less than 1% of the company, received approximately $50 million from the sale. The service became a part of Yahoo! Broadcast Services. Yahoo! shut down much of its broadcast services in 2002, and Broadcast.com has since been discontinued. Yahoo!'s high-profile purchase of Broadcast.com has since been called one of the worst Internet acquisitions.

References

External links

* {{Dot-com Bubble Internet properties established in 1995 Internet properties disestablished in 1999 American music websites Defunct websites Discontinued Yahoo! services Internet radio in the United States Defunct digital music services or companies Yahoo! acquisitions Dot-com bubble Webby Award winners Defunct online companies of the United States 1998 initial public offerings 1999 mergers and acquisitions

History

See also

References

External links