AUDIO VIDEO NEWS

On October 22, <A HREF="http://www.seagram.com">The Seagram Company Ltd.</A> and <A HREF="http://www.mgm.com">Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.</A> (MGM) announced that they have entered into an agreement in principle to transfer certain library assets of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (PFE), a unit of PolyGram N.V., to MGM's wholly owned subsidiary, Orion Pictures Corporation, following Seagram's pending acquisition of PolyGram. The purchase price for the library will be $250 million, of which $235 million will be paid in cash at the closing in January 1999; the remaining $15 million will come from the library's cash flow prior to closing.

S<I>ean Connery, Donald Sutherland, Lesley-Anne Down. Directed by Michael Crichton. Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 (letterbox). Dolby Digital 5.1 (French, monaural). 111 minutes. 1979. MGM Home Entertainment 907149. PG. $24.98.</I>

C. <I>Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Diane Lane, Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, Leif Garrett, Tom Waits. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Aspect ratios: 2.35:1 (widescreen), 4:3 (full-frame). Dolby Digital 5.1. 91 minutes. 1983. Warner Bros. 11310. PG. $24.95.</I>

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.microsoft.com">Microsoft</A> and <A HREF="http://www.wink.com/">Wink Communications</A> announced an agreement to promote interactive content and commerce based on the <A HREF="http://www.atvef.com/">Advanced Television Enhancement Forum</A> (ATVEF) specification for interactive television. Wink Communications says it will optimize its Response Network Service (which provides the broadcast and cable-television industries with viewer-response services) to support ATVEF-compliant content for television devices that use the Microsoft television-software platform. In turn, Microsoft claims that it will use Wink's Response Network to handle certain ATVEF-based advertising direct-response services. As part of the agreement, Microsoft invested $30 million in Wink Communications.