• The FCC drops the hammer on Univision Communications for failure to air educational kids content (New York Times)
• Blame TV: New Brit study says TV causes everything from sleepless nights to cancer (Sunday Herald)
• Bit Torrent download service finally goes live with Hollywood majors onboard (Wall Street Journal)
• That’s communitainment! New study renames social networking phenomenon (Media Post)
• Report says video download sales will outstrip ad-supported model (Financial Times)
• Disney Consumer Products outfits grownup brides with Princess duds (Wall Street Journal)
• After, um, Targeting higher-end goods, Wal-Mart reverts to everyday-low-price strategy (MSNBC)
• E-Bay shopping list: Virgin Mary-shaped potato chip, Britney’s shorn locks…TV ad time (paidContent)
• Smart TV makes for smart kids (The Seattle Times)
• Rumors of major changes coming to KOL, Bird flying the coop (paidContent)
New online anti-piracy weapon (New York Times), Old guard media giants playing game of digital chicken over copyright? (New York Times) Distribution lessons: iPod brand trumps wireless carrier stranglehold (Wall Street Journal) , Comic book hub launched on MySpace (Media Post) , Viacom getting Joost’d? (Wall Street Journal)
Carrefour takeover in the works? (Forbes), The UK’s Save Kids TV making its case (IC Wales) , Merchandising and marketing executive shakeup at Wal-Mart in the works (Associated Press), Sam’s Club now aiming to lure affluent moms (Wall Street Journal), US looking to take its case against piracy in China to WTO (BBC)
Wal-Mart eyeing Russian market (Associated Press), Looking to kick your crackberry habit? (Wall Street Journal), Retail sales flat in January (Wall Street Journal), Think kids are watching more video online these days? Not even Nielsen knows for sure. (Variety), The United Nations declares UK and US kids are worst off in industrial world (The Globe and Mail)
Pop-up retail: finally on consumer radar (Business Week) , We’ve known about the temporary shopping experience for some time (KidScreen), China’s trade surplus jumps 67% (The Toronto Star); Meanwhile, ad spending rises in China (Wall Street Journal), KB Toys gets US$200-million cash infusion from GE Financing (Businesswire)