For Netflix and its subscribers, good news has lately been hard to come by. You might call it merciful, then, that Disney-ABC has entered into an extended licensing agreement with the video subscription service. “The re-up with Disney comes at a critical time for Netflix,” writes GigaOm. “Having popular TV content for years to come could help to keep remaining subscribers happy, and possibly persuade investors that things may not be so bad after all.” “Locking premium TV content for its streaming service is a smart move for Netflix -- especially after the last few weeks of punishment …

Will the second time be the charm for Google TV? We’re about to find out, as the search giant debuted its second attempt at conquering -- or, at least complimenting -- consumers’ living rooms on Friday. “This time, Google TV has a simpler user interface, smarter tools for searching, and is open to developers to build TV apps,” writes The New York Times. “It also has much humbler goals … Google no longer has visions of cord-cutting. Instead, it says it wants to complement what is already available on TV by offering new channels. “The new …

Aligning itself more closely to premium content than ever before, YouTube reportedly plans to announce a host of partnerships with media companies and personalities to produce original content.  “YouTube is trying to become a next-generation cable provider overseeing dozens of free online ‘channels’ with professional-grade shows,” reports The Wall Street Journal. Expected partners include IAC’s Electus, News Corp.’s ShineReveille, RTL Group’s FremantleMedia, as well as skateboarding legend Tony Hawk and ‘CSI’ creator Anthony Zuiker, sources tell The Journal. “For a long time, YouTube has been working hard to get more professional content on its site to help attract …

On an earnings call this week, Amazon revealed that its investment in the Kindle Fire is hurting operating margins. And, while Amazon is keep the exact numbers to itself, Web watchers are debating how much the company can afford lose to take on Apple’s iPad. “To gain an edge in tablets, Amazon is selling its new Kindle Fire device for as low as $199 -- less than half the price of Apple’s cheapest iPad,” Bloomberg reports. “At that price, the company will lose $10 per device, research firm IHS Inc. estimates.” “Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster estimates that the …

With clear implications for rival content streamers, things just went from bad to worse at Netflix on new warnings of higher subscriber attrition and mounting costs. “The company said it would see more cancellations as it grapples with the fallout from a price increase and other unpopular moves, including a failed attempt to split its online and DVD services into two separate companies,” Reuters reports. “We believe the [Netflix business] model is unsustainable, as the company faces rising costs that it hoped it could pass on to its [subscribers],” Janney Capital Analyst Tony Wible wrote in a new …

It’s no secret that Google is building a music-download store. That the service will be closely tied to Google+ -- and could launch in about two weeks -- is news. “Users of Google Music, as the service is tentatively named, could recommend songs in an online library to Google+ contacts, who in turn would be allowed to listen to those songs once for free,” reports The Wall Street Journal, citing sources. “The songs would then be available for sale as MP3 downloads, probably for around the usual 99 cents each.” “Google’s inclusion of social features would see it …

News International has agreed to pay the family of murdered British schoolgirl Milly Dowler two million pounds ($3.17 million) over phone hacking claims. Rupert Murdoch, chief executive of parent company News Corp , will personally donate another million pounds to charities chosen by the Dowler family. The announcement came ahead of Friday's annual meeting of News Corp in Los Angeles at which the issue of hacking by its now defunct UK newspaper the News of the World is expected to fuel demands by some investors for Murdoch's ousting. The settlement is the biggest payout made by News International the British …

Over the past decade, Apple has routinely made analysts look foolish by destroying their estimates each and every quarter, says TechCruch. Apple’s stock dropped 23.62 points Wednesday — over 5.5%. It went from an all-time closing high of $422 a share, to under $400 a share. Why? Again, the earnings announced yesterday. For the first time in something like nine years, Apple failed to beat Wall Street’s expectations. But here’s the thing: those expectations were ridiculous and flawed and once again show that analysts have no idea what they’re talking about when it comes to Apple, the site notes. …

For the first time since 2004, Apple this week reported quarterly earnings that failed to meet analysts’ expectations. Attributed largely to weaker iPhone sales, the news has analysts and reporters mulling its implications for Apple and the industry at large.       "Investors are going to start to speculate that there is change under way now that Jobs is gone, and that there's trouble ahead,” Channing Smith, co-manager at Capital Advisors Growth Fund, tells Reuters. “We don't share that point.” In a roundup of analyst notes by CNNMoney, Needham’s Charlie Wolf was the most representative. "The slowdown in …

Impressive new data from Twitter sent Web watchers into a tizzy late Monday and early Tuesday. At an event on Monday, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo said the company has gone from 90 million tweets per day in September of 2010 to 250 million tweets per day -- a 177% increase.   What’s driving the growth? In large part, its recent integration with iOS 5, the newest version of Apple’s mobile operating system, according to Costolo. “Just days after iOS 5′s debut last week, the microblogging startup has already gotten a major lift from the big partnership,” GigaOm writes. “Twitter …