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It's the week before Christmas. You've taken a good look at your extended family, gotten all of the naughty and nice stuff out of the way, and finally arrived at a list of who's deserving of a little holiday cheer. But you're drawing a big blank when it comes to little Susie, big brother Ned, and jolly Uncle Phil.

Cable companies may be the accidental beneficiaries of the recently announced EchoStar-DirecTV deal, in which smaller direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service <A HREF="http://www.echostar.com">EchoStar</A> won approval from General Motors to buy its subsidiary Hughes Electronics Corporation, operator of <A HREF="http://www.directv.com">DirecTV</A>.

One fact of life is that when people stay home, they tend to watch more TV. That generally gloomy reality hasn't put a dent in TiVo, Inc.'s bottom line. In fact, it's helped immensely. The San Jose, CA&ndash;based maker of personal video recorders (PVRs) has reported a 29% jump in revenue for its fiscal third quarter, ended October 31.

Consumers have lost another forum to express their opinions about the year's best films: Blockbuster says it has decided to cancel next year's Blockbuster Entertainment Awards. The company says that the ceremony, originally scheduled for next April in Los Angeles, has fallen victim to the economic uncertainties generated by the September 11 terrorist attacks and an overall sluggish market.