CBS Upfront Closes at $2.5 Billion
Three down, two to go. CBS closed its upfront business today with a package worth $2.5 billion, boasting the highest volume of inventory for a second consecutive year and a more than 5% increase from its 2006 total. ABC was the second network to wrap upfront business this week after Fox closed yesterday with deals worth a total of $1.9 billion, a 5% increase from its total last year. ABC finished with $2.4 billion, a more than 5% increase from its $2.2 million to $2.3 billion take in 2006. Buyers estimated the network's cost-per-thousand viewers in prime time was up roughly 7% to 9%. CPMs for other dayparts -- such as early morning, news and late night -- are believed to have increased in the low double digits. Despite ABC sales estimated 90% of its total business was done using a live-plus-three metric, the preferred data stream this year. One major buyer said the overall market is on track to being flat compared to last year, with the possibility of being "up a tick, maybe down a tick." Last year, the broadcast networks collectively took in an estimated $9 billion during the upfront. With buyers estimating NBC to finish at around $1.5 billion, the CW's final take remains up for discussion. The CW started the week looking for low-double-digit CPM increases, but will likely close out the week in the high single digits at best, according to several buyers. Though the year-old network made a big splash with its upfront presentation and new programs such as "Gossip Girl" and "Reaper," its middling ratings and lack of additional dayparts will make it hard to merit the big bucks its competitors are raking in. The fledgling network closed last year with $750,000. CPMs for CBS were up 8% to 9%, though ABC is expected to finish the week with the highest CPM increase.

Internet revenues to soar
Internet advertising and access spending by US consumers will rise each year by double digits on average through 2011, fuelled by high-speed connections and social networking and entertainment sites, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers' Global Entertainment and Media Outlook. By combined spending on web advertising and fees paid by US consumers to internet providers to reach $78.4bn by 2011, up from $47.2bn in 2006, a 10.7% average annual growth rate. The United States has the world's largest online ad market, projected to grow to $35.4bn by 2011. But China will overtake the US to become the world's largest internet territory in terms of users by 2009. Broadband access is expected to increase to $41.4bn, an 11.9% compound annual advance. By 2011, the number of broadband subscribers will grow to 89 million, an average annual increase of 12.2%.

AT&T Gears Up for the iPhone
AT&T Inc. has experience bringing to market popular cellphones like the Motorola Inc. RAZR. But it has never had to gear up for anything quite like June 29, when it offers Apple Inc.'s iPhone in its stores for the first time. In preparation for its exclusive launch of the cellphone industry's most anticipated device, AT&T is pulling out all the stops. It is adding about 2,000 temporary employees to cope with the influx of shoppers in the first few months. And it is planning for enhanced security to control the potentially large crowds and avoid theft of the phones, which will go for a steep $499 or $599, depending on memory capacity. Some sales agents expect to see people camping outside the night before. But the enormous hype poses some risks for AT&T and Apple. All the attention will magnify any glitch or negative consumer reaction. It is impossible to know whether the device will live up to the expectations of those who have heard about it for months, but have never played with its features. There are many who would like to get their hands on an iPhone early, but AT&T is making very few exceptions. Even Hollywood A-listers are being turned away, people close to AT&T say. Both AT&T and Apple do have short VIP lists -- but the few people who are on them won't get the device early and will still have to pay, the people close to AT&T say. The only benefit: They won't have to wait in line like everyone else. AT&T will offer the phones only in its roughly 1,800 company-owned stores, not through third-party dealers like RadioShack Corp. and Best Buy Co. Apple will carry it in its U.S. retail stores. Apple added to the buzz around the Internet capabilities of the phone yesterday when it said it would offer content from Google Inc.'s YouTube, including putting a link to the service on the phone's home screen.

Nokia adapts to internet age
The world's No. 1 mobile phone maker, Nokia, announced a reorganisation on Wednesday. Under the new structure, effective next January, the Finnish company will be divided into three units: devices, services and software, and markets. Those will replace its current divisions of mobile phones, which makes its cheapest models, enterprise solutions, which aims products at the business market, and multimedia, which produces mobile phones with advanced cameras and music players. Nokia said the new structure will help it manage its product lineup more effectively, speed up the time it takes to get new models onto the market and boost its efficiency in marketing and developing products. The company will also restructure its financial reporting into two segments: devices and services and Nokia Siemens Networks, which is its infrastructure joint venture with Germany's Siemens.

'Manhunt 2' banned for 'casual sadism'
British censors banned a video game for the first time in 10 years, rejecting U.S.-published "Manhunt 2" for what they described as an unrelenting focus on sadism and brutal slaying. The decision by the British Board of Film Classification, or BBFC, means the game, from publisher Take-Two Interactive Software, which made the controversial "Grand Theft Auto" series, cannot be legally supplied anywhere in Britain. The ban prompted one U.S. family group to start lobbying for a rating to ensure major American retailers cannot sell the game. In it, players become an insane asylum escapee sneaking up on enemies and killing them in gruesome ways. In a statement on the board's Web site. The BBFC noted it was the first game to be denied a classification since 1997, when "Carmageddon" was rejected for having players run down pedestrians. That decision was overturned on appeal. The BBFC said the Take-Two label Rockstar Games that created "Manhunt" had the right to appeal the decision. "Manhunt 2" is a follow-up to the 2003 original, which was classified in Britain for people aged 18 and over. The U.S. nongovernmental organization that evaluates games, the Entertainment Software Rating Board, has not yet given a rating for "Manhunt 2," which is slated for a July 10 release.

United Airlines computer outage grounds planes
United Airlines was forced to temporarily ground all flights on Wednesday morning after experiencing a computer-system failure, the US Federal Aviation Administration has confirmed. The outage took place between 6am and 8am US West Coast time. "It was their system, not ours. It was their decision whether they would go up or not. They are now up and running," an FAA spokesperson said. A total of 24 domestic flights were cancelled, and 268 domestic and international flights were delayed by an average of one-and-a-half hours. "We do not know the cause of the outage, and it's something that we will investigate. The computer outage affected the systems that United uses to dispatch flights for departure.

Internet Radio To Go Silent on June 26?
If you depend on the sounds of Internet radio to get you through your workday, don't be surprised if your headphones pipe out little more than dead air next Tuesday. In protest of the elevated royalty fees Webcasters are poised to begin bowing to the record industry next month, Internet radio operators are planning to stage a "day of silence." So far, Live365 and AccuRadio.com have agreed to cease their music programming on June 26, save for brief audio public service announcements sprinkled throughout the day. So has the online presence of KCRW, the Southern California-based public radio station. Other public radio broadcasters and larger operators, such as Yahoo, RealNetworks' Rhapsody service and Pandora, may also sign on. A number of small commercial Webcasters are also on board with the idea, and all told, thousands are expected to participate. Smaller Webcasters staged a similar protest five years ago in response to a similar rules change by the U.S. copyright officials. At issue are fee hikes that the Internet radio community says could bankrupt its services, particularly those run by smaller operators. SoundExchange, the non-profit collection entity that lobbied for the changes, has repeatedly argued the changes are fair and necessary to ensure artists are compensated adequately. Opponents of the changes are still hoping for a reprieve before the July 15 date on which the royalties are scheduled to kick in. They are continuing to pressure politicians on Capitol Hill to pass bills that would overturn the royalty rate increases and align them with those required of other digital services, such as satellite. Some groups have also asked a federal appeals court to delay the rate changes.

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