The partnership with the Dial provides Salon.com with a potential additional revenue stream derived from broadcast advertising available on "Salon.com on theDial." Under the agreement, the companies will develop a talk-based channel on theDial, elevating Salon.com's content to a spoken format. The channel, targeted for the spring of 2000, will feature on-air essays, commentaries and interviews by some of Salon.com's renowned writers.

"By adding an online audio service to the Salon.com network, we are capitalizing on the increasing demand for music and talk radio on the Internet," said Michael O'Donnell, CEO and president of Salon.com. "theDial's unique and customizable player is a great showcase for Salon.com's superb and original content and allows our premier advertisers to showcase their products in a more compelling way."

Starting Thursday, visitors to the Salon.com network can download the Salon-branded player on theDial and access music from jazz and classical to hip-hop, funk and rock and roll. In addition to music selections, theDial has interspersed its programming with POWerbytes, short segments on the latest in entertainment, technology and culture.

The Salon.com player is interactive, enabling listeners to change channels and program music. In addition, "Salon.com on theDial" offers a GO! button and a Buy CD button, which are prominently displayed on the player and let listeners act on what they are hearing -- whether it be an advertisement or a particular song or artist.

"We saw the potential in partnering with Salon.com early on," said Todd Herman, president and chief evangelizing officer for theDial. "theDial is a completely new way of enjoying audio on the Internet, and maps extremely well with Salon.com users -- people focused on intelligent content, wit, pop culture and politics. theDial offers the Web audience an entertaining and intelligent alternative to straight music on the Internet."