Entertainment

The adage "those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it" is particularly appropriate in the market for consumer video formats and players. Consistently, manufacturers have been unwilling or unable to develop formats compatible over a broad range of CE devices, and consumers have suffe...

As the Web video craze continues to escalate, the market for this content is evolving. Advertisers are trying to cash in on clips by both amateurs and production companies; new Web sites catering to the trend are popping up; and video is gaining in popularity on additional platforms, notably mobile....

There's no denying that seismic changes are afoot in the music industry. As the record labels engage in bitter battles over copyrights, artists are increasingly turning to alternative means of releasing music and reaching their fans. Prince chose to give away his latest album, "Planet Earth," for fr...

A new mobile phone Samsung is making for AT&T will include Napster Mobile, a service that allows owners to search, preview and buy music from Napster's catalog of 5 million songs. The phone, called the "SLM by Samsung," will be available in stores on Nov. 23, said AT&T. The new phone is the ...

A new mobile phone Samsung is making for AT&T will include Napster Mobile, a service that allows owners to search, preview and buy music from Napster's catalog of 5 million songs. The phone, called the "SLM by Samsung," will be available in stores on Nov. 23, said AT&T. The new phone is the ...

A new mobile phone Samsung is making for AT&T will include Napster Mobile, a service that allows owners to search, preview and buy music from Napster's catalog of 5 million songs. The phone, called the "SLM by Samsung," will be available in stores on Nov. 23, said AT&T. The new phone is the ...

XM and Sirius on Tuesday took two key steps closer to having their merger finalized as shareholders from both companies gave their blessing to the deal, which is still awaiting regulatory approval. Sirius shareholders voted at a special meeting to amend the company's certificate of incorporation to ...

Microsoft on Monday announced its intention to buy France-based mobile music services provider Musiwave in a move that could dramatically boost the software giant's presence in the cell phone music space. Redmond reached a deal with Musiwave parent company Openwave Systems that gives it the exclusiv...

Cable TV companies are swarming like angry bees over the Federal Communications Commission's desire to tighten its regulatory grip to spark competition and programming diversity. According to published reports, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin will try to enforce a 1984 rule that would force the cable comp...

The world of commercial radio is getting ever more homogenized, as media giants are running thousands of stations in hundreds of markets with remarkably similar formats and playlists. On the other hand, specialized radio services have begun offering increasingly particular formats and programming op...

Providence Equity Partners might back away from its $1.2 billion deal to buy Clear Channel Communications' 56 television stations, an agreement announced in April that was supposed to close soon. Confirmation of Providence's sudden case of cold feet came Thursday in a report filed by Clear Channel w...

It's been nearly a month since the British rock band Radiohead shook the music industry by releasing an entire album on its Web site and allowing fans to pay whatever they wanted, down to and including nothing, to download and own the music forever. Now, the preliminary sales results are in, as tabu...

The 12,000 members of the Writers Guild of America hit the picket lines Monday after talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to reach a compromise. At issue are new allocation plans for DVD and digital download residuals. It is the first strike since writers walked ...

As the Internet and digital technologies continue to play an ever-increasing role on the business side of the music industry, big-name recording artists have begun to turn their backs on their labels and opt instead to strike out on their own. Part 1 of this two-part series described what longstandi...

TV and movie writers in the Writers Guild of America are expected to hit the picket lines as early as Monday after failing to reach agreements with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The two factions are waging a pitched battle over DVD and digital distribution residuals, a gro...