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Walt Disney Co. is asking theater operators to agree to a shorter time between movie debuts and DVD releases, specifically starting with Alice in Wonderland, in an effort to boost home video sales. The move comes as studios try to find ideas to speed the release times of DVDs to fight slumping DVD revenues.

"Walt Disney Co.'s fourth-quarter results should cheer media investors fretting about whether legacy businesses can thrive postrecession. The Burbank, Calif. company just about matched its profit for the last three months of 2008 thanks to strong performances by its cable channels and movie studios. Theme parks, however, stalled in the bad economy as families cut back on luxuries."

"The Los Angeles Times' critic may have panned the film, but that didn't stop Disney from paying top dollar to turn the newspaper's front page into a special advertisement for the new movie, "Alice in Wonderland." The ad, believed to be the first of its kind among America's leading big-city dailies, dismayed some readers and was lamented by media scholars as the latest troubling sign of difficult times at the newspaper and for journalism generally. Hollywood blogger Sharon Waxman cited one "media buyer insider" as saying the Walt Disney Co, the studio behind the film, paid $700,000 for the space.

Microsoft's Xbox Live internet service, which recently lost one of its trump cards when rivals Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Nintendo matched its partnership with Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX), may soon fire back with a new content deal of its own. Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) "has held in-depth discussions" with Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) over a deal that would let Xbox 360 owners stream some live ESPN content directly on their consoles, the NYT reports.

"RealNetworks Inc. said it will pay $4.5 million and drop its appeal of a court order barring sales of its DVD-copying software to settle a lawsuit by Walt Disney Co. and other Hollywood movie studios claiming the technology violates copyright-protection laws. RealNetworks also will refund about 2,700 customers who bought RealDVD, a $30 software program that allows users to save one backup copy of a movie to a computer hard drive."

The XBox moves into cable TV turf. What does it mean for the industry?

"With a midnight deadline looming on a threat to pull the plug on Cablevision's 3.1 million customers in New York a day before the Academy Awards, there's still no word on whether ABC's parent company and the cable operator have reached a decision."