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By Phil Rosenthal
| Comcast SportsNet Chicago plans to live stream telecasts of its Chicago Bulls games online, beginning with their Mar. 19 game against Cleveland. But the only people who will have access to the online version of the cable channel’s game coverage will be those who already receive Comcast SportsNet Chicago from a TV provider that has agreed to participate in the network’s authentication process.
Get the full story: Tower Ticker.
From the Evansville Courier & Press | The Vandernburgh County prosecutor who threatened to sue Redbox to stop it from stocking PG-13 and R-rated movies that could be rented by minors has decided not to pursue the case, citing lack of public support.
Get the full story: courierpress.com
The Detroit News | A U.S. Army explosives expert says his identity and personal exploits were stolen by the makers of the Academy Award-nominated movie “The Hurt Locker.” In the lawsuit, Master Sgt. Jeffrey Sarver and his lawyer state that the screenplay’s author, Mark Boal, based “The Hurt Locker” on a 2004 story Boal wrote for Playboy about Sarver and his unit in Iraq. The Playboy story, Sarver claims, contained factual errors and portrayed him in a negative light.
Get the full story: detnews.com.
From WISH-TV in Indianapolis | The prosecutor in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, is fighting to have “R” rated material removed from Redbox movie kiosks, arguing it’s too easy for children to access them. The attorney for Oak Brook-based Redbox did not respond to a request for comment.
Get the full story: wishtv.com
(AP Photo/Ron Heflin)
By Sandra M. Jones | Blockbuster Inc. quietly unveiled a new rental policy on March 1 that essentially brings back late fees.
Now customers pay $5 to rent a video for five days, instead of seven. After that, a fee of $1 a day is charged for up to 10 days when an auto-sell feature kicks in and the movie is automatically sold to the customer.
From The New Yorker | Mayor Richard Daley said that City Hall isn’t the only entity having problems with corruption. “Unfortunately, there’s corruption all over — private sector, public sector, all that — so you do everything possible. We are much ahead of most cities on this issue.” The comment was made in a New Yorker interview published this week, in which he also discussed the parking meters controversy and Millennium Park’s effect on Chicago tourism.
Get the full story (subscription required): The Daley Show.
Tribune staff report | Westwood One and Harpo Radio Inc. today
announced a multi-year partnership to distribute The Gayle King Show, a
two-hour, daily radio talk program hosted by television personality
Gayle King, to be broadcast on Westwood One’s affiliate radio
stations.
The partnership will include distribution of additional Harpo Radio
programming, including Gayle King Evening, a new, five-hour weeknight
entertainment program featuring music, guests and topical conversation.
Associated Press | Just over a quarter of American adults now read news on their cell phones, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center.
The survey results being released by the group Monday offer another sign of how people are changing they way they get information. Technology has been reshaping the news business and the way consumers relate to it for more than a decade. The latest shift is being driven by the exploding popularity of phones that can easily access the Internet.
From the New York Post | Sears has begun taking orders on its Web site for 3-D televisions, becoming the first U.S. retailer to do so. Sears is selling two models, both from Samsung, a 46-inch set for $2,599 and a 55-inch one priced at $3,299. Glasses are required.
Get the full story: nypost.com
By William Lee | Fitness trainers Dina Castillo and Frank Nunez were riding a wave after they were asked to create a customized fitness program just for employees of Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Inc. in summer 2008.
The married owners of Unicus Fitness were even asked to appear on a program on Winfrey’s XM Radio channel hosted by the talk show queen’s former trainer.
(Zoe Galland/Chicago Tribune)
Macworld | Chicago-based Playboy Enterprises has escaped Apple’s crackdown on adult content apps so far. Apple’s App Store policy allows the company to reject applications
deemed “obscene, pornographic, or defamatory.” Last week, an app called
“iWobble” was nuked after Apple gave iWobble’s developer a list of
seven “new rules” that cover banned App Store content, including “no
skin” and “nothing that can be sexually arousing.”
Playboy’s flagship magazine app and Time’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2010 app are still available.
Get the full story: macworld.com.
Tribune staff report | Retired NBA star Earvin “Magic” Johnson said he was unable to reach a deal to buy Chicago-based Johnson Publishing Co., publisher of Ebony and Jet magazines, iconic African-American media brands.
Despite “advanced talks,” Johnson said in a statement that, “unfortunately, we were unable to reach a definitive agreement. We will
continue to look for opportunities to invest in African-American media.”
Former NBA player Earvin “Magic” Johnson at a Haiti fundraiser earlier this month. Kevin Winter/Getty Images >>
Fast Company | The Windy City has a strong startup culture, lots of federal research dollars, and talented fourth-generation entrepreneurs, says Fast Company magazine. In an article on Chicago’s business culture, Fast Company interviews Matt McCall, a partner at New World Ventures and managing director at DFJ Portage. McCall notes that Chicago is home to many of the largest companies in the U.S., and that the city “is where many Internet mainstays were launched, from the jobs site CareerBuilder and travel service Orbitz to RSS technology innovators Feedburner.”
McCall describes a typical Chicago entrepreneur as “incredibly capital efficient because obviously capital is scarce in the Midwest…they tend to be very collaborative and cooperative.”
Get the full story: fastcompany.com.
By Ameet Sachdev | Success breeds imitation as Groupon, the Chicago-based company that offers coupons and discounts on its Web site, has learned.
The company on Friday sued Groupocity for violating its trademark.
Groupocity is a Tampa-based company that has the same business model as
Groupon, according to the suit filed in federal court in Chicago.
From Bloomberg | Playboy Enterprises Inc. is looking toward Latin America, China and India in its plans to get back into the Playboy Club business. Brazil likely to be one of it first targets, said CEO Scott Flanders.
Get the full story: bloomberg.com
