Los Angeles - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace announced on Wednesday that it will offer video content from celebrity entertainment producer TMZ on its MySpaceTV platform. MySpace will feature select exclusive clips after they air on the "TMZ" television program, as well as up to 15 non-exclusive clips on a weekly basis. "TMZ" is produced by Harvey Levin Productions and paraMedia in association with Telepictures Productions, and distributed by Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution .

Pittsfield, Mass. - Missing Beat Music, a provider of online promotional services for independent musicians, has acquired MyBandsMusic.com, an online music distribution and social networking site for independent musicians and their fans. MyBandsMusic is an online store and meeting place, where artists can create profiles and sell downloads and CDs. Terms of the acquisition deal between the two privately held firms were not disclosed.

New York - Pando Network, a provider of peer-assisted content delivery network services, announced on Wednesday that NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) will provide video delivery services for the new NBC Direct service, which will offer free downloads of primetime NBC TV shows. The service will offer full-length episode downloads of shows including "30 Rock," "The Office" and "The Tonight Show," as well as the ability to have new episodes automatically downloaded as they become available.

Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. - Redbox, a provider of DVD rental kiosks, announced on Wednesday that drug store chain Walgreens will expand availability of its kiosks from 250 stores to 2,000 stores by the end of 2009. Redbox's $1 per night DVD rental kiosks are also placed in select McDonald's and Wal-Mart locations.

New York - Mochila, an online media marketplace for text, video and photo content, said that it has signed an agreement with BBC Motion Gallery, the broadcaster's footage licensing division, that will allow for syndication of BBC content to mainstream media, blogs and other sites via Mochila's ad-supported program. Under the deal, BBC Motion Gallery will provide content to Web publishers for free, and earn a percentage of the revenue from ads accompanying the content.

San Francisco - Yelp, a social media site where users can post reviews of local bars, restaurants and other businesses, announced on Wednesday that it has raised a $15 million fourth round of financing, led by DAG Ventures.

San Mateo, Calif. - Akimbo on Wednesday announced that it will shift its focus away from its video-on-demand set-top box business, and instead offer a service that lets content providers publish Web video on their own websites.

Hampshire, U.K. - The global mobile music market is expected to be worth $17.5 billion by 2012, with growth driven by rental music services and full-track downloads, according to a new report from Juniper Research. "I think it's fair to say that 2007 marked the tipping point as far as mobile music adoption was concerned," said report author Dr. Windsor Holden. "Far more subscribers began downloading and subscribing to music content in developed markets, and it must be said that that the publicity surrounding the iPhone launch undoubtedly contributed to consumer awareness of mobile music services per se."

New York - The New York attorney general's office has subpoenaed broadband provider Comcast (NASD: CMCSA) for information on its practice of interfering with the file-sharing traffic of some subscribers, according to published reports. Comcast, which has admitted to the practice but says it is necessary to ensure all Internet traffic flows smoothly, told the Associated Press that it is cooperating with the office of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Washington - The musicFIRST Coalition on Wednesday delivered a letter signed by more than 6,000 recording artists, asking members of Congress to support legislation that would create a performance right royalty and pay artists and record labels when songs are played on terrestrial radio. Those signing the letter to U.S. lawmakers in support of the Performance Rights Act of 2007 included Amy Winehouse, Elton John, Jarvis Cocker and members of bands including Wolfmother, Kings of Convenience and Silverchair.

Santa Monica, Calif. - Universal Music Group's Interscope Geffen A&M Records announced on Wednesday that OneRepublic's single "Apologize" has become only the second song in history to sell 3 million digital song downloads, according to SoundScan data.

Los Gatos, Calif. - Shares of online DVD rental service Netflix (NASD: NFLX) rose over 9% on Wednesday, as the company upped its first quarter and fiscal year 2008 earnings outlook, as well as its subscriber growth forecasts.

Agoura Hills, Calif. - Video game publisher THQ (NASD: THQI) announced on Wednesday that it has received word that the SEC has completed its investigation into the company's stock options granting practices, and will not recommend any action against the company.

San Francisco - Crunchyroll, a video-sharing site that features anime content, has raised $4.05 million in its first round of funding, led by Venrock, PEHub.com reported, citing a regulatory filing.

Southlake, Texas - Alamofire, a developer of casual games for social networks, has raised $2 million in its first round of venture capital financing, PEHub.com reported, citing a regulatory filing.

Microsoft announced this week that they are going after the holy grail of advertising: integrated ROI measurement and tracking. The big problem with online ROI measurement that Microsoft is targeting is the inability to assign quantifiable value to brand advertising, e.g. banner ads, and which results in disproportionate value being assigned to search advertising — the “last click” which typically leads to a measurable actions like a purchase.

New York - Panther Express, a provider of digital content delivery network services, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $15.75 million in second round funding, led by Index Ventures.

The news is buzzing, starting with a report from UBS that alleges that Google's paid clicks are down in January. Analysts from a number of firms have been speculating that this may be a sign that a slowing economy is affecting search. Not so fast. If a recession is in fact affecting search, we should see a drop in the amount of traffic going from Google to retail sites (our Shopping & Classifieds category). The following chart shows the percentage of traffic over the last three years actually increasing.