Media behemoth Viacom is now eyeing music-focused recommendation and social networking play Last.fm, according to various sources.
“Viacom is quietly but urgently trying to do as much due diligence as possible to make a bid,” one executive source told Digital Music News on Thursday. “[Viacom chairman] Sumner [Redstone] doesn’t want to miss another big social play.” Elsewhere, a possible purchase price of $450 million is being tossed around, thanks to a recent report by self-described Wall Street tabloid DealBreaker.com. The rumblings follow a period of internal friction at Viacom following the purchase of MySpace by News Corp., a $580 million deal announced in July, 2005. That purchase price, now considered a steal, was quickly recouped following a lucrative advertising deal involving Google. The missed opportunity was widely believed to the a chief reason for the dismissal of Viacom chief executive Tom Freston, a well-revered, longtime veteran at MTV Networks.