The first sales figures on 3-D TVs and a new consumer survey indicate that the industry has a long way to go before the technology catches on in a big way, if it ever does.In the sets' first three months on the market, beginning in February, consumers nationwide spent about $55 million on 3-D-capable TVs and related equipment, according to an NPD Group. (The average price of the set is $2,500.) Paul Gagnon, an analyst with market research and consulting firm DisplaySearch, calculated that based on the NPD figures, about 20,000 of the flat-panel sets were sold by those major …

Production powerhouse Reveille is getting into the TV animation business. The producer of NBC's "The Biggest Loser" and "The Office" is partnering with former Hanna-Barbera executives to create family-friendly animated projects for networks and the Web. Reveille has entered into a first-look deal with Mechem Media, staffed by former Hanna-Barbera members. Reveille will work with Mechem to create animated fare in the signature style of Hanna-Barbera, which was responsible for such hits as "The Flintstones" and "Scooby-Doo." First on the slate is a comedy titled "The Gloomers," about the unluckiest family in the world who live next door …

Labor unions have dominated spending on independent campaign ads so far this election season, despite a recent Supreme Court decision that freed spending by corporations, a Washington Post analysis shows. Corporate money is not flooding into campaigns as many predicted would happen after the landmark decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. So far this year, $24.7 million in independent spending has been reported to the Federal Election Commission, campaign filings show. Unions have spent $9.7 million (or 39% of the total), compared with $6.4 million (26%) spent by individuals and $3.4 million spent by corporations. One caveat: …

Wimbledon seemed like an afterthought this year, given the attentiion the World Cup has drawn. Plus, only one American is among the four finalists at the all-England Club. And the ratings reflected as much. NBC's coverage of both the men's and women's finals over the weekend slid compared to the previous year, which featured the Williams sisters matched up in one final and the longest final ever on the men's side. Serena Williams' second-straight Wimbledon win averaged a 1.8 household rating Saturday, according to Nielsen overnights, off one-third from last year's 2.7, when Serena defeated older sister Venus. The …

Small-sized acquisitions and strategic buys rather than blockbuster multibillion-dollar deals will be on the minds of media moguls and financiers who gather at this week's Sun Valley conference. At the top of their shopping lists will be individual media assets, such as TV stations, radio companies and newspapers, rather than powerhouse takeovers like Comcast Corp's acquisition of NBC Universal last year, reports Reuters. BankStreet investment banker Scott Singer says "TV network affiliates as well as radio stations are areas where ... the private equity community has a high interest to put funds to work. These factors will likely …

Relativity and Netflix announced their "groundbreaking deal to stream first run, studio quality theatrical movies to Netflix subscribers." "Our continued goal is to expand the breadth and timeliness of films and TV shows available to stream on Netflix," said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix. "Historically, the rights to distribute these films are pre-sold to pay TV for as long as nine years after their theatrical release. Through our partnership with Relativity, these films will start to become available to our members just months after their DVD release." Ryan Kavanaugh, Relativity's CEO called the deal "a natural step …

Stirrings of audience life in multicast channels may explain why the national Nielsen ratings acquired by PBS have been rising, even though local Nielsen numbers are still generally slipping. Multicast channels such as Create, World, V-me and some locally packaged channels tend to have no measurable audience or a fraction as many viewers as the largest PBS channel in town. But small increments from two or three additional channels per market could mount up quietly, given that most stations don't see the data because they'd have to pay extra to Nielsen. Back in November, when only about six stations …

Display ads are often too small, or too tucked away to the side to properly showcase brands' big money TV ads. CBS believes it has an answer. The company has partnered with the rich media firm MediaMind (formerly Eyeblaster) to create a new ad treatment called the Video Extender, which allows users to view video ads in as large a screen as they'd like. The unit features an arrow in the bottom left hand corner, and when loading, it prompts users to "click and drag to expand video." Users can then expand the ad unit to the size …

Fresh faces and veteran players in new roles are expected to grab the spotlight when nominations are announced on Thursday for the primetime Emmy Awards -- the highest honors in the television industry. But potential Emmy newcomers, like "Glee" star Jane Lynch and Sofia Vergara of comedy "Modern Family," will be joined by actors from Emmy favorites, like comedy "30 Rock" and dramas "Mad Men" and "House" after a strong TV season. TV insiders hope the nominations will inject fresh blood and excitement into a field which has been dominated in recent years by the same little-watched contenders. In …

The Department of Psychology at Iowa State University along with the National Institute of Media and Family and the Center for the Study of Violence published the results of their 13-month study in the latest issue of the journal Pediatrics. The group observed the behavior of 1,300 "middle childhood" kids and with help from parents and school teachers determined if those who played videogames and watched TV for more than two hours per day were more likely to develop attention problems, reports Game Spy. The results, the authors state, are conclusive: play videogames and/or watch TV for more than …