Regulators have begun to take a long, hard look at whether the AT&T buyout of T-Mobile would create a quasi-monopoly in the American cellular carrier industry. If those antitrust concerns sink the deal, AT&T could be in real trouble, because cellular is its only clear hope for growth.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway liquidated its positions in a number of high-profile companies during the fourth quarter, but the Oracle of Omaha has hung on to his huge stake in Coca-Cola. And Coke's nearly 4% drop is a weight on Buffett's portfolio.
Comcast has a tight grip on Philadelphia sports fans with its SportsNet Philadelphia channel, which has been the exclusive carrier of games from the Phillies, Flyers and 76ers. But now Comcast will have to make the channel available to satellite-TV providers, thanks to FCC-approved terms of its deal for NBC Universal.
General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt will become the head of a new presidential panel called the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. But is Immelt the right person for the job?
Comcast's takeover of NBC Universal got the green light from the FCC and the Justice Department on Tuesday. The deal creates an entertainment colossus in television, movies, the Internet and theme parks. Will it also make Comcast a formidable challenger to Walt Disney's ESPN?
The planned merger by Comcast and NBC Universal is a bad idea, according to a group of hundreds of small cable companies who oppose the deal. They say it could cost consumers $2.4 billion over the next nine years.
MSNBC head Phil Griffin now says Olbermann, who was suspended indefinitely without pay on Nov. 5, has been punished enough. Olbermann's supporters certainly felt that way, calling his suspension by MSNBC for making political donations to Democrats "outrageous" and "bizarre."
When IBM raised its buyback authorization by $10 billion on Oct. 26, it was the 259th company to announce repurchase plans in October alone. Citi Investment Research says a long-term trend of rising buybacks has only just begun.
When the state of California announced that a marijuana legalization measure would be on the state's November ballot, the ensuing discussion covered a range of topics from medicine to morality. But few pundits brought up the biggest factor of them all: money. With a potential market of millions of pot smokers, decriminalization of marijuana could open the door to a vast, largely-untapped market for smoking paraphernalia, accessories and other lifestyle accoutrements.
Comcast is the Rodney Dangerfield of media companies. Yesterday, the Philadelphia firm reported that fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled. How did Wall Street respond? It sent Comcast's shares down.
Microsoft plans to use its XBox Live as a means to stream movies and TV shows into people's homes. If the extremely ambitious program eventually works as planned, customers could have no need for their cable TV.
NBC has got quite a mountain to climb after the disastrous Jay Leno Show experiment. But getting consumers to give a second chance to a product they've stopped using is one of the biggest challenges in marketing.
NBC executives appear ready to move Jay Leno back to late night TV. The Leno disaster, which will cost the network tens of millions of dollars, was avoidable, and will likely be discussed in business schools for decades to come.









