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Concert promoter Live Nation cut off contract renewal talks with Ticketmaster in August.  They’ve now found their replacement.  Beginning January 1, 2009, following the expiration of their current Ticketmaster deal, Live Nation will launch their own competing ticketing service.

The infrastructure for the new ticketing venture will be licensed from CTS Eventim, the world’s second largest ticket agency.   Live Nation will operate the platform in North America.  CTS Eventim will handle ticketing services via partnership in the UK and Europe.

Full details won’t be provided until a conference call in January.  Among the items likely to be discussed will be a secondary market (resale) ticket platform that Live Nation hopes to implement as well.

Since being spun off from Clear Channel in 2005, Live Nation has been in the process of transforming itself from a narrowly focused concert promotion business to a comprehensive music services company.  In their marketing materials, the company bills itself as “the future of the music business.”  It’s a vision defined by Click to Read More

After 8 months, Sam Zell is finally in control of the Chicago Tribune and the rest of the Tribune companies. The $8.2b buyout of the newspaper and media conglomerate that operates the LA Times, Chicago Tribune, and twenty three TV stations around the country closed Thursday without a hitch. Shares ceased trading at the close of market.

The second cash installment for the leveraged buyout was provided by JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Citibank and Bank of America.

Including the assumption and repayment of existing debt, the LBO will have a value in excess of $14b.

In consideration of the substantial debt load, Standard and Poors and Fitch both lowered the corporate credit rating. Click to Read More

Employees at San Francisco based PlayFirst and Palo Alto based Vuze  should all enter the holiday period smiling and reassured.  Wednesday, both the Casual Gamer and IPTV startups closed substantial Series C Financings.

•PlayFirst
For PlayFirst, the deal brought $16.5m of holiday cheer.  DCM led the round and existing investors including Mayfield Fund, Trinity Ventures and Rustic Canyon Partners also participated.   Including prior rounds, the new investment brings the cumulative investment in PlayFirst to $26.5m

PlayFirst was founded in 2004.   They were one of the first gaming companies Click to Read More

The last days of Viacom’s advertising partnership with DoubleClick were long ago foretold.  With Viacom still feuding with Google over YouTube and copyrights, and with Google’s purchase of DoubleClick likely nearing the end of regulatory review, it was just a matter of time.  Wednesday the hammer dropped and Viacom pledged its allegiance to Microsoft.

In a five year deal worth at least $500m in exchanged value, Microsoft and the media giant behind MTV Networks, Nickelodeon and Paramount pictures reached a complex advertising and content distribution deal.

Under the pact, Microsoft will license Viacom content (non-exclusively) for use on both Microsoft web properties and for the Xbox 360.

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Some years holiday presents come early, some late.  Over the past few weeks, a good handful of companies have gotten their gifts from venture capital firms.  From Red Room to Spotzer, MixerCast and Edgecast to 56.com and Kyte.TV, here’s the latest Venture Roundup: Metue’s regular recap of companies recently receiving funding.

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In July, Gemstar-TV Guide announced it was reviewing “strategic alternatives” including the possibility of selling the company.  Fast forward to December, they’ve now found their buyer.

Macrovision, the content protection and Digital Rights Management (DRM) company,  grabbed the bulk of Friday’s headlines and much of the stock market’s ire after announcing they’d pay $2.8b to acquire the once powerful TV Guide brand and Gemstar’s other properties.

The deal represents an approximate 29% premium of July share value for Gemstar and a 6% premium over Thursday’s closing price.

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Global venture capital investments are at a six year high and technology continues to encroach on the domain of entertainment and media.  We have net radio, TV and print news increasingly available online.   Even actors and movie industry veterans have moved to create both their own online distribution outlets, and their own brands of online content.  Think Will Ferrel’s Funny or Die, the Coen brothers with 60 Frames Entertainment, or Jerry Zucker (of Airplane fame) with National Banana.   It makes sense, given all this to see Hollywood jumping deeper into venture capital, private equity and early stage investment.

Earlier this week, PaidContent discovered the latest entry will come from Hollywood’s elite talent agencies.  Creative Artists (CAA), the biggest of the bunch, is reportedly raising $150m to $200m for venture investment in digital entertainment. They are seeking funds from traditional limited partners like pension funds and being advised by experienced Silicon Valley VC’s.

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