Convergence

Imagine a day when you would be in total control of creating your own TV channel lineup. Instead of subscribing to a service from a cable, satellite or phone company that might offer you hundreds of channels you'll never watch, you would be able to select what you want and watch it on your own schedule. That day might not be so far away. Slowly but surely, content that's broadcast over cable...

We can't say for certain which of his many tribulations was on Rupert Murdoch's mind when he convened his lieutenants for a September offsite in Carmel, Calif. It may have been the son who got away–Lachlan, who had abruptly quit his post as News Corp.'s deputy chief operating officer and moved to Australia, leaving family feud, which saw Murdoch's second wife fiercely guarding her children's...

When Time Warner, the world's largest media conglomerate, announced a $100 billion merger with AOL five years ago, it was hailed as the perfect marriage between new media and old. Time's then chief executive, Jerry Levin, believed the combined group would carve out a niche in cyberspace that would make it a powerful player as media content moved online. The synergies between America's largest...

The Palm Beach Post says it's become the first newspaper to offer click-to-call service to all its online classified advertisers. eStara provides the technology, which the daily paper is passing on free of charge to advertisers. By clicking a "Talk to Seller" link, interested buyers can request a phone call with whoever took out an ad. eStara's automated system can put the call through immediately...

Would you be reading this story if it were displayed on a 2-by-2-inch screen on your BlackBerry? How about if it were electronically printed on a video scroll that spooled a few inches out of the side of your cell phone? Could you tell what was in the tiny picture? Now. Would you read this story if it were electronically printed on a paper-thin video screen the size of a tabloid newspaper, or...

Remember merger mania? Remember the bigger getting bigger yet? Remember when the prices of media stocks weren't stalled? Me neither. DreamWorks and NBC Universal go deep into talks. Microsoft (MSFT ) and Time Warner (TWX ) play footsie over a possible MSN/AOL link-up. In both cases, news of the talks leaks. The gasbags start gasbagging. The headlines get teed up. And...nothing happens. Welcome to...

NEW YORK - The next Steven Spielberg could be your neighbor down the street. The next Madonna could be in the cube across the aisle. And the next Stephen King could be that guy in the bar--the one who won't stop talking about the novel he's been working on. That's long been the argument of Internet optimists, who have been predicting that the Web would let the masses distribute their work to...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The average American is a ravenous media junkie, consuming up to nine hours a day of television, web time or cellphone minutes, according to new research which raises fresh questions about how technology is revolutionising society. From iPods filling commuters' ears, the screens scrolling headlines in the elevator at work to proliferating on-the-move tools like cellphones and...

Major Internet sites are vying to become more like traditional media companies, setting up online clearinghouses for books, television, music and more in a bid to lure viewers. Today Lycos Inc., an early Internet search engine, plans to launch a technology to allow its U.S. users to self-publish video content on its site. Yesterday, Yahoo Inc. said it would spearhead the Open Content Alliance, a...

Call it the mobile video generation. Television is coming to U.S. cell phones, and when it does, the programs are sure to be short, flashy and laser-targeted at young adults. MTV is very excited about the prospects. ``MTV's all about short-form video,'' said Greg Clayman, vice president of wireless strategy at MTV Networks. TV on mobile phones is at least two years from reaching a mass U.S...