Uncategorized

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was set aglow with 30,000 colored lights Wednesday night, officially kicking off the holiday season in the city. With temperatures in the high 50s, thousands of people packed the midtown Manhattan plaza for the festivities, which were hosted by the ”Today” show’s Al Roker and Ann Curry. Singers Martina McBride, …

Apple’s Hot Digital Player Faces Holiday Competition From New Wave of Handsets Individually, cellphones and music players have been among the most favored Christmas gifts for years. For many holiday shoppers, this may be the season that they merge. Wireless carriers are offering a huge array of gadgets that combine both functions, with a variety …

The Donald takes on ‘Housewives’ “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” is staying put on Monday nights, while the Donald is about to do battle with the “Desperate Housewives.” NBC has also drafted its 2007 recruits in the annual battle against “American Idol”: “Deal or No Deal” and “Dateline NBC.” Those are the key moves …

NBC remains hot on Monday, capturing the night in key demos again this week thanks to high-end deliveries from hot rookie drama “Heroes” and hit gameshow “Deal or No Deal.” According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, “Deal or No Deal” (5.2/13 in 18-49, 17.6 million viewers overall) dominated the 8 o’clock hour by matching its …

The British Broadcasting Corp. is reeling just as one of the world’s oldest and most-venerable public broadcasters faces a particularly sensitive fight over its future funding after its chairman resigned. Michael Grade, who was brought in to help overhaul the BBC in 2004 after a scandal over its reporting on the war in Iraq, is …

MTV Networks Music and Logo Group is launching more than 20 new online channels next year, the company said Monday. Called “hyper programmed” online experiences or vertical channels, the sites will target niche audiences by mixing programming with user-generated content. The channels — many of which are companion sites to the group’s existing television franchises …

Warner Music International on Tuesday announced the launch of a new video content division, Warner Music Entertainment, aimed at fully exploiting its artists’ material across DVD, television, mobile and the Internet. The new unit will be created through the acquisition of U.K. independent specialist DVD and digital production business the Rights Co., which will be …

It was the idea of being an entrepreneur in an emerging industry that first lured Craig Kornblau to the fledgling home video business in 1985. Two decades later, he’s playing that same role in an ever-changing industry as the head of Universal Studios Home Entertainment In 1999, Kornblau was named president of USHE, where he …

You won’t need to be in New York this year to attend NBC Universal’s annual Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center. NBC Uni is staging a virtual version of the event Wednesday night to kick off the conglomerate putting down stakes in Second Life, the fast-growing 3-D online world. The holiday party can be accessed …

The eye network is drawing eyeballs on YouTube. A month after launching its CBS Brand Channel on the site, clips from the network’s daily stream of news, sports and entertainment have become some of YouTube’s most widely viewed content. The network said three of the top 25 most-viewed YouTube videos this month include clips from …

Jimmy Buffett, accompanied by Allen Toussaint on piano, had just finished singing “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?” at the memorial service for his friend Ed Bradley yesterday when a tall, white-haired figure ascended the pulpit for a eulogy unbilled in the program. It was Bill Clinton. “I knew I had …

Randy Falco, the longtime television executive appointed last week as the new chief executive of Time Warner Inc.’s AOL unit, named Internet veteran Ron Grant as his No. 2 executive. Mr. Grant, 40 years old, is a former AOL executive who has most recently been a digital strategist at New York-based Time Warner’s corporate headquarters. …

“The Wizard of Oz” is getting a makeover, morphing into “Tin Man,” an edgy science-fiction fantasy to be produced as a $19 million, six-hour miniseries for the Sci Fi Channel. “Our goal is to take ‘Wizard of Oz’ to the next level and make it relevant, modern and fresh to a new generation,” said Dave …

Have a habit of messing up or getting yourself in a jam when cooking Thanksgiving dinner (US)? When things go wrong in the kitchen, sometimes you probably feel like running down to the closest restaurant for some professional advice. Physically busting into a restaurant kitchen may be a little extreme, but thanks to a few …

One of the most laborious tasks in file maintenance is finding out what files on your computer are taking up the most space…especially when they live deep within folders that live deep within folders that in turn, live deep within folders. Of course, on the mac, you can use Spotlight to find files by size …