Audio Video News

Late last week, <A HREF="http://www.hughes.com">Hughes Electronics</A> announced that it had reached an agreement with <A HREF="http://www.primestar.com">PrimeStar</A> to acquire the 2.3-million-subscriber PrimeStar direct broadcast satellite (DBS) medium-power business and Tempo high-power satellite asset in two transactions valued at approximately $1.82 billion. The combination of <A HREF="http://www.DirecTV.com">DirecTV</A> and PrimeStar---along with United States Satellite Broadcasting (USSB), the multichannel movie service that agreed to merge with Hughes last month ($1.3 billion in cash and stock)---makes DirecTV one of the top three television subscriber services in the US.

Both <A HREF="http://www.sony.com/professional">Sony Electronics</A> and <A HREF="http://216.33.77.103/panastore/default.asp">Panavision</A> say they will soon deliver the first prototype 24-frame-progressive high-definition camera system to <A HREF="http://www.Lucasfilm.com/">Lucasfilm</A> for testing prior to its being used in shooting the next two <I>Star Wars</I> films. The companies say that this announcement signifies the beginning of a new era in high-definition digital cinematography.

Once again, at the 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards, The Recording Academy will present an award for "Best Surround Sound Album". This year's nominees, for vocal or instrumental albums released October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2005, include:

Brothers In Arms - 20th Anniversary Edition

Chuck Ainlay, surround mix engineer; Bob Ludwig, surround mastering engineer; Chuck Ainlay & Mark Knopfler, surround producers (Dire Straits) [Warner Bros.]

Forty years ago today Sony introduced a portable cassette player that would forever change the way the world experienced music on-the-go.

The videocassette recorder (VCR) seems quaint today but 32 years ago this week the Supreme Court handed down a landmark 5-4 decision that supported innovation (try to imagine home entertainment without it) and essentially legalized time-shifting—which in those days meant recording a TV show on tape for later viewing. (Consider for a moment what clarifying that right means today.)

In December 1999 the music industry sued (and ultimately shut down) downloading service Napster. Three years later Apple opened the iTunes Music Store, pointing the way to the future of music distribution and turning the recording industry on its ear.