Audio Video News

News Corp. and DirecTV: The satellite broadcast merger appears to be a done deal now that both the Federal Communications Commission and the US Department of Justice have given their approval. News Corporation will buy a 34% stake in Hughes Electronics, giving it control over satellite broadcasting service DirecTV.

Michael Fremer positions the complete $21,000 <A HREF="/speakersystems/1103ap">Audio Physic Virgo III surround speaker system</A> into place and then wonders whether "using speakers capable of exceptionally stunning imaging would make sense in a home theater."

News Corporation is about to become the biggest player on the television playing field, thanks to a December 19 approval by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of its proposed $6.6 billion acquisition of satellite broadcaster DirecTV. The deal would give News Corp. a 34% controlling interest in DirecTV parent company Hughes Electronics. DirecTV has more than 11 million subscribers.

A cheaper, better future: New microprocessors from <A HREF="http://www.intel.com">Intel Corporation</A> could revolutionize the market for flat-panel and slim-profile big screen televisions, according to a December 17 <A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/17/technology/17chip.html?th">report</A> by John Markoff in the <I>New York Times</I>. Leveraging large-scale integration, the company's chips and design expertise could yield big bright high-definition displays at prices far below today's. In what is perhaps a misquote of Intel executive Richard Doherty, Markoff predicts 50" liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCoS) rear-projection "engines" selling for $1000 by the next winter holiday shopping season.

From the November 2003 issue, Thomas J. Norton scrutinizes the <A HREF="/speakersystems/1103sonus">Sonus Faber Cremona surround speaker system</A>, noting that although SF speakers are generally known as very expensive, the compnay "has followed a different strategy with the Cremona, making sure from the get-go that the speaker is home-theater friendly."