Entertainment

Microsoft has a new weapon in its advertising arsenal. The software giant has acquired Navic Networks, an interactive television ad developer that targets specific audiences with its service. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Navic uses audience measuring data to determine which broadcast commer...

The long-awaited merger of XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio may be on the cusp of winning approval, with the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission now saying he is on board with letting it go forward. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin will propose allowing the merger to proceed, but...

All over the world, with so many different meanings and perceptions of the word "branding," it appears that it has lost its true meaning; the terminology is more like a walk through a museum with a glorious past. Loose words like "economy" carry different meanings that speak differently to different...

Amazon.com will launch a new streaming video service in the next "several weeks," CEO Jeff Bezos said Wednesday. Speaking at The Wall Street Journal's three-day D6: All Things Digital conference in California, Bezos also said his company is "very serious" about music and movies, and is currently rea...

Broadcast, cablecast, simulcast, webcast, podcast, vodcast, mobilecast -- the melding of the realms of "lean back" and "lean in" technology can mean coming attractions for business-to-business marketing communications and video news generation -- if done straight-up, i.e., correctly and transparentl...

Michael Hollick isn't really a Balkan criminal -- he just plays one in a video game that happens to be one of the fastest-selling ever, generating at least $600 million in sales over the last three weeks. Yet while Rockstar Games' "Grand Theft Auto IV" has enjoyed its wild success, Hollick -- an act...

In its most direct challenge yet to the dominance of Apple's iTunes Music Store, Napster on Tuesday launched what it says is the largest online MP3 download store, selling some six million tracks. All of the songs offered for download by Napster are free of digital rights management controls, meanin...

For the past five years, the Recording Industry Association of America has been prosecuting people -- and threatening to prosecute many more -- for sharing copyrighted content online without authorization. Last year, in the first file-sharing lawsuit ever to go to trial, Jammie Thomas was found liab...

In a move to amplify its online exposure and capitalize on the burgeoning Internet advertising market, CBS has agreed to purchase Cnet Networks for approximately $1.8 billion. The television and radio giant will combine Cnet's assets with its national and local interactive businesses, enlarging its ...

The European broadband, communications and television landscape is not just characterized by intense competition among telephone providers. The cable operators, telcos and satellite providers not only need to keep a close eye on each other, but also players delivering digital terrestrial television ...

There is really nothing wrong with the brand "Bollywood," except that the Indian film industry has become far more powerful and far-reaching than anything else like this in any other country of the world, and even larger than Hollywood. In hindsight, decades ago, who in their right mind would have p...

Circuit City will allow Blockbuster and its largest shareholder, Carl Icahn, to look into the company's finances in connection with the video rental company's proposed buyout offer. Circuit City also revealed that it has hired Goldman Sachs to help the company look into strategic alternatives to bui...

A federal judge in Los Angeles has awarded the Motion Picture Association of America $110 million in compensation from Valence Media, operator of the now-defunct file-sharing Web site TorrentSpy. U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ordered Valence Media to pay $30,000 for each copyright infrin...

Entertainment conglomerate Viacom, riding a wave of success from a video game launch and a strong showing by its television enterprises, reported a 33 percent increase in first-quarter profit Friday. Viacom, which owns the Nickelodeon, MTV and BET networks as well as moviemaker Paramount, reported e...

A federal judge has established a framework that determines the licensing fee amounts three online services -- Yahoo, AOL and RealNetworks -- should pay to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. The fees could amount to $100 million, according to ASCAP, and will be paid to member...