New York - Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group, a unit of Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) MTV Networks, has announced that it will split its video games and virtual worlds development teams into two separate divisions. The games division, to be led by Dave Williams, will oversee all paid and subscription games across all platforms, including console and handheld, as well as online games sites Shockwave.com and AddictingGames.com. The virtual worlds group, headed by Kyra Reppen, will manage the company's growing stable of communities that include Neopets and Nicktropolis.

New York - CBS (NYSE: CBS) on Wednesday announced a "sneak peek release" of TheInsider.com, its new celebrity news and information site that aims to compete with TMZ.com and PerezHilton.com. The site, which is branded with the title of its celebrity TV show of the same name, was built on top of Dotspotter, a site for celebrity news fans acquired last year by CBS. "The inspiration for TheInsider.com comes from fan feedback complaining about the(NYSE: NWS) confusing array of existing celebrity blogs today," said Anthony Soohoo, SVP and GM of entertainment at CBS Interactive. "Time and time again we heard from fans frustrated by time spent going from one blog to the next trying to be in the know' on the latest celebrity gossip. Adding to the frustration was how cumbersome it was to discuss what they were finding with friends. The underlying theme to what we were hearing was, 'Can't you put this all in the same place?'"

New York - The New York Times on Wednesday launched a beta test of a new social media feature, TimesPeople, that lets recommend stories to one another and view lists of friends' recommended stories on a "news feed"-like readout, CNET News.com and Beet.tv reported. The feature is currently only available as a Firefox plug-in, but will eventually be available without the need for a separate download.

New York - Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) AOL on Wednesday announced a deal with Scripps Networks (NYSE: SSP), to deliver clips from shows on HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network and Fine Living Network across AOL Video and other related sites. The deal includes "Design on a Dime," "Good Eats with Alton Brown" and "Barefoot Contessa."

Luxembourg - Jamendo, a site that exclusively offers albums made available for free under a Creative Commons license, has added its ten thousandth album, Wired.com reported. The site, which claims over 2 million unique monthly visitors and 500,000 downloads daily, enables users to donate to artists via PayPal, while Jamendo also shares half of any ad revenue generated off their music with artists.

New York - 4th Story Media and HarperCollins Publishers announced on Wednesday their partnership in The Amanda Project, a multi-platform series to be written in part by its audience, girls ages 12-14. 4th Story Media, which owns all rights for the property, will produce the content for The Amanda Project with a creative team including Web design agency Happy Cog, young adult authors, artists and graphic designers. HarperCollins Publishers, which is a strategic partner in the venture and an investor, has acquired the rights to publish an eight-book The Amanda Project series worldwide.

Los Angeles - ReelTime, a for-pay online video-on-demand site that streams content directly to televisions, has signed a deal with Disney-ABC Domestic Television to offer content from Walt Disney Pictures, Disney-Pixar, Touchstone and Miramax on the site, Broadcasting & Cable reported. The deal includes titles such as "No Country for Old Men" and "National Treasure."

Los Angeles - Internet TV network Revision3 announced on Wednesday that it has signed a deal to syndicate its original content on video site Revver. Revver will share ad revenue with Revision3 generated by shows such as "Diggnation" and "The Totally Rad Show."

Arlington, Mass. - HeavyInk.com on Wednesday announced the launch of its online comics retail and community website. HeavyInk.com offers a social networking framework along with a broad selection of comics, graphic novels and trade paperback collections. HeavyInk president Travis Corcoran also launched SmartFlix.com, which offers an online library of arts-and-crafts and how-to DVDs.

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Los Angeles - Global video game industry sales are expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 10.3% and reach $68.3 billion in 2012, up from $41.9 billion last year, according to data PricewaterhouseCoopers' Global Entertainment and Media Outlook excerpted by The Hollywood Reporter.

Mountain View, Calif. - LinkedIn, the creator of an online professional network with more than 23 million members, said on Wednesday that it has secured $53 million in its fourth round of funding, which values the company at just over $1 billion. Bain Capital Ventures led the round, which also included previous investors Sequoia Capital, Greylock Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners.

New York - Internet advertising revenues reached $5.8 billion in the first quarter of 2008, representing an 18.2% increase over the same period of 2007, according to data from the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Baltimore - Sprint Nextel plans to officially launch its WiMax high-speed mobile Internet service in Baltimore this September, the company's CTO said during a conference in Amsterdam.

Arlington, Va. - The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has announced plans for a new technology event and competition, designed to uncover the most innovative new consumer technology products coming to market.

Waltham, Mass. - Navic Networks, a provider of audience measurement data and software for optimizing the delivery and placement of interactive TV ads, has been acquired by Microsoft (NASD: MSFT). While terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, TechCrunch pegged the purchase price at between $200 million and $300 million.

London, Ky. - Wazoo Sports, an Internet broadcaster of high school sports events, said on Wednesday that it has received a $2 million equity investment from Meritus Ventures.