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The number of media and entertainment media and acquisitions deals fell by 49 percent in 2009, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The accounting firm's 2010 U.S. Entertainment & Media M&A Insights report said the deals totaled $77.4 billion last year, the lowest level since 2004. There were 714 deals, down 29 percent from 2008 and the smallest number in seven years.

Wal-Mart Stores reached an agreement with Live Nation Entertainment to sell tickets to concerts and other events at about 500 stores. The service will be introduced in the next few months in cities including Chicago and Los Angeles, according to Irving Azoff, executive chairman of Live Nation. The new accord will let Wal-Mart shoppers buy tickets for concerts, sports and other events at cash registers in the retailer's entertainment department, Mr. Azoff said. Live Nation also sells tickets at Blockbuster stores.

In his feisty opening statement, Franken said: "I worked for NBC for many years. And what I know from my previous career has given me reason to be concerned--let me rephrase that, very concerned--about the potential merger of Comcast and NBC Universal. The media are our source of entertainment, but they're also the way we get our information about the world. So when the same company that produces the programs runs the pipes that bring us those programs, we have a reason to be nervous.... You'll have to excuse me if I don't just trust their promises and that is from experience in this business." The former SNL star and entertainment industry insider-turned-Senator is dead on with his concerns. As Free Press--the media reform advocacy organization founded by The Nation's John Nichols, media scholar Robert McChesney, and current executive director Josh Silver-- points out, the merger would result in Comcast controlling one in every five television viewing hours. It would lead to fewer choices of what you can watch and how you can watch it. Those cable bills that continue to rise would rise even higher, and if you don't use Comcast you might have to pay a premium to get NBC's shows. There will be even less access to local and independent programming as Comcast would promote NBC's shows at their expense. And, finally, there's the even larger issue of concentrating power and limiting access to free public interest media.

"Widevine, a provider of digital entertainment solutions, and Qtv, Inc. today announced that they will partner to bring Widevine's video optimization and multiplatform Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology to the Qtv Internet TV Media Player for the television, mobile phone and personal computer."

"Widevine, a provider of digital entertainment solutions, and Qtv, Inc. today announced that they will partner to bring Widevine's video optimization and multiplatform Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology to the Qtv Internet TV Media Player for the television, mobile phone and personal computer....The Qtv Internet TV Media Player gives consumers the unique ability to access and play both personal and Internet-based content from their TV, mobile phone and computer. When it is released in the next few months, it will have the largest installed base of supported devices of any media player."

Jack Tretton, the CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, discusses how Sony is reorganizing, the motion-control competition with Microsoft, and how Sony ignored naysayers and found gaming success.

"Spain is on the brink of no longer being a viable market for us," Michael Lynton, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, told the Times.

The Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) removed an online ratings summary of the content in Dead or Alive: Paradise for PSP from its website today in response to inquiries as to the appropriateness of the summary.

Australia's largest videogame retailer has joined the movement to add an R18+ rating category for interactive entertainment Down Under.

Six music blogs hosted by Google's blogging services have been accused of violating the company's terms of service by allegedly posting unauthorized copyright material and have been booted from the sites. Google CEO Eric Schmidt sits between Universal Music Group CEO Doug Morris (left) and Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, at the Vevo launch party. (Credit: Greg Sandoval/CNET) The blogs that were hosted by Google's Blogger or Blogspot services are: Living Ears, I Rock Cleveland, Pop Tarts, Masala,To Die By Your Side, and It's a Rap.

RealNetworks has agreed to kill its DVD-copying software and pay $4.5 million in settling a copyright-infringement lawsuit filed by Hollywood studios. As part of the settlement announced Wednesday, the provider of online entertainment services also agreed to drop its appeal of a San Francisco federal court ruling that barred RealNetworks from distributing or supporting RealDVD or any other technology that enables the duplication of the studios' copyrighted content. The 2008 lawsuit filed by Viacom and the Motion Picture Association of America claimed that RealDVD illegally circumvented the anti-piracy technology embedded in DVDs. The DVD Copy Control Association, which licenses Hollywood-sanctioned copyright-protection technology, joined the suit later, claiming RealNetworks was also in violation of its DVD CCA license.

Article discussing the projected increases in entertainment content for consumers in India as a result of the recent Finance Bill, which will instate a service tax on temporary transfers of copyright

"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."

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

Discusses how X-Box Live has been transitioning from merely a subscription gaming service to a media portal that can access many different forms of entertainment.

Merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation, two of the major concert ticket vendors in the US, was approved by the US Justice Department. Consumer groups, independent promoters and ticket brokers all urged the department to block the deal, warning that it would give the resulting company the power to dictate terms for live entertainment at the expense of venues, artists and consumers. The companies argued that combining their ticketing and promotions arms would enable them to offer better services to venues and acts, and better value to fans.

Congressional hearings for the Comcast/NBC case are scheduled for Feb. 4. There are many opponents to the deal, including consumer activists and media watchdogs, Local affiliates are concerned that Comcast could "gradually migrate some or all of the most compelling sports, news and entertainment programming and talent away from free, over-the-air distribution on NBC to its newly owned cable channels that are made available only to paying subscribers, such as Bravo and USA Network."

"A ChangeWave survey of 3,171 consumers -- conducted in the aftermath of that Apple announcement (Feb 1-10) -- shows a huge wave of pre-launch demand for the iPad and offers key evidence that the Apple tablet will have a major impact on the e-Reader, laptop and home entertainment markets."

More from the MPAA on film futures. They ask for an extension to gather more support from labor organizations against the creation of an exchange.