Audio Video News

When the DVR first came along, TV and ad executives quaked. They feared the convenience of hard-drive recorders would lead to an orgy of commercial skipping and undermine Nielsen ratings. But the opposite has happened and the media business is smiling.

Startup Detroit Audio Lab has embarked on a unique AV mission: Bring audio manufacturing back to the U.S. by handcrafting audiophile-quality speakers using wood reclaimed from blighted homes and businesses that once thrived during Motor City’s golden age, which dates back to the first mass-produced automobile—Henry Ford’s Model T.

Deutsche Grammophon, the historic classical label owned by the Universal Music Group, has become the largest one of its kind to stop using digital rights management for online music sales.

The average cable subscriber is staggering under constant rate hikes. But don’t expect any help from the Federal Communications Commission. It has just issued a ruling saying cable operators are presumed to face “effective competition.” That will make it harder for local governments to petition for regulation of skyrocketing cable rates.

Just when it seemed like the Blu-ray camp was starting to gain an upper hand in the high-res DVD format war, HD DVD scored a major coup. But did the industry shoot itself in the foot again? Paramount Home Entertainment announced this week that all...

  The dust has settled and 99.99% of us have survived Black Friday and Cyber Monday for another year. So, with the economy in the dumper, were you enticed out of your home for any crazy tech deals this year? Give it up... Begin the healing or...