News:

Comcast acquires full ownership of NBCUniversal ahead of schedule

Comcast, the nation’s largest cable provider, will consolidate its control over NBCUniversal by buying out the 49 percent of the media company that it doesn’t already own. Comcast will pay General Electric $16.7 billion for the shares and shell out $1.4 billion for related real estate, including the iconic 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

Under a deal announced in 2009, General Electric spun NBC, Universal Studios, and various other media properties off into a new joint venture and sold 51 percent of the shares, and effective control, to Comcast.

The merger was intensely controversial. Critics charged that the acquisition would further cement Comcast’s already dominant position in the cable market, making it impossible for competitors such as Netflix to compete on a level playing field. But regulators decided not to challenge the merger, settling for a long list of regulatory concessions.

By structuring the deal so that GE initially held 49 percent of NBCUniversal, Comcast limited its downside risk: if the merger went sour, as some some media mergers have, GE would have eaten some of the losses. The original deal gave Comcast an option to buy the rest of NBCUniversal in 2014, but evidently the merger has been going well and Comcast decided to buy GE out ahead of schedule.

Even after the early acquisition, Comcast evidently had cash to spare. The firm also announced a larger shareholder dividend and a $2 billion share buyback plan.

As we reported when the merger was approved, Comcast will now control its massive cable network, 234 NBC affiliate stations, the Telemundo Spanish-language network, the NBC television network, TV production studios, the Universal movie studio, the Universal theme parks in LA and Florida, channels like MSNBC and CNBC, and a stake in Hulu. Prior to the merger, Comcast already owned TV channels like E! and G4, the Philadelphia Flyers NHL franchise, and the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/02/comcast-acquires-full-ownership-of-nbcuniversal-ahead-of-schedule/

Factory Entertainment has acquired the Back to the Future license and they will be rolling out some cool BTTF products in 2013. Starting off with their Shakems line, which are similar to bobbleheads as in mini statues with spring action. The first four BTTF Shakems are as follows.

 

Doc Brown Shakems

Marty McFly Hoverboard Shakems

DeLorean Time Machine Shakems

Manure Truck Accident Shakems

 

These are prototypes and are still in approval stages. Yes, there are no actor likeness on these products and due to the bobblehead type nature of these products, they appear to be more cartoonized versions of the characters. Still the sculpts looks good and costume details are captured quite nicely, but Marty’s face needs to be more expressive. Also Doc’s costume needs the orange markings and his shoes could use the brown color touch up. Overall it’s refreshing to see a company releasing BTTF products beyond DeLorean models. I love the DeLorean Time Machine and I’m looking forward toHot Wheels releasing their Elite BTTF DeLorean Models in 1:43 and 1:18 scale later this year.

 

But I also want to see more characters from the BTTF universe being released in the figure and statue format. These Shakems from Factory Entertainment is a good start towards that. And I have to say, that Biff’s car filled with manure display is just brilliant. This is what I want to see, a company doing the unconventional and really embracing their acquired licenses. It’s great to see that memorable and hilarious moment from the film being captured in a sculpture format like that. More movie scene specific sculptures please.

 

Mattel acquired the BTTF action figure license along with actor likeness rights back in 2011 and then backed out from producing the figures. Hot Toys has acquired the BTTF license along with likeness rights, though I am not sure if we will see any figures in 2013. From what I discussed with Factory Entertainment, they seem very passionate about the BTTF franchise and I think they will do the BTTF line justice. Also FE makes movie prop replicas, so maybe down the line we can finally have a company doing accurate BTTF prop replicas.

http://heavyfuture.blogspot.in/2013/02/factory-entertainment-to-release-back.html

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Geek This Week:

Aaron:  Pocket!

 

Gozer: HTMart.com: home theater purchases & great customer service

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The Geek’s Choice:  Mailbox for iPhone

Amazing email client taking the world by storm!

www.mailboxapp.com

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