In a move that could delay the FCC’s inquiry about pay-TV set-top box rules, DirecTV asked the commission to clearly define what kinds of operations would be covered by the new rules.

Sony’s Q3 profit fell 8.6 percent to $893 million ($1 = 81 yen, the rate in effect on Dec. 31) as sales, hurt by a stronger yen and price erosion in LCD TVs, declined 1.4 percent to $27.24 billion, the company said Thursday. Overall operating income in the quarter ended Dec. 31 fell 5.9 percent to $1.7 billion and was down in most of Sony’s business segments, the company said.

THQ was pleased with the sale of software for the uDraw GameTablet, with more than 500,000 copies shipped in Q3 ended Dec. 31, CEO Brian Farrell said in a Wednesday earnings call. The company “experienced strong sellthrough at retail” on its uDraw GameTablet accessory for the Wii in Q3, he said. It had said earlier that it shipped 1.2 million GameTablets in Q3 (CED Feb 3 p9), but didn’t say how many sold through.

BJ’s Wholesale Club and Costco on Thursday said TVs were again among their weakest-selling products in January, and Target said electronics sales overall were “soft” in the month without saying how TVs did. BJ’s also said it “decided to explore and evaluate strategic alternatives, including a possible sale” of the company. TVs and pre-recorded video were listed among the weakest-performing products at BJ’s for the four weeks ended Jan. 29 versus the same period last year.

Electronic Arts expects to have two of the three titles it’s announced so far for the Nintendo 3DS “out on launch day and the other to follow within the calendar year,” Chief Operating Officer John Schappert said in an earnings call.

Warner Bros. Pictures isn’t getting enough value from Netflix and Redbox, and it’s time to take a look at arrangements with the low-price DVD and Blu-ray rental businesses, Time Warner’s CEO said Wednesday.

Pioneer Elite dealers, burned by the company’s exit from the plasma TV market, are wary and confused about the brand’s return to the U.S. market via LCD TVs made by Sharp under a licensing deal between the companies, dealers told Consumer Electronics Daily. Sharp gets the benefit of expanded distribution and Pioneer can again offer a complete home theater solution unavailable since the high-margin Pioneer Elite plasma brand was discontinued in 2009, the companies said. The TVs will be sold as a premium brand through Pioneer’s Elite dealer network, Sharp said. No timing was released.

Dissident shareholder Ramius renewed its push to replace Zoran’s board, accusing it of overseeing “massive destruction of shareholder value,” Ramius said in an SEC filing. Ramius, which owns 9.3 percent of Zoran, is offering a six-member slate to replace the current board, which has overseen money-losing DTV and DVD businesses at Zoran, the investment firm said. The DTV business, which includes set-top boxes, has lost $51.6 million during the past 12 months. Zoran is scheduled to report its Q4 earnings Thursday.

Dish Network agreed to buy DBSD for about $1 billion Tuesday, potentially giving Dish access to 20 MHz of valuable mobile satellite spectrum. The purchase of bankrupt MSS/ancillary terrestrial component licensee, which is subject to approval from the bankruptcy court and the FCC, offers Dish several options, said industry executives. The agreement follows the FCC’s waiver approval last week that allowed LightSquared to offer terrestrial-only services in spectrum allocated for MSS. Dish may have similar hopes for the DBSD spectrum, said observers.

Electronic Arts reported a 39 percent increase in digital revenue for Q3 ended Dec. 31 versus Q3 the year earlier, and Chief Financial Officer Eric Brown said the company was “tracking toward” its $750 million “digital revenue target” for the fiscal year. But the digital growth wasn’t enough to offset weaker sales of traditional packaged game.