Archives

New Owners to Cut 20% of Workforce at Warner Music Group

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 2, 2004 - 7:17am.
New York -- Warner Music Group (WMG), purchased this week for $2.6 billion from Time Warner by a group of investors led by Edgar Bronfman, Jr., announced on Tuesday a restructuring that will see the company cut 20% of its global workforce of 5,300. The layoffs are expected to take place within the next 30 days. The company also announced the departure of several top executives, including Elektra chairman and CEO Sylvia Rhone; Atlantic Group co-chairman and co-CEO Val Azzoli; and Ron Shapiro, co-president of Atlantic Records. The company said that former Def Jam CEO Lyor Cohen -- recently named chairman and CEO of U.S. Recorded Music at WMG -- will serve as interim chairman at both Elektra and Atlantic until a final management structure is announced in the near future. "While the restructuring necessitates some painful changes, they are vital to creating a more agile organization that will allow us to remain competitive in the rapidly evolving marketplace and to take full advantage of future opportunities," said WMG chairman and CEO Edgar Bronfman, Jr.
tags: Warner | Music Group | Workforce | New Owners |

Sony: U.S. PlayStation 2 Sales Top 25 Million; 2.6 Million Gaming Online

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 2, 2004 - 7:15am.
Foster City, Calif. -- Sony Computer Entertainment America announced on Tuesday that it has now sold over 25 million PlayStation 2 video game consoles in North America, and shipped a total of 70 million PlayStation 2 consoles worldwide. The company also announced that it has met its goal of connecting 5 to 10% of its North American installed base of PlayStation 2 consoles to the Internet during the device's life cycle, as 2.6 million U.S. consoles are now connected to the Internet for online gaming. "With more than a quarter of a billion gamers and 2.6 million connected consoles, we have yet again surpassed all expectations," said Sony Computer Entertainment America president and CEO Kaz Hirai.
tags: Games | Internet | Sony | PlayStation 2 | U.S |

HP, Philips Technology to Allow One-Time Copying of Digital TV Shows

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 2, 2004 - 7:14am.
Palo Alto, Calif. -- PC maker HP announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with consumer electronics firm Philips to develop a new copy-protection technology designed to allow recording of "copy-once" digital broadcasts to DVD recorder devices. The joint solution supports the "broadcast flag" -- an FCC-mandated security for new digital TV devices that will allow broadcasters to prevent their programs from being shared over the Internet -- while preserving viewers' traditional "fair use" rights to make personal copies. The new discs proposed by HP and Philips, and submitted to the FCC for approval, will support recording of copy-once TV shows in DVD+R and DVD+RW, formats supported by Philips' devices. The technology will not support the competing DVD-R/DVD-RW formats, backed by manufacturers including Samsung, JVC, Matsushita, Hitachi and Toshiba. HP also announced on Tuesday that it has licensed Intel's HDCP (high-bandwidth digital content protection) technology, which protects video traveling via cable between two devices from unauthorized copying.
tags: HP | Digital TV | Philips Technology | One-Time |

Report: Online Advertising Rebounds in 2003

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 2, 2004 - 7:13am.
New York, N.Y. -- Online advertising rebounded strongly in 2003, according to a new report by online marketing firm DoubleClick and Nielsen//NetRatings, a provider of Internet audience measurement services. "Last year marked the first time that large traditional advertisers began to spend more online," said Charles Buchwalter, the vice president of client analytics for Nielsen//NetRatings. According to the report, the online medium outpaced several categories of traditional media in terms of spending growth. For the report, DoubleClick augmented its own ad serving data with data from Nielsen's measurements of offline and online media spending. "All indicators support that 2003 was the year online advertising rebounded," said Doug Knopper, a senior vice president for DoubleClick.
tags: Internet | Reports | Rebounds |

Sprint to Abandon Tracking Stock for Wireless Division

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 2, 2004 - 7:09am.
Overland Park, Kan. -- Telecommunications firm Sprint announced that it will eliminate the separate tracking stock it launched in 1998 for its wireless division (PCS), opting to fold the shares into its main offering as the company begins offering combined fixed-line and wireless telephone services. Under the terms of the transaction, Sprint PCS shareholders will receive one share of Sprint stock for every two shares of Sprint PCS they hold. The PCS tracking stock was initially spun-off so that investors could buy into the wireless division of Sprint without connections to the parent company's other activities. "The industry has changed pretty radically since we created [the tracking stocks] in 1998… [they] "served their purpose at the time, and now that time has gone," Sprint spokesman Bill White told The Washington Post.
tags: Sprint | Stock | Abandon | Wireless Division |

Loudeye Acquires P2P Anti-Piracy Firm OverPeer for $4 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 2, 2004 - 7:07am.
Seattle -- Loudeye Technologies, a provider of streaming song samples and other digital media services, announced on Tuesday that it has acquired OverPeer, a music anti-piracy technology firm, in an all-stock transaction valued at about $4 million. New York-based OverPeer works with major record labels, film studios, television networks, game publishers and software companies, offering monitoring of peer-to-peer file-sharing services on their behalf, as well as "spoofing" of files on the networks to deter potential copyright infringement. The company said that its spoof files were downloaded 25 million times on file-sharing services during last month alone. "Overpeer's strong technology and products are a natural fit with our digital music and media solutions and we share a common goal of driving legitimate digital media revenue and monetizing content across all digital distribution channels," said Loudeye chairman Anthony Bay.
tags: P2P | Loudeye | Overpeer | Anti-Piracy |

Metallica Waffles on Digital Music, Will Sell MP3 Concert Downloads

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 2, 2004 - 7:07am.
Marina del Rey, Calif. -- Metal band Metallica, an ardent opponent of digital music distribution through file-sharing services, announced on Tuesday an agreement with technology firms CinemaNow and its affiliated Nugs.net music distribution service, to offer fans the ability to purchase digital downloads of their live shows days after they are performed. LiveMetallica.com will offer downloads of shows from the band's current tour in the unprotected MP3 format for $9.95 each and in the higher audio fidelity FLAC file format (Free Lossless Audio Codec) for $12.95 each. Marina del Rey, Calif.-based CinemanNow and Nugs.net also power the online concert download store for the jam band Phish.
tags: Downloads | MP3 | Digital Music | Metallica Waffles |

Report: 2.6 Million Europeans Will Get HDTV by 2008

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 2, 2004 - 7:05am.
London -- An estimated 2.6 million European homes will be receiving high-definition television (HDTV) broadcasts by 2008, according to a report from London-based Strategy Analytics. Europeans bought 70,000 HDTV-capable displays in 2003, a number predicted to grow to 17.4 million in 2008. Still, only 2.6 million of these are expected to also own the set-top boxes necessary to receive high-definition broadcasts. To date, only one European broadcaster, Euro1080, has launched a satellite HDTV service, currently offering a slate of four hours of HDTV programming each day. Strategy Analytics expects European HDTV programming to become mainstream in 2006, and recommends that "manufacturers, programmers and broadcasters establish a European HDTV forum to coordinate standards and avoid unnecessary market fragmentation."
tags: HDTV | Europe | Reports |

Gemstar-TV Guide Ends Patent Dispute With EchoStar, Sells Some Assets

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 2, 2004 - 7:05am.
Los Angeles -- Building on its recent string of licensing agreements, Gemstar-TV Guide International, a provider of electronic program guides for digital TV services, announced on Tuesday that it has licensed its program guide to satellite TV broadcaster EchoStar, and settled its four-year patent dispute with the company. The agreement includes a one-time payment by EchoStar of $140 million to license Gemstar's guide for use on its DISH Network service. Separately, the companies said that EchoStar has acquired Gemstar's Superstar/Netlink Group (SNG), UVTV distribution, and SpaceCom businesses and related assets for $48 million in cash. Los Angeles-based Gemstar's deal with EchoStar follows a similar deal last week in which the company ended litigation and licensed its technology to consumer electronics firm Pioneer, and recent licensing agreements with firms including Mitsubishi, LG and Comcast.
tags: EchoStar | Gemstar-TV | Guide | Patent Dispute | Assets |