Sunnyvale, Calif. - Just hours after the disintegration of his company's ad partnership with Google, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang said that he remains hopeful of striking a deal to sell the company to Microsoft. [more..]

New York - Shares in media conglomerate News Corp. fell 16% on Thursday after the company warned that its profit for the current fiscal year, which began in July, will drop by a "low- to mid-teens" percentage point due to a slowdown in revenues and a stronger U.S. dollar. [more..]

Agoura Hills, Calif. - Video game publisher THQ on Thursday announced it will lay off 250 employees, or about 17% of its studio staff, as part of a restructuring plan that comes as the company posted a loss of $115.3 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30. [more..]

San Francisco - Business-focused online social network LinkedIn on Wednesday announced that it is laying off 10% of its staff, or about 36 employees, in a move that will see the company refocus on the most profitable areas of its business. [more..]

Washington - Amid lower-than-expected ratings, cable giant Comcast plans to lay off most of the 300 employees working for its CN8 network, the Associated Press reported. [more..]

Chevy Chase, Md. - Hugh Panero, the co-founder and former CEO of XM Satellite Radio, has joined venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates (NEA) as a venture partner, the firm announced on Thursday. [more..]

San Francisco - BitTorrent Co-Founder Ashwin Navin is stepping down as President to focus on a new tech incubator he is launching along with a few other high-profile tech entrepreneurs. [more..]

Los Angeles - Machinima.com, a community website focused on showing user-generated and professional videos, gameplay and trailers from video games, has raised $3,85 million in new financing. [more..]

Venice, Calif. - Mogreet, a provider of video messaging technology for mobile phones, announced on Thursday that it has raised $5 million in its second round of financing. [more..]

San Francisco - Fora.tv, a video site focused on political and cultural content, has added $2 million to its first round of venture capital funding, which was first announced in May, VentureWire reported, citing a regulatory filing. [more..]

Los Angeles - GetBack Media, an online pop culture community, said on Thursday that it has raised $1.7 million in its first round of venture capital financing, led by Beringea. [more..]

Santa Monica, Calif. - Ascent Media, a provider of creative and technical services to the media and entertainment industries, announced on Thursday that it has acquired the encoding and media services division of Sample Digital. [more..]

I believe that right now, we should keep hope alive and look at the Obama administration as one that may bring a new emphasis to the communications world while not unduly burdening those that are already operating in that world, blogs David Oxenford. [more..]

Washington - Hoping to stem the tide of dwindling readership and ad revenue, US News & World Report, the nation's third largest news magazine behind Time and Newsweek, said that it plans to switch to a monthly format, while focusing more of its efforts on the Internet. [more..]

Los Angeles - Sling Media, the place- and time-shifting device company that is now owned by Echostar ( NSDQ: SATS), is launching a free, ad-supported online video portal, reports PaidContent.org. [more..]

McLean, Va. - Clearspring Technologies, the developer of a widget network designed to connect publishers and advertisers to audiences on social networking sites, said on Thursday that MTV Networks will use its syndication platform to deploy selected widgets and related content. [more..]