Washington - Shares of XM Satellite Radio jumped more than 12% on Tuesday, despite fears from many analysts that the company's proposed $13 billion merger with rival Sirius Satellite Radio may not pass regulatory muster. [more..]

New York - Media conglomerate Viacom announced on Tuesday that it will distribute MTV, BET and Paramount content on Joost, the peer-to-peer-based streaming TV platform launched by the creators of Kazaa and Skype. [more..]

London - Neteller, a U.K.-based provider of online payment processing services, announced that it will lay off 250 employees in Canada and the U.K., citing the recent U.S. crackdown on Internet gambling sites and related services, Silicon.com reported. [more..]

New York, NY – Major League Gaming (MLG), a professional video gaming league, has announced a partnership with Los Angeles-based Endeavor Talent Agency and Flame Ventures to develop and distribute television gaming content. [more..]

Washington - Adware distributor DirectRevenue has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that it used unfair and deceptive methods to install its software on users' computers, and then obstructed them from easily removing it. [more..]

Milpitas, Calif. - Needing to cut costs to combat falling prices for its components, SanDisk, a maker of flash storage card products, said on Friday that it will cut 250 jobs -- or about 10% of its workforce -- and reduce the salaries of its executives by as much as 20%. [more..]

Los Angeles - Vivendi Games announced on Tuesday that it has acquired Chile-based Wanako Games, the largest game development studio in Latin America. [more..]

Santa Monica, Calif. - Video game publisher Activision will acquire Ireland-based DemonWare, a developer of game creation software, Ireland's Sunday Independent reported. [more..]

San Francisco - Obvious Inc. announced that it has put its audio podcast aggregation site Odeo up for sale, so that it may focus more on Twitter, its social networking start-up. [more..]

Novato, Calif. - Sonic Solutions, a developer of digital media software, said on Friday said that it has received letter from the Nasdaq Stock Market warning the company that its stock is subject to delisting from the Nasdaq Global Select Market. [more..]

Sterling, Va. - With online video gaining major traction over the past year, Anystream, a provider of streaming video technology, has closed $7 million in its third round of financing. [more..]

San Francisco - HandHeld Entertainment, a maker of personal media players and operator of digital media content sites, said that it has received a letter from the Nasdaq Stock Market stating that it was out of compliance with a market rule for failing to file a required notice in timely fashion. [more..]

New York - Viacom's Nickelodeon children's TV network has announced the launch of a new TV programming block that features user-generated content provided by kids. "ME:TV," which airs live Monday through Friday from 5 to 7 p.m., will integrate content submitted via Nick.com and TurboNick, the network's broadband player. The show will also feature four kids live each day via webcam. [more..]

New York - Jive Records said on Tuesday that the music video for roster artist Justin Timberlake's "What Goes Around…Comes Around" has become the fastest-selling video on Apple's iTunes Store. The music video, which debuted exclusively on iTunes on Feb. 9, tallied over 50,000 downloads in its first four days on sale. [more..]

London - The Chelsea Football Club, a popular team in England's national soccer league, announced that it has signed an agreement with Google's YouTube to add daily video clips and news to the video-sharing site. A Chelsea spokesman told Times Online that no money exchanged hands in the deal -- the first for an English Premier League club -- and that live video of matches will not be included. Chelsea Digital Media, a joint venture between Chelsea and News Corp.'s BSkyB, will manage the Chelsea-branded channel on YouTube. [more..]

New York - Rainbow Media on Tuesday announced an expansion of the video-on-demand services it offers to cable and satellite TV providers. The operator of networks including IFC, AMC, Fuse and We said it has adopted the "Skool" brand across its VOD properties. The company also renamed its Mag Rack service "Lifeskool," and launched a new service called Musicskool that will offer music lessons and instruction. Rainbow said its Sportskool service is now available in over 22 million U.S. homes. [more..]

New York - The National Basketball Association (NBA) on Tuesday launched a feature on its website that allows fans to create customized video packages with NBA videos and photos, special effects and a music backing track. Powered by Eyespot, the NBA.com Highlight Mixer will provide access to hundreds of game video clips and photos, team logos, special effects and licensed tracks from labels including Geffen, Drive-Thru, ATO and 1720 Records. [more..]

London - Virgin Media, the company's new bundled services offering in the U.K., announced on Tuesday that it has signed an agreement to make over 500 Warner Bros. TV episodes available on its video-on-demand service. The deal includes "Nip/Tuck," "Friends," "The O.C.," "West Wing" and "ER," and follows on previous agreements Virgin Media has signed with Channel 4, HBO, Disney and Alliance Atlantis. [more..]

Ann Arbor, Mich. - All Media Guide (AMG), a provider of informational databases on music, movies and games, said on Tuesday that MP3tunes will use AMG technology for music recognition and discovery on its Oboe online music locker service. Michigan-based AMG also provides editorial content, technologies and data to iTunes, Google, Yahoo and AOL. [more..]

Redwood City, Calif. - Obopay, a provider of mobile payments technology, announced on Tuesday the launch of a new Sponsored Accounts service that lets children under 18 send and receive money using their mobile phones. Parents can provide funds to an Obopay account linked to their childrens' mobile phones, while retaining the ability to track and control the account -- which can be used for online purchases or to provide emergency funds. [more..]

Brookline, Mass. - A group of retired National Hockey League (NHL) players has launched FASTHockey, a social networking site that lets amateur players market themselves to recruiters around the world. The privately-funded, Massachusetts-based company launched a beta of its service in late 2006 that has attracted more than 4,000 players and 300 coaches and recruiters. [more..]

Sunnyvale, Calif. - Motorola on Tuesday announced the launch of the Motodev Game Developer Challenge, which will award two developers of mobile games publishing deals with I-play. Submissions of Java- and Windows Mobile-based games will be accepted through Aug. 10. A panel of judges from Motorola, I-play and other contest marketing allies will evaluate entries based on uniqueness, fun factor, design, operation and innovation in visual arts and audio. [more..]

Los Angeles - uWink, a restaurant chain launched by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell that features tables with touch-screen video game terminals, announced on Tuesday that monthly revenues at its flagship location have grown from $30,000 at its October launch, to $185,000 last month. The Woodland Hills, Calif.-based location added that it is currently serving 3,000-3,500 guests per week, who are playing between 50,000 and 60,000 games per week on its game terminals. [more..]

Salt Lake City, Utah - Fonix, a developer of voice recognition and navigation technology, announced on Tuesday the release of a tools and middleware program for the Sony PlayStation 3. Fonix VoiceIn will allow developers to add voice recognition features to games for the PlayStation 3. [more..]

San Francisco - Sega of America on Tuesday shipped its "Virtua Fighter 5" title for PlayStation 3 to retailers in North America. The latest installment in the fighting game franchise was developed by Japan's AM R&D Department #2. [more..]