Hollywood, Calif. - U.S. consumers who watch network TV shows on the Internet are younger, better educated, more tech-savvy and more affluent than the general population, making them a lucrative target for advertisers, according to a report from Nielsen Analytics and Scarborough Research. [more..]

Sunnyvale, Calif. - Shares of Yahoo rose more than 7% on Wednesday after the Internet giant announced plans to launch new ad search technology that the company hopes will help it close its revenue gap with rival Google. [more..]

New York - A shareholder lawsuit targeting Apple over its stock options granting practices will be led by the New York City Employees' Retirement System, the pension fund's law firm told Reuters. [more..]

Carmel, Calif. - New high-definition DVDs and Internet downloads will drive worldwide U.S. major studios' feature film revenue to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.3%, from $35 billion in 2006 to nearly $42 billion by 2010, according to a report from Adams Media Research. [more..]

London - The BBC plans to launch a virtual world for kids in the fall of 2007 that lets them build avatars and create and share content, BBC Online reported. [more..]

Toronto, Canada - Twenty million Americans downloaded a movie off the Internet in the past month, with 80% of these reporting that they only use file-sharing sites -- a figure that doubled between 2005 and 2006, according to a report from market research firm Solutions Research Group. [more..]

Tokyo - Sony announced on Wednesday that it has formed a joint venture with fellow Japanese game publisher Namco Bandai that will develop titles for consoles, the PC and mobile platforms, Bloomberg News reported. [more..]

Dallas, Texas - MumboJumbo, a developer of premium online casual games, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Dallas-based game developer Ritual Entertainment. [more..]

Sacramento, Calif. - The Sacramento Bee, part of the McClatchy family of newspapers, announced on Wednesday the debut of its first subscription-based online service, a $499 per year site called CapitolAlert.com that will focus on California politics. [more..]

El Segundo, Calif. - Ripple, a developer, distributor and programmer of digital TV networks placed in coffee shops and other businesses, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $5 million in its first round of venture capital financing, led by Trinity Ventures and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. [more..]

Washington - Congressional Quarterly (CQ), the political media firm, said that it will acquire FedNet's reCap, reClip and Alert services, which allow users to search, replay and post video content of congressional activity following floor debate. [more..]

New York - Internet TV distributor ROO Group announced on Wednesday that it has acquired MyVideoDaily, a developer of video software and search marketing tools, for $350,000 in cash and up to 500,000 ROO shares. MyVideoDaily has been a ROO customer for more than a year; the companies jointly developed a desktop video application that has been installed on more than 750,000 computers. [more..]

New York - Viacom's MTV Networks announced on Wednesday that it partnered with Verizon Wireless on a new monthly live music series, to be filmed in front of a live audience at the Hard Rock Café in Times Square and distributed on-air, online and to mobile phones. "MTV Live" will be available to Verizon subscribers through the MTV Mobile channel on V CAST. Video of the performances shot using cell phones will also be integrated into the coverage. Artists booked for the series include Fall Out Boy, Nas, Akon and Gym Class Heroes. [more..]

Reston, Va. - INCspire, the Incubator Program of the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, announced this week that TidWiT has become the newest company to join the program. TidWiT, which was formed by CEO Will Yafi, is an online marketplace for digital content. "We had been operating out of a basement for the better part of two years and it was time to get above ground so to speak," said Yafi. The service helps bloggers and others to buy and sell digital content (including text, music, images, video or software). TidWiT's said its platform allows sellers to post their digital content, price it, and classify it. [more..]

Washington - Washingtonpost.com, the website of The Washington Post, said on Wednesday that it has partnered with Chicago-based RealClearPolitics, a site focused on political opinion, news, polls and analysis. Under the terms of the agreement, RealClearPolitics will provide washingtonpost.com with a daily feed of its "Best of the Web" series, including top recommended news articles and opinion pieces. The pieces will be featured in washingtonpost.com's "Politics News & Analysis" email newsletter and on the front page of the site's "Politics" section. [more..]

New York - National CineMedia, a provider of a network that delivers pre-feature digital ads and other programming in movie theaters, said on Wednesday that Discovery Communications has signed a multi-year agreement to provide short-form content for the service. National CineMedia's network includes 11,000 movie screens and reaches about 500 million patrons annually. Discovery said it will provide sneak peek segments of upcoming programs from its stable of channels. [more..]

Atlanta - Intent MediaWorks, a provider of licensed media content and advertising to websites, blogs and peer-to-peer file-sharing networks, announced on Wednesday that independent music distributor KOCH Entertainment has licensed its entire catalog for release through Intent's service. "For established talent, Intent eliminates issues related to licensing and content control. At the same time, Intent makes it possible for emerging independent artists to boost exposure and reach niche audiences," said Les Ottolenghi, CEO and co-founder of Intent MediaWorks. [more..]

San Francisco - IODA, a digital distributor of independent music, announced on Wednesday that it has signed an agreement to distribute the catalog of Harmonia Mundi, a France-based label that features a library of over 1,000 classical, world and jazz recordings. San Francisco-based IODA currently distributes a catalog of more than 700,000 tracks to over 300 digital music retailers. [more..]

Bellevue, Wash. - Vidiator, a provider of mobile multimedia delivery technology, said on Wednesday that it has signed a deal to power a mobile music service for Hong Kong-based wireless carrier PCCW. The MOOV on mobile service for 3G phones will provide eight preset lists that refresh every 15 minutes, and allow users to compile playlists on a PC and listen to them on their mobile phones. [more..]

Redmond, Wash. - Nintendo of America on Wednesday announced the roster of titles for its Wii video game console that are slated for release during the first quarter of 2007. The list includes the Nintendo-developed "Wii Play," similar to the "Wii Sports" title that ships with the console, as well as titles from Ubisoft ("Prince of Persia: Rival Swords," "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"); Sega ("Sonic and the Secret Rings"); Eidos ("Bionicle Heroes"); and Electronic Arts ("The Godfather: Blackhand Edition," "SSX Blur," "Medal of Honor Vanguard"). The company added that it now offers 42 classic titles for download to the Wii via its Virtual Console service, and will release "Mario Kart 64" on the service next week. [more..]

Germantown, Md. - AWS Convergence Technologies, creators of the WeatherBug desktop weather application, announced on Wednesday that it has expanded its Sponsor Select program to game publishers, enabling gamers to control the advertisers they'd like to see before their game begins. Maryland-based AWS has been using Sponsor Select with its WeatherBug application since 2001, and said online game publisher Big Fish Games is among its first game industry partners for the service. Advertisers will pay only when they are selected by users. [more..]