Commercial-skipping TiVo to offer specific-ad search
TiVo Inc., whose digital video recorders became popular because they let users skip commercials, is planning to help viewers search for specific ads.
Customers will be able to pick categories such as automotive or travel and view related advertisements, Alviso, Calif.-based TiVo said Monday in a statement. TiVo is working with advertising agencies including Interpublic Media, part of Interpublic Group of Cos., to develop the service, which starts next year.
The search feature highlights TiVo’s efforts to reach out to advertisers who fear that the recorders are cutting audiences for traditional 30-second ads.
The service may give TiVo a way to generate advertising sales as DirecTV Group Inc. and Comcast Corp. introduce their own recorders that match many of TiVo’s functions.
“Users still want to know about new products and services, just on their own terms,” said Davina Kent, vice president of TiVo’s national advertising sales.
DENVER
City, Five Points group join to offer job fair
To better meet the needs of job seekers and employers, the City of Denver’s Division of Workforce Development has teamed up with the Five Points Business Association to provide employment services to area residents. The partnership will hold a Job and Community Resource Fair at 10 a.m. today at the Blair Caldwell Library, 2401 Welton St.
THORNTON
Pure Cycle loss is cut, revenue rises in 2005
Pure Cycle Corp., the Thornton-based provider of water and wastewater services, posted a net loss of $1.05 million, or 8 cents per share, for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, according to its annual report filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
That’s down from a net loss of $1.9 million, or 22 cents per share, reported in 2004. The company posted revenue of $234,654 for the fiscal year, up from $204,956 in 2004.
DENVER
Southwest Airlines picks station manager
Southwest Airlines has named Dave LaPorte its Denver station manager, in anticipation of the airline’s starting flights between Denver and Phoenix, Chicago Midway and Las Vegas on Jan. 3.
LaPorte has been station manager for Southwest’s Manchester, N.H., station since 2000. Southwest in Denver will have about 40 employees, who will report for work Dec. 20.
DENVER
Western Aero gets European safety nod
Western Aero, a Denver- based supplier of Boeing 707 aircraft parts and airframe repair services for a wide variety of military and commercial aircraft, announced Monday it has received its certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency.
The certification will allow the company to accept aircraft- repair work from aviation facilities throughout Europe.
DENVER
4 finalists named for telecom exec of year
The Denver Telecom Professionals organization on Monday announced it has named four finalists for its 2005 Executive of the Year award.
The finalists are Scott Binder, senior vice president, Comcast Colorado; Jim Crowe, chairman and chief executive of Level 3 Communications; Rich Grange, president and CEO of New Global Telecom; and Oren Shaffer, vice chairman and chief financial officer of Qwest.
HOUSTON
Conoco to let K&G rebrand gas stations
ConocoPhillips Co. announced Monday it has signed an agreement with Denver- based K&G Petroleum to convert 50 former BP-branded stations to the Conoco brand in the Denver metro area.
K&G, a ConocoPhillips marketer since 1995, recently purchased the stations from BP Products North America.
NEW YORK
Delta CFO testifies to bankruptcy court
Delta Air Lines Inc., which lost $2.6 billion in the first nine months of this year, needs the $3 billion in annual cost savings from its reorganization plan to survive, chief financial officer Edward Bastian told a bankruptcy court Monday.
He also said the company is not prepared for a strike by pilots, which would be “devastating.”
DETROIT
Delphi CEO backs off on voiding contracts
Delphi Corp. chief executive Steve Miller backed away from his threat to cancel union contracts by mid-December, averting a potential strike that could cripple production at its former parent, General Motors Corp.
Delphi won’t ask a judge overseeing its U.S. bankruptcy reorganization to void labor contracts if the company and its unions fail to reach a wage-concession agreement by Dec. 16, according to a Delphi statement Monday.
PURCHASE, N.Y.
MasterCard investors vote for changes, IPO
MasterCard Inc. on Monday said more than 90 percent of shareholder votes were cast in favor of the company’s new ownership and governance structure, paving the way for the company’s initial public offering.
Purchase, N.Y.-based MasterCard plans to raise about $2.45 billion in an IPO early next year, broadening its ownership beyond the current 1,400 financial institutions.
DUSSELDORF, Germany
Steelmaker to buy Canada’s Dofasco Inc.
ThyssenKrupp AG, Germany’s largest steelmaker, agreed to buy Dofasco Inc. for $4.1 billion after the Canadian company asked it to top a hostile offer from Luxembourg-based Arcelor SA.
Buying Dofasco, whose customers include Ford Motor Co., will give ThyssenKrupp a 10 percent slice of North America’s automotive steel market. The purchase, ThyssenKrupp’s biggest ever, is the second major North American steel acquisition by a European company after Mittal Steel Co. bought International Steel Group for $4.5 billion.
WASHINGTON
Treasury auctions $34 billion in T-bills
The Treasury Department auctioned $18 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 3.9 percent and an additional $16 billion in six-month bills at a rate of 4.155 percent.
The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,901.42 while a six-month bill sold for $9,789.94.
