Vitrue's Richard Beattie writes that "social TV is being embraced by television networks, producers and viewers at an impressive rate. What used to exclusively be a passive medium is transforming into interactive, engaging experiences and the formation of communities around areas of common interest...television shows." He then lists 12 forces and trends that are driving social TV adoption.

The Newcastle upon Tyne-based company began in digital music sales then developed a web radio station, Amazing Radio, that broadcast the music they carried for sale. This base allowed them to take advantage of the opportunity to provide indie background music to UK retailers and restaurants. Now they're bringing this mix to the U.S. Amazing Music is a combination of two web services, Amazing Tunes (ecommerce) and Amazing Radio (web radio). These paired services are the base on which Amazing Media developed their background music service.

Kantar Media Compete's Online Shopper Intelligence report finds that while 90% of UK internet users are planning a holiday in 2012 - up from 82% in 2011 - many are looking to keep their budgets low. Some 49% of UK internet users, it found, visited the EasyJet site in the first quarter of 2012, while 54% visited Travelodge and 52% Premier Inn. By contrast, the Hilton and Marriott websites scored 10% each. 65% of people travelling by plane buy their tickets from the airline, compared to 31% using an online travel agent. Some 28% of hotel visitors arrange accommodation directly.

The board of Fairfax Media is considering a further writedown to the value of its famous mastheads as it adopts its digital blueprint at the expense of its traditional publishing model. Fairfax board members have privately acknowledged the company needs to reconsider the values ascribed to mastheads on the balance sheet, given the company is pushing hard to restructure towards digital. Discussions are continuing. Market analysts are increasingly eyeing a possible writedown.

Euronews is offering a 360-degree coverage package on air and online to catch the 31 matches of the football event. The 3D goals allow fans to review goals from whichever angle they want. In association with Agence France-Presse, Euronews' coverage will also include the tournament schedule, team sheets, match commentaries, team presentations, statistics, a photo gallery and the match results.

The new edition will aim to combine the Huffington Post's "mix of news, blogging, community, and social engagement with El Pas's legendary journalistic traditions", an announcement by Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington said. According to a news story on the El Pais website El Huffington Post launched Thursday, with the newsroom based "in the same building as El Pais". El Pais's parent company PRISA is also said to own 50% of El Huffington Post. In October last year the Huffington Post teamed up with French publishers Le Monde and Les Nouvelles Editions Independantes to launch Le Huffington Post.

News Corporation is to take full control of ESPN Star Sports (ESS), after reaching an agreement with Disney-owned ESPN to buy-out its 50% equity stake in the company. News Corp will take full control of ESS, after buying the stake that it does not already own. As a result, it will own and operate all of the ESS businesses and boost its presence in Asia. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval. ESS will continue to be jointly managed by the two companies until the transaction is completed.

Small businesses can particularly benefit from the increase by having a strong Twitter presence. SMB's could be missing out on many potential customers by not engaging on Twitter. Orange Business research revealed that the most popular searches for professional services were web designers, solicitors, accountants, architects and copywriters. "With 10 million people in the UK on Twitter, what business can afford to ignore that many potential customers?," asks Orange Business' Mike Tomlinson.

Reg Bailey, of the Mothers Union, said that parents were right to be concerned by what he called "stealth advertising" on social networks such as Facebook. "Parents are much more concerned about the whole virtual world than they are about broadcasting. I think they don't expect that their children's details are going to be picked up and the way advertisers are monetising that data to try to sell at children is really quite concerning," he said.

In an analysis of 55 representative UK websites, and drawing on its own work for clients, KPMG found that only 20% were complying with the EU privacy directive -- called the "cookie law" -- which came into force on May 26. The greatest progress in the last month has been among financial services and retail sites, KPMG found. These sectors hold a high quantity of consumer data and therefore have a greater incentive to demonstrate how seriously they take customers' privacy.