MTV Networks laid off close to 100 employees in its MTV Music Group and corporate HR departments yesterday, in a reallocation of resources that sees the new Viacom focused on developing its new media businesses, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Unnamed sources said the cuts went up to the VP level. Separately, MTV Networks struck a deal with mobile entertainment firm Amp'd Mobile in which the two companies will develop original content for Amp'd Mobile users.

Time Warner troublemaker Carl Icahn has made a "significant" but undisclosed investment in public information Web site HowStuffWorks, the ad-supported Web company said yesterday. In an interview, HowStuffWorks CEO Jeff Arnold said the investment amounts to "tens of millions of dollars." Separately, HowStuffWorks has struck several deals that will see it become the exclusive online publisher of products review publisher Consumer Guide, the Mobile Travel Guide, and Publications International Ltd., a publisher of mass market books and guides for home and garden enthusiasts. HowStuffWorks is owned by the privately held Convex Group.

In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Tom Freston, chief executive of MTV Networks and CEO-elect of the new Viacom, discusses the new Viacom's digital strategy. Freston said the entertainment company, unlike Murdoch's News Corp., will not be looking into the Web portal business; instead it will concentrate on extending its content to "as many platforms as possible." Eventually, like the broadcast networks, Viacom will be also sell commercial-free content via digital media players, but Freston notes that the company will remain primarily ad-supported. He said that at the end of the day, the consumer will determine the pricing models …

Internet research firm JupiterResearch forecasts that online advertising spending will grow at an annual rate of 10 percent between 2005 and 2010, driven by increased spending in the media and entertainment, financial services and automotive sectors. The Jupiter report, "U.S. Category Advertising Forecast, 2005 to 2010," says the automotive and travel categories are slated for the most impressive growth during that time period, set to grow an average 24 and 13 percent per year, respectively. Consumer packaged goods brands will continue to migrate their branding efforts to the Web, dedicating 83 percent of their online budgets to display advertising, as …

Business Week writes that the major Internet companies are worried that if broadband carriers have their way, they will be able to control which Web-based products and services consumers use, either by charging consumers fees for using products offered by competitors, or by charging the competition for access to their subscribers. The article cites an example where one man tried to phone his wife via the Voice over Internet Protocol service he downloaded, but couldn't get through because the phone company providing his DSL service decided it didn't want its customers using VoIP services. Later, the ISP lost a legal …

Following Tuesday's announcement that Time Warner would be cutting 105 jobs--many of them high-ranking positions--at publishing division Time Inc., other sectors of the media conglomerate are wondering whether their turn will be next. In particular, Internet service provider America Online, which is in the midst of transforming itself from dial-up service to a free Web portal, is looking ripe for a new round of cuts. AOL is also on the brink of choosing an ad network partner to facilitate that transition, with Microsoft's MSN looking likely to overtake Google as its new business partner. In addition to the job cuts …

The patent dispute between BlackBerry maker Research in Motion and NTP, which claims that RIM's Blackberry devices violate its patent, could in fact become a marketing opportunity for RIM's competitors. Well, at least The New York Times has turned it into one. This week, several new wireless email software providers saw an opportunity to enter the Blackberry-dominated market by licensing NTP's patents. One of these, called Visto, is quoted in the Times saying it saw an opportunity due to "a lot of turbulence in the marketplace," brought on by customer "confusion," adding that its customers "don't want to have …

Google has added a music section to its massive search index, in an effort to give consumers a more direct route to music related pages. Google's Director of Web Products Marissa Mayer said the music section addresses "a deficiency in our Web search." The new section is similar in concept to its other sections that provide more specific information about certain topics like airline information, news, movies and weather. Google's music section will contain artist, album, and song info, and provide links to sites where the songs can be legally downloaded. Google will not be creating its own music library, …

Merrill Lynch & Co. expects News Corp. shares to rise in 2006 due to strong sales from its Internet properties. Analyst Jessica Reif Cohen said Web sales could reach as much as $1 billion by 2010. News Corp. shares have declined 14 percent this year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index--seen as a measure of the overall economy--has increased nearly 5 percent. However, 2005 has been a tough year for many media stocks--particularly newspapers. Reif Cohen said publishers and television companies risk losses in ad revenue if they can't find ways to monetize their products via the Web and …

Three out of 10 consumers will do more shopping online than in stores this holiday season, while more than half of consumers are making fewer trips to the mall, The Conference Board, a nonprofit research group, reports. Rising energy prices are driving consumers to the Web to do their shopping, the report says, while one out of three consumers expect to scale back holiday spending due to higher energy costs. These findings coincide with a Nielsen/NetRatings report that online purchases increased by 33 percent in the first week of December as compared to that same period last year.