March 17, 2010

Silver Spring,
Md. – Liberty Satellite Radio, a
unit of John Malone’s Liberty Media (NASD: LINTA), said on Wednesday that it has called off
talks regarding a possible "transaction" with
WorldSpace, leaving the international satellite radio provider in financial
limbo.

Liberty, which has been providing
WorldSpace with debtor-in-possession financing since the company filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late 2008, had been expected to combine the struggling
company with Sirius XM, in which Liberty
also holds a significant stake.

"WorldSpace is awaiting information from Liberty as to its expectations as WorldSpace’s secured
lender with respect to the handling of Liberty’s
collateral," the company said in a statement.

"In the interim,
WorldSpace is planning for a potential de-commissioning of its satellites and
reviewing its strategic alternatives in light of the termination of
negotiations."

WorldSpace counts the bulk of its subscribers in Asia and Africa.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/uw6rn

http://www.1worldspace.com

Movies On Demand

Mark Hefflinger

March 17, 2010

Studios, Cable Co.'s Launch $30M Movies on Demand Promotion

Mark Hefflinger

March 17, 2010

Los Angeles – The major Hollywood studios and cable TV providers have partnered
on a $30 million national TV, print and online marketing campaign to promote
movies on demand services. The campaign, entitled "The Video Store Just
Moved In," will include a dedicated website at CableVideoStore.com.

Over
the next three months, the campaign intends to highlight a variety of recent
release titles available on demand on the same day as their DVD release dates.

The group notes that distributor In Demand has seen a seven-fold increase in
the number of available day-and-date titles over the past two years.

Members of the group include cable providers Armstrong, Bend
Broadband, Bright House Networks, iO TV, Comcast (NASD: CMCSA), Cox, Insight and Time Warner
Cable (NYSE: TWC).

Studio partners include 20th Century Fox (NYSE: NWS), Focus Features, Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF),
Rogue, Sony Pictures Entertainment (NYSE: SNE), Summit Entertainment, Universal Pictures
and Warner Bros Entertainment (NYSE: TWX).

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/uw74q

http://www.cablevideostore.com

Classmates.com to Pay $9.5 Million to Settle Class Action

Mark Hefflinger

March 17, 2010

San Diego
– Online social network Classmates.com has agreed to pay nearly $10 million to
settle a class action lawsuit over claims of false advertising related to its
upgrade pitch to users.

Anthony Michaels claimed in the suit that, when he paid
$15 to upgrade to a Gold Membership and find out which former classmates had
"tried to contact him" — as the Classmates ad in question stated —
"no former classmate of his had tried to contact him or view his
profile."

While denying any wrongdoing, Classmates.com agreed to pay up to
$9.5 million to the more than 3 million Classmates members who upgraded after
seeing the marketing pitch, in the form of $3 in cash each or a $2 discount on
membership.

The company also agreed to changed the way it describes its
Guestbook feature, to indicate that people viewing a user’s profile on
Classmates are not necessarily former classmates.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/uw6sv
(Wired.com)

http://snipurl.com/uw6ub
(DMW previous coverage)

http://www.classmates.com

Blockbuster Signals Possible Bankruptcy; Shares Plummet

Mark Hefflinger

March 17, 2010

Dallas
– Video rental giant Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) saw its shares plummet over 30% on Wednesday,
after the company disclosed in a regulatory filing that it may have to file for
bankruptcy protections.

"The increasingly competitive industry conditions
under which we operate has negatively impacted our results of operations and
cash flows and may continue to in the future. These factors raise substantial
doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern," the company said.

Blockbuster has already shuttered some 1,300 stores, and is looking to close
additional locations, as well as sell off some of its international businesses
to help reduce its debt, the Associated Press noted.

Related Links:
http://biz.yahoo.com/e/100316/bbi10-k.html

http://snipurl.com/uw64x
(AP)

http://www.blockbuster.com

Playdom Invests $5 Million in Argentina's MetroGames

Mark Hefflinger

March 17, 2010

San Francisco – Playdom, a
publisher of social games that recently raised $43 million in financing, has
invested $5 million in the first round of funding for MetroGames, a developer
of social games based in Argentina.

MetroGames counts more than 30 games across Facebook and its own website.

The
company will use the funds to expand its pipeline of game development, and to
further develop its Metrogames.com site.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/uw5tb

http://www.playdom.com

http://www.metrogames.com

World Golf Tour Lands $10 Million for Online Game

Mark Hefflinger

March 17, 2010

San Francisco
– World Golf Tour, the operator of an online golf game, has raised $10 million
in its third round of funding, led by JAFCO Ventures, VentureBeat reported.

Previous
investors, who include Panorama Capital and Battery Ventures, also
participated.

Founded in 2007, San Francisco-based World Golf Tour will use
some of the funds for expansion overseas, as well as to develop a version of
its online game for Facebook, CEO Yuchiang Cheng told VentureBeat.

The
free-to-play game, which counts around 500,000 active monthly users, generates
revenue through the sale of virtual items, like branded golf clubs and balls.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/uw3sl
(VentureBeat)

http://www.wgt.com

Comcast to Offer 3D Broadcast of The Masters on TV, Web

Mark Hefflinger

March 16, 2010

Los Angeles
– Comcast (NASD: CMCSA) plans to offer a 3D broadcast of the upcoming 2010 Masters golf
tournament, which it was announced today will feature the return of Tiger Woods.
The Comcast 3D feed will be available on 3D-enabled televisions and computers from
a dedicated cable channel and the Masters.com website. About two hours per day
of 3D coverage will be broadcast from the tournament, which runs April 8-11.

http://snipurl.com/uvkof
(NewTeeVee)

http://www.masters.com

MOG Music Service Coming to iPhone, Android

Mark Hefflinger

March 16, 2010

Austin
– MOG, the operator of a network of user-penned music blogs and a digital music
subscription service, on Monday introduced new mobile versions of its music
service for the iPhone and Android platforms. Set to launch in the second
quarter, the mobile version will charge $10 for unlimited access to 7 million
songs, which can be cached to the device for listening when a connection is
unavailable. The service will also allow users to download any song or album
from MOG’s library, in addition to user-created playlists.

Related Links:
http://www.mog.com

http://snipurl.com/uvkb9
(Wired.com)

Digg to Revamp Website, Add Raft of New Feautres

Mark Hefflinger

March 16, 2010

Austin
– Social news aggregation service Digg plans to launch a comprehensive redesign
of its website and service, which will enable one-click Diggs, user-selected
tagging, and more personalized homepages, among other features. Another new
feature will "mine the Twitter streams and Facebook feeds of each
logged-in Digg user, pulling in popular stories from those platforms that match
the user’s interests," Digg CEO Jay Adelson told Wired.com. The new design
can be previewed at a link below, while a full public launch is not expected
for several months.

http://about.digg.com/blog/saying-yes-nosql-going-steady-cassandra

http://new.digg.com