The Federal Communications Commission has little inclination to start regulating the disputes over fees broadcasters want cable operators to pay to carry their channels. Over the last several months there have been a handful of high-profile fights between broadcasters and cable operators, including Fox and Time Warner Cable and more recently ABC and Cablevison Systems. Several pay-TV companies, led by Time Warner Cable and Cablevision, asked the FCC in March to revisit the nearly 20-year-old "retransmission consent" rules as well as passing a rule that would take away a broadcaster's ability to pull its channel during a carriage …

Thanks to its small size and weight, the iPad's place is not on our desks, but at our side -- a constant companion that augments and our daily lives. This seems to be inspiring all sorts of innovative apps. One such example comes from the labs of U.S. cable giant Comcast, which demoed a prototype of its new Xfinity Remote, an app that can be used to access and control the company's on-demand and TV-recording services. The Comcast Xfinity app, has a slew of features: In addition to controlling your TV viewing experience, Xfinity allows you to share your …

Because newspapers -- newsprint, creation, delivery -- is so expensive, publishers would be overjoyed to stop such costs -- if the new readers they gain for their online editions were worth as much to advertisers as the previous print ones. Google may be actually help to save newspapers. Here is a crucial part of the Google analysis: The news business, in this view, is passing through an agonizing transition -- bad, not dying. The difference lies in the assumption that soon readers will again pay for subscriptions, and online display ads will become valuable. "Nothing that I see suggests …

One week after announcing the formation of his new licensing division, Haim Saban has acquired its first major property: the "Power Rangers." Acquired from Disney by Saban Brands, the deal marks a coming-home. The property was created in Japan by the Toei Company and adapted to the U.S. market by Saban in 1993, with the launch of the "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers." Saban has selected Nickelodeon as his television partner, with the "Power Rangers" moving onto the kids channel for its 18th season starting. To date, "Power Rangers" has aired in over 60 countries, while the property's licensed products …

Apple and Google are new and highly visible adversaries in the mobile Web arena. But what observers often overlook about their rivalry are their starkly different business models. Apple is still primarily a device manufacturer: 82% of its revenue comes from gadgets, 54% from iPhones and iPods alone. Google, is an advertising company: 96% of its income comes from ads. The thing is, in the mobile Web business, advertising is a much smarter long-term strategy, says Daily Finance.   Of course, Apple is moving into online advertising with iAd, which is based on technology Apple obtained in the …

Chrysler is prepping the launch of a corporate branding TV campaign it hopes will help repair its image in the minds of consumers -- and it's hired a new agency, Interpublic Group of Cos.' Gotham, for the project. Chrysler has made many changes to its marketing relationships. Its entire ad account was handled by Omnicom Group agencies a year ago, but since the company's come under the control of Italy's Fiat, assignments are now handled by shops throughout the industry. The hire of Gotham for a new TV campaign is a sign that Chrysler isn't married to its current …

Ever since Peter A. Chernin left the News Corporation as Rupert Murdoch's second in command, the media world has wondered what he would do next. Rather than joining another big media company, Chernin is in the early stages of assembling his own enterprise, a company of considerable ambition that will meld original content, like feature films and television series, with cutting-edge technologies that use the Web and other digital ways of delivering entertainment.20th Century Fox studio gave a green light to Chernin's first film, "Rise of the Apes." It is a prequel to "Planet of the Apes." The …

A TV communications satellite is drifting out of control thousands of miles above the Earth, threatening to wander into another satellite's orbit and interfere with cable programming across the United States. Communications company Intelsat said it lost control of the Galaxy 15 satellite on April 5, possibly because the satellite's systems were knocked out by a solar storm. Intelsat cannot remotely steer the satellite to remain in its orbit, so Galaxy 15 is creeping toward the adjacent path of another TV communications satellite that serves U.S. cable companies. Galaxy 15 signals will probably interfere with signals from the second …

The Walt Disney Co. is traveling to the Far East. It plans to launch two Korean-language Disney channels in South Korea in a joint venture with SK Telecom. The venture calls for the debut of Disney Channel and Playhouse Disney Channel in the spring of 2011, pending approval from Korean regulators. SK Telecom will own 51% of the venture, while Disney will own 49%. The channels will be carried on cable and Internet-connected TV services. SK Telecom CEO Man-won Jung said in a statement Tuesday that he hopes the alliance will create other opportunities and noted that consumers watch …

Fearful they'll suffer the same fate as the music business, given iTunes popularity, television firms are racing to come up with services which would let paying customers view shows on any device. The goal is to hold Apple at bay. As consumers increasingly expect to watch TV on their computers and mobiles, the future of online television is up for grabs. One solution: TV Everywhere, which is intended to address changing viewer habits while preserving the profitable status quo for program producers and the networks that carry the shows. The idea, presented by Time Warner Inc. CEO Jeff Bewkes, met …