MediaBay vs Audible; Mbay Adds BBC

MediaBay, the audio books company trying to transform itself into a digital audiobooks download firm (a la Audible) has done a couple of good deals:

– It is teaming up with Larry King to offer digital audiobooks…it will launch Larry King Audio, an online audiobook store that will offer customers digital downloads of audiobooks on a subscription or single book basis. Each week, Larry King will discuss his top audiobook picks and offer his perspective on new titles that are published.

– It has tied up with BBC Audiobooks UK to offer digital downloads of its library of audiobook titles. These titles will be offered on the MSN Music service, as part of MediaBay’s exclusive agreement with MSN.

But anaylsts are skeptical about the company’s prospects: “They have a lot of things they need to do before they can be considered a strong competitor to Audible,” Standard & Poor’s Internet equity analyst Scott Kessler said. MediaBay’s market capitalization is $19 million, compared with Audible’s $421 million.

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