Little over 2 years after it was created, NPR2 is set to debut on Sirius Satellite Radio Feb. 14. However, NPR member stations remain displeased about potential new competition, despite NPR decision to withhold some popular programming from satellite radio. “We are ready” for 24-hour broadcast streams on Sirius , NPR Vp-Programming Margaret Smith said. NPR2, Satellite radio div. of NPR set up in Nov. 1999, will operate 2 channels on Sirius -- NPR Now and NPR Talk. After putting off scheduled launch in Dec., Sirius announced it would debut Feb. 14 in Denver, Houston and Phoenix markets with national rollout targeted for 3rd quarter next year. In deference to local stations’ concerns about competition from satellite, NPR2 won’t carry NPR’s “crown jewels” -- Morning Edition and All Things Considered and their weekend counterparts, Smith said. But station officials said remaining programming still was too competitive with over-air broadcasts.
Price of MiniDV digital camcorder dropped to $399.99 this week when N.Y.C. retailer J&R Music World pared $50 off sticker for Samsung SCD67 model with 2.5” LCD, FireWire input and output.
Hollywood might be next stop in World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) efforts to convince public that cyberpiracy is wrongful. Entertainment industry could do “much, much more” to build public awareness of need to respect creators’ rights, said Geoffrey Yu, WIPO’s asst. dir. gen.-copyright and related rights sector. Yu, who previously headed WIPO’s global communications program, has been nudging film and recording industries to start public service blitz along lines of antismoking and antidrunk driving campaigns.
Amazon.com spokeswoman said Frank Sadowski, recently appointed e-tailer’s CE vp (CED Dec 11 p9), “is going to be working to help further direct relationships with vendors.” Sadowski previously was mdsg. vp at 800.com, which -- unlike Amazon -- has carried only products it has been authorized by manufacturers to sell. 800.com -- also unlike Amazon -- has been able to forge direct relationship with Sony for core CE line.
Tony Hart, ex-Accenture, joins Best Buy as vp-enterprise customer relationship management, new post… Proposed changes in Philips management board: Gottfried Dutine, currently Alcatel, will join Feb. 1, assuming duties of retiring John Whybrow for CE operations, digital networking, other areas; Ad Huijser, Philips chief technology officer, to be proposed for board membership; CFO Jan Hommen to add responsibilities for medical systems; Arthur van der Poel, board member, to add oversight for quality programs… Lowell Peters, formally Best Buy senior vp- services,appointed advisory board chmn., Partsearch Technologies… Richard Horner appointed Altec Lansing CFO, having been in that interim post since July… Named at Vivendi Universal Net USA: Paul Ouyang, ex-MP3.com, as exec. vp-COO; Steven Sheiner, also ex-MP3.com, as chief revenue officer; Lori Weintraub named exec. vp and will continue as pres. of InsideSessions, joint venture of Universal Music and Penguin Putnam; Laurie Rubenstein, ex-GetMusic, as senior vp-PR.
Electronic Arts (EA) and Lego signed global agreement under which EA would co-publish and provide marketing support for more than 30 Lego software titles on minimum of 4 platforms over 3 years, terms not disclosed. Companies said they would create software for young gamers while building current franchises and establishing new ones. Lego said it would benefit from EA’s “significant global distribution and organization.” EA Distribution Vp Tom Frisina said agreement also would allow Lego to reach “slightly older and more entertainment-driven demographic that is already familiar with EA’s software.” He said deal also provided EA with “an opportunity to reach out to younger gamers after the success of the Harry Potter games.”
Hitachi opened CE development center in Beijing in bid to help reduce R&D costs, Japanese news reports said. R&D center, Hitachi’s first in China, has starting work force of 8 employees, but will add at least 10 per year, reports said.
Midway Games announced sweepstakes giving consumers chance to win SpyHunter arcade unit or pair of Spy Optic sunglasses. Contest runs through Jan. 4 in conjunction with launch of SpyHunter update, which shipped Sept. 25 for PS2. To enter sweepstakes, gamers can go to www.midway.com.
Promotion for RCA eBook 1100 model slashes price by half to $150 at Office Max, N.Y.C. retailer The Wiz and elsewhere. Promotion also includes $300 worth of publications free from Thomson partner Gemstar. AOL Time Warner, early booster of electronic publishing, last week curtailed its venture in e- books.
Hot Products Exec. Vp Gregory Struthers resigned after alleging that company’s CEO James Copland had sought to manipulate company’s stock price. Struthers said in Nov. resignation letter to Hot Products board that was filed with FCC said that Copland, in Oct. 17 e-mail, had “encouraged” International Global Positioning (IGP) CEO John Madsen, whose company Hot Products was proposing to “enlist” IGP shareholders to “unlawfully” manipulate price of Hot Products stock. Struthers said Copland’s action “undermined” Hot Products proposed merger with IGP and deal collapsed in Oct. Hot Products maintained that Copland sent e-mail to Madsen Oct. 15 at latter’s request that dealt with “several action items” on proposed merger, among them how Hot Products share price might increase in value before merger. Hot Products stock was trading at 10? on Mon. Hot Products, which developed controllers and other accessories for DVD players based on VM Labs’ Nuon enhanced DVD technology, said in SEC filing that Struthers was “fully informed of all merger activities” and that his allegations were “baseless.” Struthers was “privy to all written communications” between companies and his position was “in direct conflict” with IGP’s stated reason for calling off proposed merger, Hot Products said. IGP has said Hot Products’ financial condition led it to end negotiations. Hot Products has conceded in past that cash flow has been “difficult” and remained “potential barrier” to growth. However, it said 3rd quarter loss narrowed to $295,492 from $1 million despite decline in sales to $154,504 from $186,666.