Best Buy

                   If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. MICROSOFT increased it’s bid for YAHOO from $31 to $32 and change. Yahoo still wants $37 a share, however, with the price within $4, it is likely a deal could come sometime soon. With progress being made, sources say a Continue Reading →

  If you are having trouble viewing our video player, check out MediaBytes on YouTube. THE NETWORK ADVERTISING INITIATIVE issued guidelines for targeted advertising that drew distinctions between targetable and non-targetable characteristics. The guidelines tell member companies, which include AOL’s Advertising.com and Google’s Doubleclick, to avoid tracking HIV/AIDS status, sex-related conditions (including STD’s), psychiatric conditions, Continue Reading →

MICROSOFT responded to YAHOO‘s rejection of its takeover bid with a statement calling its offer “full and fair” and promising to pursue any steps necessary to close the deal at the original offer price. In related news, Microsoft will acquire DANGER INC., the company behind the popular Sidekick mobile phone. The terms of the deal Continue Reading →

COMCAST CEO Brian Roberts will deliver this morning’s CES keynote and reveal a plan to increase on-demand titles from 1,300 to 6,000. Roberts will also discuss the company’s plans for Fancast.com, a guide to video that helps users find content online and offline. Fancast will let users search for any content in any format. A Continue Reading →

THE GAO released a study yesterday finding that the FCC has “no comprehensive plan” in place for the upcoming transition to all-digital television. The report claims there is a risk of inadequate funding for converter boxes and potential failure to properly inform citizens of the end of analog. In related news, the NTIA announced that Continue Reading →

BEST BUY has stopped selling all analog TV sets and has ordered stores to pull unsold sets from the shelves, ensuring an all-digital holiday season. The mandate is an aggressive and bold move to prepare for the upcoming digital transition. The retailer has committed to selling digital-to-analog convertors and will stock them by early January. Continue Reading →

WARNER BROTHERS will announce 24 new web productions today, in formats ranging from games to episodic online TV. Projects include a neurotic minivan-driving mother who starts a talk show, a puppet show for adults, and a mockumentary about a digital production studio. About 6 additional projects are in development, including an online dating game. The Continue Reading →

The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) has joined an existing lawsuit accusing YouTube of copyright infringement. Since their purchase of YouTube, it has been open season on Google. Rights-holders know that Google is truly made-of-money and aggrieved content owners now have a target with very deep pockets to sue. Lawsuits will not solve the problem, Continue Reading →

OMNICOM‘s ZIMMERMAN ADVERTISING has added the Z-Media Exchange to its “virtual advertising agency” concept. The virtual exchange will allow local businesses to purchase radio and TV spots. Agency executives will be able to view a market’s inventory, and make an offer. The exchange is a Zimmerman-branded version of the SoftWave Media Exchange. UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP Continue Reading →

When was the last time you went into a Best Buy and asked to see their Radio Department? That brilliant, but rhetorical, question was posed by Larry Rosin, co-founder and president of Edison Media Research at a Bill Sobel breakfast entitled, “The Future of Radio: 2007 and Beyond.” Larry was responding to a question about Continue Reading →