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Media Stories from around the world
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Microsoft, NBC dissolve MSNBC.com joint
venture
NEW YORK
-- Microsoft
is pulling out of the joint venture that owned MSNBC.com, freeing the
world's largest software maker to build its own online news service.
The breakup dissolves the final shreds of a
16-year marriage between Microsoft Corp. and NBC News, which is now
owned by Comcast Corp. The relationship began to unwind in 2005 when
Microsoft sold its stake in MSNBC's cable TV channel to NBC.
NBC is buying Microsoft's 50 percent interest in
the MSNBC website for an undisclosed amount. MSNBC.com will be
rebranded as NBCNews.com, and readers who logged into MSNBC.com late
Sunday were automatically redirected to NBCNews.com.
The website will move its headquarters from
Microsoft's corporate campus in Redmond, Wash., to NBC News' longtime
home in New York.
The online divorce stemmed from the two partners'
desire to gain greater control over their digital destinies as the
Internet becomes an increasingly important part of their businesses.
As part of its online restructuring, NBC News
plans to create a new online destination for the MSNBC cable channel's
personalities next year.
Although it will be based in New York,
NBCNews.com will retain a significant staff in the Seattle area,
according to Schiller. About 170 of MSNBC.com's 300 employees worked in
the Seattle area.
Microsoft is letting NBCNews.com remain in its
Redmond office while it looks for a new location in the area.
DSN Featured Stories
Soundtrack To The End Times
Los Angeles -- The
Mayans may
have predicted that the year 2012 may be the prelude to the end of the
world - but what about an album dedicated to the event? Problem solved
with DSN Music's compilation rock release "Soundtrack To The End
Times," featuring fifteen emerging hard rock and heavy metal artists.
"Soundtrack To The End Times" provides a musical platform for a diverse
mix of political and social issues in today's complex world. Each of
the artists featured on the release write and perform about such
topics, giving the album a serious tone in substance, such as biblical
prophecy, global financial collapse, and a break down in our social
system. Full
Story
Is Radio Dead?
Las Vegas -- At the recent International
Consumer Electronics Show here, all kinds of out of this world gadgets
were displayed. Many of them targeting the audio business, shaping the
future of how consumers get their music and digital content. It would
be safe to say within the halls of the convention center, were many
whispers about the future of the radio business. Broadcasters
are
beginning to see their huge slice of the pie shrink incredibly fast, as
new digital platforms threaten their once dominant medium. Full
Story
Sedona..
Hollywood's Forgotten
Backlot
Sedona
-- Late February brings
scores of film fans from around the world to attend the annual Sedona
International Film Festival, a five-day festival that
features documentaries, foreign
films, shorts, animation and student films. Most film buffs who visit
the red rocks of Northern Arizona, have no idea that they are actually
walking on the grounds of former movie backlots. In its heyday, Sedona
Arizona was home to over 60 Hollywood productions, mostly consisting of
Westerns. With classic stars on site such as John Wayne, Joan Crawford,
Elvis, Burt Lancaster, Rock Hudson, Donna Reed, and Art Carney to name
a few. Full
Story
Hollywood Rebounds
Hollywood
-- According to U.S.
government reports, our economy has officially been in a recession
since December 2007. That comes as no surprise to most of us, who have
battled the day to day pains due to the crisis. Many industries have
collapsed such as the auto and retail sectors. However, one unusual
bright spot comes out of Southern California... Hollywood! The film
industry is actually reversing its fortunes due to tough times, after
years of erosion due to digital technology. Full Story
Rockin' On Heaven's Door
Las Vegas
-- For many rockers, the
name Madd Maxx Hammer may conjure up memories of the first time they
heard the likes of Metallica and Pantera on their radio's. During the
1980s and 1990s America's most popular rock jock was none other than
Madd Maxx Hammer. An in your face rocker who was heard across the
nation via the legendary Z-Rock radio network, as well as many other
high profile rock stations. Hammer was also a popular broadcast boxing
announcer and syndicated writer for the sport. Full Story
Aliens Exposed In The Media
Sedona
-- Recently there has been a rise in awareness from the media when
it comes to the topic of Extraterrestrials. Mainstream networks such as
ABC and FOX openly reporting about the subject, as well as big budget
movies hitting the big screen; Universal's The Fourth Kind.
Certainly there has always been an interest in the unknown, going back
to Close Encounters of the Third Kind
to the X Files. Full
Story
Stories
from Off The Wire! are
selected from the editors of the Digital Syndicate Network, via media news sources, press
releases, and contributing corespondent submissions
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