Computer networking giant Cisco Systems agreed Friday to acquire cable set-top box maker Scientific-Atlanta for $6.9 billion in a deal that both companies said will seek to capitalize on the convergence taking place among video, voice, data and mobile technologies.The…
The House of Representatives voted 217-215 early Friday morning to approve a major budget bill that includes a provision that would force broadcasters to make the switch to digital TV by Dec. 31, 2008. The Senate previously approved legislation that…
Walt Disney Co. CEO Robert Iger said Thursday he doesn’t expect the media company’s recent decision to offer episodes of “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost” on Apple Computer online store iTunes to cannibalize the company’s bread-and-butter broadcasting business. Instead, he said,…
Microsoft and CableLabs inked a deal that has been in the works for more than two years. The pact will make Microsoft’s Media Center PCs digital-cable-ready in time for next year’s holiday season. The pact also represents another step in…
Republican FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy announced Thursday that she plans to leave the agency Dec. 9, a move that could cede majority control to the Federal Communications Commission’s two Democrats. Ms. Abernathy’s departure threatens to upset the agency’s political balance,…
The Federal Communications Commission announced Thursday that the deadline for comment on proposed rules changes regarding closed-captioning of video programming has been extended to Dec. 16. The opportunity for comment had been scheduled to end the day after Thanksgiving. The…
The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington late Wednesday referred pending challenges of the Federal Communications Commission’s new children’s TV rules to the federal appeals court in Cincinnati. The Walt Disney Co. and Viacom filed challenges with the D.C. court,…
Former ABC and Warner Bros. executive Ed Bleier’s name has gone up on a building on the campus of his alma mater, Syracuse University, and nearly $1 million in financial support from him will underwrite the expansion of the program…
NBCU to Offer TV, Movies Through File-Sharing Service: NBC Universal said Thursday it would begin offering Universal movies and NBCU TV events content through Peer Impact, a legal peer-to-peer file-sharing service, as the media giant continues its strategy of offering…
Ralph Edwards, the pioneering television host and producer whose most memorable turn came as host of the hit 1950s show “This Is Your Life,” died Wednesday at his home in West Hollywood, Calif. He was 92.Mr. Edwards, who began his…