AOL in talks to buy Third Screen Media - WSJ

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Time Warner Inc.'s AOL is in talks to acquire mobile phone advertising start-up Third Screen Media, the Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The deal for the company, which posts small advertisements on cellphone screens, is likely to be in the range of $80 million, the paper said, adding that the talks could still fall through.

Last year, Microsoft Corp.'s MSN unit was close to buying Third Screen but the deal fell apart, the paper said, citing people familiar with the matter.

At that time the company told Reuters that it was looking for additional funding to expand its mobile advertising business rather than trying to sell the company.

AOL and Third Screen have been negotiating since early this year and discussions are fairly advanced, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the talks.

If a deal happens Third Screen is likely to become part of AOL's Advertising.com unit, which helps broker ads on the Internet, the paper said.

AOL and Third Screen were not immediately available on Tuesday to comment.

Wireless providers, advertisers and media companies are all eyeing wireless devices as potential vehicles for advertising as more and more cellphones have high quality color screens, video players and Web browsers.

Third Screen hopes to carve out a niche in this market by selling software that specializes in placing ads on mobile video clips, Web sites and video game players.