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Jonathan Miller, a former chief executive of AOL and once considered a potential CEO at Yahoo, will soon be appointed head of digital strategy for News Corp., according to a person familiar with the matter. Miller, 52, was eyed last year as a replacement for Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, before Time Warner’s AOL invoked a noncompete clause that blocked the move.
Warner Bros. is reaching into its film vaults so it can sell old movies on made-to-order DVDs, in a move it hopes will goose sales of a vital product in a downturn. Starting Monday, the studio will sell copies of 150 films from the silent era to the 1980s Brat Pack that have never been released on DVD. Internet downloads of the movies will cost $14.95, while DVDs sent in the mail are $19.95.
Time is experimenting with a customized magazine that combines reader-selected sections from eight publications as it tries to mimic in printed form the personalized news feeds that have become popular on the Internet. Called “mine,” the five-issue, 10-week experiment also aligns readers with the branding message that its sole advertising partner, Toyota, has for its new Lexus 2010 RX sport utility vehicle.
Viacom, the media conglomerate controlled by Sumner Redstone, said Thursday its fourth-quarter profit fell 69 percent as the recession hurt advertising, home entertainment and video game revenue and it recorded $454 million in charges. The owner of the MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central cable networks and the Paramount movie studio said it earned $173 million, or 28 cents per share.
Although Apple announced this month that some songs sold on its market-leading iTunes online service would be available for 69 cents instead of the 99-cent tag Apple had insisted on for years, the change won’t necessarily put more money into the pockets of music lovers. In fact, record companies are the ones that plan to come out ahead.