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Borders Group Inc. has launched its e-bookstore as it tries to catch up to competitors who have a head-start in a small but growing market that’s seen as the future of the book industry.
The company said Wednesday its goal with the new store and e-reader is to take 17 percent of the electronic book market by next July. Amazon has the Kindle e-reader and Barnes & Noble Inc. has the Nook, and all the players are cutting prices to woo buyers.
Apple Inc. has booted a developer and his apps from its applications store after hundreds of hijacked user accounts were used to push his titles to best sellers over the weekend.
Developer Thuat Nguyen has been banned for violating an Apple license agreement, “including fraudulent purchases,” Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said Tuesday. About 400 iTunes users were affected, she said
Veteran Chicago broadcaster Bob Sirott has been named co-anchor of WFLD-Ch. 32’s marquee 9 p.m. news, and he’s set to make his on-air debut July 19.
Playboy Enterprises Inc. said its recently announced round of layoffs include the elimination of the job held by Michael S. Dannhauser, who had served as senior vice president and corporate controller.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Thursday called on the Los Angeles Times to stop selling advertising sections designed to resemble news sections, saying that the ads hurt the paper’s credibility. The supervisors sent a letter to Sam Zell, chairman of the Tribune Co., which owns The Times (and also publishes the Chicago Tribune.) The letter came the same day the paper published a four-page ad for Universal Studios that wrapped around LATExtra, the newspaper’s breaking news section.
It seems users of its iTunes app are not too happy with Hulu Plus, the $9.99-a-month online video service launched Tuesday. But who would be when they are spending $10 to get shows — with the commercials?
Comcast has told the Federal Communications Commission that it has reached deals with TV stations owned by ABC, CBS and Fox to allay their fears that they will be at a disadvantage if the nation’s biggest cable operator completes its purchase of NBC.
Blockbuster Inc stayed a step ahead of bankruptcy after winning a crucial one-month reprieve on debt payments, but was forced to begin the process of delisting from the New York stock exchange. Get the full story »
The judge in the Tribune Co. bankruptcy case has given an independent examiner more time to probe the media company’s 2007 leveraged buyout. The judge gave the examiner two more weeks, until July 26, to submit his report, and moved the deadline for creditors to vote on Tribune’s reorganization plan to Aug. 6.
Chicago Public Media, parent of public radio’s WBEZ-FM 91.5, is dropping five staffers from its multiplatform venture Vocalo. Torey Malatia, CPM’s president and chief executive, told staff of the cuts as WBEZ and Vocalo begin their new fiscal year with a budget he said is “a reflection of our strategic choices.”
Chicago-based social commerce company Groupon said Thursday that it is extending its daily deal model to The McClatchy Co., the country’s third-largest newspaper publisher.
Under the agreement between, Groupon will provide exclusive content to McClatchy’s Web sites, including deals not available on Groupon.com. Get the full story »
Comcast SportsNet Chicago plans to replay the 16 postseason victories that gave the Chicago Blackhawks their first Stanley Cup championship in 49 years over five days, beginning July 10 and culminating July 14 with a late-night encore telecast of the victory parade and rally.
Google is giving its users the chance to tailor the news to fit their interests. As part of a new look unveiled Wednesday, the English-language version of Google’s online news section is offering tools that will enable readers to specify what kind of stories interest them.
Bob Sirott, the long-time Chicago radio host and former anchor for WMAQ-Ch. 5, WTTW-Ch. 11 and WFLD-Ch. 32, is poised to to return to Fox-owned Channel 32 as replacement for 9 p.m. co-anchor Jeff Goldblatt.
Amazon.com said Wednesday it is now offering do-it-yourself authors and publishers royalties of about 70 percent on their e-books. The online retailer in January had announced plans to offer users of its e-book self-publishing program, the Kindle Digital Text Platform, book sale royalties of 70 percent after delivery costs. Get the full story »
