Disney signed a definitive agreement to sell Miramax to Filmyard Holding, an investor group led by Los Angeles construction magnate Ron Tutor, for more than $660 million, putting the future of the company into the hands of a Hollywood outsider. Tutor and Colony Capital will each put up about $100 million of the purchase price, while minority investor Jerome Swartz, a retired engineer and philanthropist, is expected to contribute an additional $25 million to $50 million in equity. Founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein lost out on their bid when they lowered their price. Tutor, chairman of Sylmar construction …

Only three months ago, Apple CEO Steve Jobs was being hailed as a potential savior in the publishing world for getting magazines involved in the launch of the iPad. Now he's involved in a behind-the-scenes tug-of-war over annual subscriptions and the question of whether to share customer data with the publishers. As a result, there are no annual subscription offers on the iPad, only single-copy sales of titles such as GQ, Time, Sports Illustrated, Vanity Fair and Wired. All publishers say they hope to offer subscriptions at some point. But that is not happening, creating tension between publishers …

Actress Jennifer Lopez is poised to return to television - this time as a judge on "American Idol." The singer-dancer-actor was close to signing a deal to join Fox TV's hit singing contest, a source said. The "American Idol" opening for Lopez comes with comedian-talk show host Ellen DeGeneres' departure from the show.Degeneres announced Thursday she was leaving after one year as judge. In May, Simon Cowell exited after nine seasons to start a new talent show for Fox. Those under consideration for his spot, according to reports, are a varied group that includes Steven Tyler and Harry …

CEO Rupert Murdoch is considering creating a new purely digital news venture and would be available through subscription on devices like the iPad. The news play under consideration would aim to redefine how news is consumed in the digital space with an entirely new interactive format. It would not be a newspaper or a web site or derivative of one of News Corp's existing papers. It would incorporate text, photo, and video, and it would be tailored for iTunes app format. The subject matter would be news for a national audience. Dow Jones' Wall Street Journal already has …

The board of the White House Correspondents Assocation has decided to move the Associated Press to the front-row center seat in the White House briefing room, reports B&C. It gets the seat that had been held by UPI's Helen Thomas, who retired after her anti-Semitic remarks were roundly criticized. Fox, will move up from the second row to AP's front row-seat, and NPR will move to Fox's second-row seat next to Bloomberg. The board further agreed to move Fox News to the front row seat previously occupied by AP, and relocate NPR into the second row seat previously …