• Microsoft Offers $44.6B for Yahoo
• FCC Chairman Vague On Capping A La Carte Prices
• Appeals Court Upholds Ruling for TiVo in Dish Suit
• DirectTV, TNS Media Team on Set-Top Based Ratings Service
• Clinton Campaign Buys Time On Hallmark
• AT&T Knocked for 'Inferior' PEG Channels

• DirecTV Getting In Tune With Rural Broadcasters
• WGA Writes Two More Interim Deals: AP
• RFD Signs Carriage Deal With Comcast
• Comcast Premieres ReelzChannel in N.J.
• NCTA Outlines New Orleans Initiatives
• NATPE 2008: MySpace.com Finds Video Shorts Work Best
• Outdoor Channel Places Advisors In Its Sights

• Spears’s Series Delivers With Fourth-Season Debut
• ESPN Preps For Australian HD Launch

Microsoft Offers $44.6B for Yahoo
Microsoft floated a gargantuan offer of $44.6 billion in cash and stock for Yahoo, a deal that seeks to counter Google's dominance in online advertising. click to read more...
Back to top

FCC Chairman Vague On Capping A La Carte Prices
Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin wants big cable programmers to offer their channels one at a time to cable and satellite TV providers, but he hasn’t made clear how so-called wholesale a la carte mandates would be effective if the FCC won’t police the per-channel rates being sought. click to read more...
Back to top

Appeals Court Upholds Ruling for TiVo in Dish Suit
A federal appeals court Thursday upheld a ruling that Dish Network violated key software-based digital video recorder patents owned by TiVo, and affirmed the judgment against the direct-broadcast satellite operator for $94 million in damages. click to read more...
Back to top

DirectTV, TNS Media Team on Set-Top Based Ratings Service
DirecTV and TNS Media Research are teaming up on a TV-measurement service that will use data collected from the set-tops of 100,000 of the satellite provider’s subscribers, officials said Thursday. click to read more...
Back to top

Clinton Campaign Buys Time On Hallmark
Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign will conduct a question-and-answer session in New York City on Monday night (Feb. 4) that will be telecast for an hour on Hallmark Channel after the campaign bought time on Wednesday. click to read more...
Back to top

AT&T Knocked for 'Inferior' PEG Channels
The Internet-based technology AT&T touts as giving it an edge over the cable industry was criticized this week by the Alliance for Community Media as providing an “inferior” platform for public, educational and government channels. click to read more...
Back to top

DirecTV Getting In Tune With Rural Broadcasters
Seeking to address complaints by rural broadcasters, DirecTV this week told federal regulators it has begun manufacturing a tuner that will allow subscribers to pick up the local signals of TV stations. click to read more...
Back to top

WGA Writes Two More Interim Deals: AP
The Writers Guild of America has signed two more deals, reaching interim agreements with The Film Department and Intermedia Film, according to the Associated Press. click to read more...
Back to top

RFD Signs Carriage Deal With Comcast
RFD-TV said Thursday it signed an affiliation agreement that lets it seek carriage on Comcast cable systems for its standard-definition and high-definition channels. click to read more...
Back to top

Comcast Premieres ReelzChannel in N.J.
Comcast Thursday launched ReelzChannel, which is dedicated to “Everything about Movies, 24/7,” throughout New Jersey on its Digital Classic lineup. click to read more...
Back to top

NCTA Outlines New Orleans Initiatives
National Cable & Telecommunications Association CEO Kyle McSlarrow outlined for Louisiana cable officials the efforts planned to benefit school playgrounds and libraries and other school enhancements planned in conjunction with the May 18-20 cable convention in New Orleans. click to read more...
Back to top

NATPE 2008: MySpace.com Finds Video Shorts Work Best
Don't look for repurposed half-hour TV shows or original Internet productions of that length on MySpace anytime soon. Even 8-minute episodes are challenged to find an audience among video snackers at the social networks site, said Jeff Berman, executive vice president, content and marketing for the site. click to read more...
Back to top

Outdoor Channel Places Advisors In Its Sights
Outdoor Channel has established its 2008 Hunting Advisory Council, comprising a cross-section of thought leaders from key industry organizations. click to read more...
Back to top