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TIVO reported their first-quarter net income more than quadrupled, taking in $3.6 million over $835,000 last year. The net gain can be attributed to Tivo cutting costs, while also expanding its reach through deals with COX and COMCAST and legal victories over its patents. With deals in place with one-third of the cable industry and a new deal to offer DISNEY films, TiVo shows no signs that its set-top box business is slowing down.
MICROSOFT and YAHOO are still in talks regarding a potential search ads deal. Sources say that Steve Ballmer and Jerry Yang discussed different options for a deal this past weekend over a round of golf. While talks have intensified, Microsoft’s interest in Yahoo seems to be based solely on a search deal, rather than a total acquisition.
AMAZON will launch a pay-per-view streaming service next week. The service, which is similar Unbox, its rent or download service, will allow users to watch content instantly without downloading and will be priced the same as the Unbox service. No word on whether or not the new streaming service will work on Mac’s, which Unbox does not.
Hollywood studios have reached a tentative deal with AFTRA. The three year deal will put AFTRA members back to work and has given way to resumed talks between the studios and SAG. The AFTRA deal resembles recent contractual deals with writers and directors, however, it does nothing to curtail the uncertainty caused by the potential of a SAG strike. SAG’s contract with the studios expires June 30.
LIVE NATION will sell tickets through a FACEBOOK web application and widget. The deal, which will allow users to search and purchase tickets through My Live Nation, is an interactive, web 2.0 model for selling tickets to concerts and events. Fans who sign up will be able to sync their music libraries with Live Nation for personalized concert and ticket updates.