Bar codes are arriving on television. Now, mobile-phone users can scan a bar code embedded in commercials on certain evening shows on Bravo and instantly obtain additional information about a product and a discount to buy it. The 45-second commercials by the online fashion retailer Bluefly show snippets of its "Closet Confessions" interviews with designers and celebrities like Bethenny Frankel, who appeared on "The Real Housewives of New York City," and the Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir. When the cellphone is pointed at the on-screen bar code, the user is linked to a complete closet-baring episode, which can run …

Best Buy is shifting millions into TV -- in a move that not only goes against the grain but is notable, given Best Buy's aggressiveness in digital and social media. The consumer electronics giant wouldn't give exact figures, but it is increasing its spending by a low double-digit percentage. In 2009, it spent $150 million on TV advertising, according to Kantar; network TV ads accounted for $65 million of that figure. To free up funds for TV, the retailer is pulling money away from inserts and trimming distribution in parts of the country where newspaper readership has suffered. In …

A television series based on the classic mob movie "Goodfellas" appears to be in the works in time for the film's 20th anniversary. Nicholas Pileggi, the movie's screenwriter and the author of "Wiseguy," the book it's based on, will likely be back to write the pilot. To date, it is unclear whether legendary director Martin Scorsese will have a hand in the production. On the big screen front, John Gotti Jr., the son of the mob boss, is trying to get a movie made about his relationship with his father, the Teflon don, who died in prison. Gangsters have …

FourthWall Media has launched a new solution -- dubbed the TV Buy Button -- to help operators boost their revenues from television commerce applications on interactive TV platforms. The tool makes it easier to buy products and services with a press of a TV remote. The new TV Buy Button allows subscribers to make payments through PayPal and is designed to work on the enhanced TV binary interchange format (EBIF) that operators are now deploying for interactive television. "FourthWall Media has deployed applications like eBay on TV, Yellow Pages on TV and Ad Widget that run on our EBIF …

Advertisers are drawn to Hulu, in part, because the site is a popular place for fans to stream shows like NBC's "30 Rock" and "The Office." Trouble is, Hulu doesn't actually sell any inventory in those shows. That's because NBC has recently begun pulling back the maximum allowable amount of ad inventory within its shows on Hulu, as are its sister cable networks like USA and Bravo. Hulu's other broadcast partners, ABC and Fox, are following suit, according to buyers familiar with Hulu's operations, though NBC has been the most aggressive as it looks to capitalize on heavy demand …

CNN President Jim Walton announced a major shakeup of CNN management, replacing the head of CNN/US with a longtime CNN executive Ken Jautz. HLN head Jautz takes over as executive vice president of CNN/US, replacing Jonathan Klein, who headed the network for six years. CNN's chief marketing officer Scot Safon will run HLN, replacing Jautz. Jautz, who joined CNN in 1989 as a bureau chief in Germany, has held a wide variety of jobs at the company, including executive vice president in charge of CNN's business news operations. Most recently, Jautz has presided over the revamp and rebranding …

Netflix announced an expanded license agreement with NBC Universal that expands the conglomerate's presence on Netflix Instant to include other NBC U programming from USA Network and Syfy. More than 75 episodes of Syfy's "Battlestar Galactica," as well as "Destination Truth" and "Eureka" will now be available on the service, as well as the USA series "Psych," "In Plain Sight" and "Monk." This also renews the deal to distribute past seasons of "30 Rock," "The Office" and "Saturday Night Live." New SNL episodes will be available on Netflix the day after broadcast for the 2010, 2011 and 2012 …

Time Warner will begin experimenting early next year with a way to deliver movies to the home within a month or two of its debut in theaters, accelerating the trend of shortening the wait time between theatrical release and when consumers can first watch a film in their living rooms. CFO John Martin said the company plans to begin testing what he called "premium video on demand," charging people $20 or $30 for the ability to watch a film before it's available on DVD or through bargain rental services, such as Netflix or Redbox. His remarks came Thursday …

The Web generated $22 billion in 2009 in the U.S. alone, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Yet a huge chunk of that -- 65 percent in 2009, according to eMarketer -- is in direct response advertising rather than the brand-building efforts that define larger media like TV. Just look at the top advertisers online vs. on broadcast TV: The online list is dominated by DR advertisers like Experian, Scottrade and NexTag. TV, meanwhile, is a Who's Who of branding, including Pfizer, General Motors and Procter & Gamble. "We need to concede that going back 15 years, without meaning …

Describing the Olympics as the last refuge of family viewing in the United States, Dick Ebersol, the head of NBC Universal Sports, said on Friday the network is ready to battle for American broadcast rights to the 2014 and 2016 Games. Broadcast rights are IOC's leading source of revenue.Competition for the U.S. television rights is expected to be fierce with NBC, CBS, ESPN-ABC and Fox all expressing interest. A fragile economic climate in the United States had prompted the IOC to delay the start of negotiations.The IOC president told Reuters in July that bidding could be put off until …