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"Three million cable customers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will see their ABC station go to black (or something like it) early Sunday morning unless The Walt Disney Company and Cablevision either strike a deal or extend their tense contract negotiations. Cablevision's contract to carry the ABC station in New York City, WABC, expires at midnight, and the two companies are in a standoff over how much Disney, which owns ABC, should be paid for the right to retransmit the signal."

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.

Article describing an ongoing battle between the Walt Disney Company and Cablevision over the distribution payments Disney wants for ABC from Cablevision

"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.

"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."

Disney is looking to sell off what remain of Miramax and its film library, with a price in the range of over $700 million. There is somewhere around seven to ten interested buyers, including Summit Entertainment

Disney shuts down Miramax films due to financial struggles. Eighty staff members will lose their jobs. What will this mean for the "indie" film scene?

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.

Disney has created iPhone apps that act as tie-ins with movies, among them an app that allows users to play as Alice and solve puzzles in Wonderland.

Walt Disney Company acquires Marvel comics.

The Walt Disney Company has been quietly shopping what remains of its Miramax film unit and has attracted seven to 10 interested bidders, according to a mergers and acquisitions expert with knowledge of the process.

The Walt Disney Company has been quietly shopping what remains of its Miramax film unit and has attracted seven to 10 interested bidders, according to a mergers and acquisitions expert with knowledge of the process.

"The front page of Friday's Los Angeles Times was taken over by an ad for Disney's "Alice in Wonderland." The ad, which featured Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter character, was superimposed over a mock front page. The paper's real A1 appeared behind it. "We worked very closely with Disney to come up with an exceptional and distinctive way to help them open 'Alice in Wonderland,'" John Conroy, a spokesman for the LAT, told The Wrap's Sharon Waxman. "It was designed to create buzz, and to extend the film's already brilliant marketing campaign. "

"The Oscar statuette became a pawn in a public brawl between the Walt Disney Company and Cablevision on Sunday, a dispute that prevented more than three million viewers from watching the beginning of the Academy Awards show until a tentative agreement restored the signal 14 minutes into the telecast."

Hours before the Oscars, Disney and Cablevision have yet to reach a deal, meaning subscribers in some markets will not be able to watch the show. Executive Vice President Charles Schueler of Cablevision has asked the FCC to involve itself, and both companies have been in contact with the agency.

"Movie tie-in games are tough to pull off, especially if you stick too closely to the story of the movie (hello, spoilers). \nHowever, Toy Story 3 hopes to pull it off with an open world mode that stays true to the movie while still giving players something entertaining (and non-spoilerific) to do. Disney Interactive Studios announced a Toy Story 3 tie-in game Wednesday that's coming out for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, and the iPhone/iPod Touch. No surprises there; but we were glad to hear there's an \nopen world mode in the game that adds a touch of originality to the game called Toy Box."

While you will get to see Tim Tebow during the Super Bowl commercials, you'll be missing out on several studios' blockbuster ads.Commercials were cheaper this year, but the $3 million price tag did not attract many movie studios.

"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."