Entertainment

Two billionaires are burying the technology hatchet this holiday season. Rupert Murdoch and John Malone ended a two-year battle over Liberty Media's stake in News Corp. with a US$11 billion deal. Specifically, Liberty Media has agreed to exchange its 16.3 percent stake in News Corp. for News Corp.'s...

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted Thursday to make it easier and faster for telephone companies to enter markets with television services, clearing the way for a showdown with cable companies for the right to deliver bundles of products into consumers' homes. By a 3-2 margin, the FCC...

Sony will reportedly launch a video download service for users of its PlayStation Portable devices early next year, a move that could put it into direct competition with Apple's iPod video devices and its iTunes Movie Store. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is in negotiations with several possible c...

Antitrust regulators in the U.S., South Korea and Japan are investigating whether major providers of LCD technology engaged in anti-competitive behavior. Shares of LCD makers such as LG.Philips and Samsung Electronics plummeted in overseas trading after news broke that both Japanese and U.S. regulat...

Opportunities for using new media for the public good have been overlooked in the excitement surrounding the rise of new media itself. The fading of television as a traditional media form, the end of television sets as distinct single-function devices, and the redirection of advertising dollars away...

Four major media companies are reportedly in discussions about launching their own Web-based video sharing site to compete with Google's YouTube. CBS, Viacom, NBC Universal and News Corp. are said to have held discussions about creating a rival to the wildly popular video sharing site, which Google ...

Following on the phenomenal success of Apple's iPod, there is a second wave of companies looking to ride the digital music and media convergence waves -- assembling a mix of music artists, private label "indie" music producers, and the giants of the PC and consumer electronics industries. It is too ...

From the apparently sudden arrival of Web-based video distribution options to the growing sophistication of TV-like advertising online and the social networking phenomenon, the Internet drew attention and dollars away from newspapers, TV and radio in 2006. This coming of age did not take place overn...

Wal-Mart said Tuesday it would launch a downloadable video service, a move that could hasten the demise of the traditional DVD and help catapult the retailer into the center of the video-on-demand marketplace. The discount retail giant unveiled plans to launch a download-on-demand test in February 2...

Throughout history, broad groups of species have undergone periods of rapid evolution and radiation. The same can be said today of digital music technology. From MP3 streaming and live Web simulcasting to the emergence of iPods and the numerous other brands of MP3 player/recorders, to music clips an...

Disney jumped into the video-on-demand cable arena on Tuesday in a mega deal with Comcast. The long-term distribution agreement, which includes 10 ABC-owned broadcast television stations and the Disney networks, extends the Disney-Comcast relationship into the next decade. The deal will see hit prog...

An explosion of musical and technological innovation is resulting in a profusion of new, cross-cultural musical styles and influences. Digital music technology is the "core enabler" changing the face of the music industry -- as well as the habits and preferences of musicians and listeners around the...

Two private equity firms have agreed to buy Clear Channel Communications for US$18.7 billion, ending weeks of speculation about the sprawling radio network's fate, including rumors of interest from Google. Clear Channel said Thursday it would be acquired by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital Pa...

Bidding to stake a claim in the move toward IPTV, TiVo Tuesday launched a series of upgrades meant to enable its digital video recorder to be used as a central control panel from which viewers can receive and manage cable and broadband Internet video. TiVo said its broadband strategy is meant to "pu...

The power of music to bridge national boundaries and cultural divides has long been recognized, but perhaps has never been as starkly clear as it is today. One need only look at the phenomenal growth of MTV channels in countries around the world during the past decade. The commercialization and spre...