Los Angeles - Richard Branson's Virgin Entertainment Group has reached a deal to sell its chain of eleven Virgin Megastores in North America to Related Companies, a real estate development firm. [more..]

Los Angeles - Movie studios Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom, and DreamWorks Animation announced on Monday that they will now exclusively release their high-definition movies on HD DVD, abandoning support for Sony's rival Blu-ray format. [more..]

Shanghai - Google has acquired an undisclosed stake in Chinese social networking community Tianya Club, Reuters reported on Monday, adding that local media reports estimated the stake to be between under 10% and up to 60%. [more..]

New York - Struggling video game publisher Atari said late Friday that it has received a second notice from the Nasdaq that its shares are in danger of being delisted, this time due to failure to file its quarterly report on time. [more..]

Los Angeles - Merlin, a newly-created trade group that will represent independent record labels in online negotiations worldwide, on Monday announced its official launch and the appointment of a 15-member board. [more..]

Belmont, Calif. - "Building B," a start-up that is developing a set-top box that will deliver an on-demand video entertainment platform and service, announced on Monday that it has raised $17.5 million in its first round of venture capital financing. [more..]

London - Endemol UK on Monday announced that it has acquired a 25% stake in MoMedia, a developer and distributor of digital entertainment. [more..]

Bath, U.K. - Exabre, the developer of a music recommendation service called The Filter, has received $5 million in new funding, led by musician Peter Gabriel and Eden Ventures, The Independent reported. [more..]

New York - GGDigital Inc., a company developing a personalized home page for hip-hop fans, has raised $3.5 million of an expected $4.5 million new round of financing, led by Accel Partners, PEHub.com reported. [more..]

Washington - Post-Newsweek Stations, the television broadcasting unit of The Washington Post Co., has invested an undisclosed sum in LATV Networks, the Los Angeles-based developer of a bilingual music and entertainment network. [more..]

New York - In the wake of the RIAA's campaign against DJ mixtapes -- bootleg recordings that feature a DJ's compilation of copyrighted tracks edited together and often help break new artists -- Universal Music Enterprises has released its own series of mixtapes, Billboard reported. [more..]

Redmond, Wash. - Following a similar move in the U.S., Microsoft has lowered the price of its Xbox 360 video game console in Europe by 50 euros, with the Premium version to now sell for GBP 249/EUR 349, and the Core version to cost GBP 179/EUR 279. [more..]

New York - Aniboom, an Israel-based online community of more than 2,500 animators from 70 countries, has launched its own YouTube channel to feature the creations of its members, Reuters reported. [more..]

Washington - The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) announced on Monday the launch of a redesigned version of its MEMRI TV Project, which figures as the world's largest online archive of TV footage translated from the Arab and Iranian world. [more..]

New York - TV production company RHI Entertainment on Monday announced plans to distribute 24 world premiere movies in the action, thriller and horror genres to cable TV subscribers on their video-on-demand services. [more..]

Bentonville, Ark. - Retail giant Wal-Mart announced on Monday that it will provide a free MP3 download of the Eagles' new single, "How Long," to fans who pre-order the band's forthcoming first new studio album in 28 years from its website. [more..]

New York - The Zagat Survey, a publisher of local guides on restaurants, hotels and nightlife, on Monday debuted Zagat.mobi, an ad-supported mobile version of its books that covers all major U.S. cities, London and other international destinations [more..]

New York - Hearst Magazines Digital Media on Monday announced the launch of mobile versions of its Harper's BAZAAR and Marie Claire magazines. [more..]

San Francisco - Delivery Agent, a provider of "shopping-enabled programming" that lets TV viewers purchase products used or endorsed by celebrities, on Monday announced a partnership with recording artist and actress Jessica Simpson. [more..]