Digital

Nielsen Raises $1.6 Billion in Largest Private-Equity IPO Since 2006

In what is the biggest private equity-led U.S. initial public offering since 2006, Nielsen Holdings raised $1.6 billion, reports Bloomberg News. Nielsen, which is owned by Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group, KKR and Thomas H. Lee Partners after being taken private…

Golden-Voiced Homeless Man Bolts From Rehab Center

The feel-good story of golden-voiced Ted Williams has taken another turn with the news that the reclamation project has walked out of the rehab facility where he was attempting to get clean and sober, reports TMZ.com. Williams, who was homeless…

AT&T Rebrands Its VOD Service as It Battles Netflix, Redbox

AT&T, positioning itself against rental competitors Netflix and Redbox, is rebranding its video-on-demand service as "U-verse Movies" to stress the availability of new releases, reports Multichannel News. The service previously had been branded U-verse On Demand, the article notes. The…

Super Bowl Advertisers Going the Sweepstakes Route, Giving Away Cars; Plus: Free Pizza If the Game Goes Into OT

More advertisers are launching sweepstakes offers in connection with their Super Bowl advertising buys as a way of engaging fans, reports The New York Times’ Media Decoder blog. BMW and Mercedes-Benz are planning giveaways, with BMW offering a two-year lease…

Microsoft Files Trade Complaint Against TiVo

Microsoft has filed a U.S. trade complaint seeking to keep TiVo from importing television set-top boxes from Mexico, reports Bloomberg News. The claim is based on patent infringement. The four patents in the case involve program schedules and selection, a…

AOL Gets Into the Late-Night Talk Show Game–With a Popular Comedian, a Veteran TV Show Host and a Well-Known Movie Director on Board

AOL is throwing its hat in the ring in a bid for a piece of the late-night talk show action, launching a show tonight, Monday, Jan. 24, 2011, that will feature a trio of familiar faces, Entertainment Weekly reports in…

A Number So Big It’s Almost Hard to Comprehend: Over the Weekend Apple’s iTunes Had Its 10 Billionth Download of an App; Plus We List the Top Ten Free and Paid Apps Downloaded Since Apple Apps Began

Apple announced that it hit its 10 billionth downloaded app on Saturday morning, Jan. 22, 2011. The milestone was reached when the app for the game Paper Glider "was downloaded by Gail Davis from Orpington in Kent" in the United Kingdom, reports U.K. publication The…

GE’s Immelt Joins Obama White House, Takes On Role in Rebuilding U.S. Competitiveness

General Electric Co. President Jeffrey Immelt, who has put in considerable time as a key player in media and television as part of the team running the company that owned NBC, has been named by President Obama to head the…

Verizon Sues FCC Over Net Neutrality

In what is seen as the first major challenge to the Federal Communications Commission’s new net neutrality rules, Verizon is suing the agency to try to get a court to overturn the rules, PC Magazine reports. “Verizon’s court challenge is…

Nickelodeon to Debut ‘Spongebob’ Episode on Facebook, Followed by Prime-Time TV Special; Stars of the New Episodes Include Amy Sedaris and ‘Big Love’s’ Ginnifer Goodwin

Nickelodeon said it will debut an episode of "Spongebob Squarepants" on Facebook, followed by a longer prime-time special on television. The special, called "Legends of Bikini Bottom," is an anthology of five Spongebob stories, with the first of the five…