US-INDUSTRY Summary

Greek PM faces coalition revolt over state TV shutdown

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras faced down a political revolt on Wednesday from partners in his ruling coalition after his government abruptly switched the state broadcaster off the air in the middle of the night. Screens went black on state broadcaster ERT, cutting newscasters off mid-sentence only hours after the decision was announced, in what the government said was a temporary measure to staunch a waste of taxpayers' money.

WPP shareholders acquiesce in Sorrell pay row

LONDON (Reuters) - The majority of investors in the world's biggest advertising agency, WPP, on Wednesday backed a 17.6 million pound ($27.6 million) pay package for Chief Executive Martin Sorrell which had drawn fire from critics of lavish boardroom pay. Some 81 percent of shareholders voted for the 2012 executive pay packages, while 19 percent were against. A figure for abstentions was not immediately available.

Disney's ESPN to close 3D cable TV network this year

(Reuters) - Walt Disney Co's TV sports network, ESPN, said it will shut its 3D cable channel in the United States, ending a three-year experiment after sports fans failed to embrace the technology in their homes. ESPN launched the 3D cable channel in 2010 and will close the channel by the end of the year, said ESPN spokeswoman Katina Arnold. It presented 3D broadcasts of college football games and the Masters golf tournament, among other offerings.

Fox TV network gets 5 to 7 percent ad rate increases: source

(Reuters) - The Fox broadcast television network has secured rate increases of 5 to 7 percent from advertisers who bought commercial time for the fall season, a source familiar with the negotiations said on Wednesday. Fox, a unit of News Corp, suffered from a ratings decline in the TV season that ended in May, largely due to a drop in viewership for the "American Idol" singing competition.

HMV-owner Hilco rescues Ireland's largest DVD rental chain

DUBLIN (Reuters) - HMV-owner Hilco bought Ireland's largest film and computer game rental retailer Xtra-Vision on Tuesday, potentially saving close to 1,000 jobs after the firm sought protection from its creditors in April. Restructuring specialist Hilco, which rescued Britain's most high-profile entertainment retailer HMV earlier this year, said it hoped it would be able to keep Xtra-vision's remaining 132 stores open following negotiations with landlords.

Analysis: Disney goes to Infinity to turn around gaming unit

(Reuters) - When Walt Disney Co introduced its latest video game, Infinity, to the gaming faithful this week at the annual E3 gaming conference, it rented a Los Angeles movie theater to show 30-minute clips of upcoming films and hosted a party with the glitz it usually reserves for its blockbuster movie wannabes. It shows just how much the company is counting on Infinity - whose players can for the first time mix together characters from Disney's different franchises - to help turn around one part of the media giant that stubbornly refuses to turn a profit.

UK horse racing must resolve scandals to keep backers

LONDON (Reuters) - British horse racing will not suffer commercial damage from recent doping scandals if it shows it can handle them effectively, the head of the sport's governing body said on Tuesday. But given the very challenging economic environment the sport does need more money from Britain's bookmakers to sustain the number and quality of races, British Horseracing Authority (BHA) Chief Executive Paul Bittar said.

Axel Springer shareholder sells 2.8 percent stake: bank

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Good Media Investment Holdings SARL is selling its 2.8 percent stake in German publisher Axel Springer AG, Deutsche Bank said on Tuesday. The shares are being offered via an accelerated bookbuilding procedure for which Deutsche Bank is acting as sole bookrunner, the bank said.

Twitter partners with world's largest ad agency

(Reuters) - Twitter and WPP, the world's largest advertising agency, have combined forces to better focus advertising by using consumer data. The strategic partnership, announced on Thursday, means that WPP and its agencies such as GroupM and Kantar, will use Twitter's data trove to gain insight into customer behavior to pinpoint where to spend its ad dollars.

TiVo's $490 million patent settlement not enough for shareholders

(Reuters) - Video recorder pioneer TiVo Inc said it would get $490 million as settlement for a patent lawsuit against Google Inc's Motorola Mobility and others, but its shares fell 20 percent as the size of the payout disappointed shareholders. Some analysts had expected a settlement of up to $1.7 billion with Motorola Mobility, Cisco Systems Inc and Time Warner Cable Inc.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-industry-summary-084025638.html

cam newton FedEx Gabriel Aubry cyber monday deals small business saturday small business saturday best cyber monday deals