Entertainment

My sympathies to those out there who used last month's announcements from T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon as an excuse to quickly jump ship from Sprint Nextel and sign a contract with someone else for an all-you-can-eat talk plan at $100 a month. Sprint was the only major U.S. wireless carrier that d...

XM Satellite Radio Holdings announced double-digit growth in revenues and its subscriber base despite Congressional foot-dragging in regard to its potential merger with rival Sirius Satellite Radio. The company's revenues increased 22 percent in 2007 to $1.1 billion, driven in large measure by its 1...

Television networks are still figuring out how to corral the profit potential of the digital video recorder, and ABC is the latest player to make a move. The Disney-owned network will offer programs free to Cox Communications cable subscribers who have Cox's video-on-demand service. Atlanta-based Co...

High-definition video enthusiasts are going to be looking at a Blu-ray world. That outlook was assured Tuesday when Toshiba officially backed away from the HD DVD format against Sony's heavily fortified Blu-ray technology. The Blu-ray format had gathered momentum in recent months, having won over a ...

With significant recent defections threatening to make what was expected to be a close and ongoing battle for next-generation DVD supremacy a rout in favor of Sony's Blu-ray format, Toshiba is reportedly close to pulling the plug on HD DVD. Toshiba has already made the decision to stop pushing the H...

Amazon's new stock buyback program and its newly stated goals to retire outstanding debt appear to be a good fit for a company that seems to be in an aggressive mode, according to analysts. "It's certainly not going to put a huge dent in their cash coffers," said Michael Souers, a retail analyst wit...

With a marked lack of fanfare, Microsoft lowered the price of its Xbox 360 add-on HD DVD player from $179 to $129. Microsoft has also bundled five free HD DVDs with the player. The price cut comes just a few weeks after Toshiba dropped the price on its three HD DVD standalone players to $149 from $2...

Subscription digital music service Napster posted one of its best quarters as a public company, with record revenue and a smaller financial loss. Los Angeles-based Napster lost $2.8 million, or 6 cents per share, in its third fiscal quarter, compared with a year-earlier net loss of $9.5 million. Rev...

In an effort to boost its market share in China, Google is reportedly in the final stages of a deal with Universal Music Group that would enable the Internet search giant to provide free music downloads to Chinese users. Google, the No. 1 search engine in other large markets such as the U.S., signif...

Amid solid earnings that hit analysts' marks, Time Warner announced on Wednesday that it would radically restructure -- and possibly sell off part of -- its AOL Internet service provider division, ending a tumultuous experiment between the old and new media stalwarts. Overall, the Time Warner's reve...

The online video distribution sweepstakes gained another entrant Monday, with Cablevision throwing its resources behind a joint venture with Popcorn that will offer movie downloads the same day they are released on DVD. The service will enable subscribers to Cablevision's iO TV digital cable service...

As Yahoo continues to overhaul the focus of its music business, the company will migrate its online music subscription customers in the coming months to Rhapsody America. Yahoo will shut down its Music Unlimited service and divert subscribers to Rhapsody, a digital music venture of MTV Networks and ...

Amazon.com doubled its fourth-quarter profit as international sales fueled growth, but the e-tailer's outlook raised questions about its continued reliance on discounting as it expands into new markets and product categories. The company met analyst expectations for fourth quarter earnings with net ...

In a blow to the music industry's worldwide campaign to crack down on copyright infringement, a European court has ruled that Internet service providers cannot turn over the identities of alleged file-sharers. The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg found that existing EU laws do not allow for s...

Qtrax, a new ad-supported music downloading service, has made a splash in the online music industry -- although it's debut was likely not quite what it had envisioned. The company previously reported that it had signed license agreements with the major music labels -- a coup that would have allowed ...