Money changes everything. <A HREF="http://www.circuitcity.com/">Circuit City</A>, parent company of <A HREF="http://www.divx.com/">Divx</A>, has enjoyed a stock run-up recently due to rumors of a possible equity partnership deal with video-rental chain <A HREF="http://www.blockbuster.com/">Blockbuster</A>. In the deal, Viacom-owned Blockbuster would buy into Divx, considerably strengthening the pay-per-view startup's financial footing and giving it instant credibility in the video-rental market. Blockbuster has more than 600 stores nationwide.

T<I>he staff of </I>SGHT<I> would like to thank reader <A HREF="mailto:davidh@rochester.rr.com">David Henderson</A>, who provided this spreadsheet file in response to an article about room acoustics written by Russ Herschelmann in the March/April 1999 issue. Below are Mr. Henderson's notes for using the file.</I>

The legal wrangling over television broadcasting got much more complicated last week with the introduction of a bill to the US House of Representatives that would allow direct broadcast satellite (DBS) services to beam local TV stations' signals into the stations' own territories. The practice is currently banned by <A HREF="http://www.fcc.gov">Federal Communications Commission</A> regulations, despite the fact that cable companies have carried local signals since the beginning of the cable industry.

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.platinument.com/">Platinum Entertainment</A> and <A HREF="http://www.pioneer-ent.com/">Pioneer Entertainment</A> announced plans to jointly develop and create <I>Animetronic</I>, a series of multiple-format music and video releases that combine Japanese animation with original, new electronic-music compositions. Terms of the partnership were finalized at the Winter Music Conference in Miami by Steve Devick, Platinum president and CEO, and Yosuke "James" Kobayashi, president of Pioneer Entertainment.