NBC-iTunes duet to offer news program downloads
New York – NBC said Thursday it will become the first broadcast news organization to offer news programming for sale for viewing on computers and iPods through Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes service.
A variety of current, archival and specially produced material will be available for $1.99 a download through the iTunes store.
“We’re leading a trend to put our work and our journalism everywhere our viewers and users want it to be,” said Mark Lukasiewicz, NBC News vice president for digital media.
Brian Williams will be host of some specially created “Time Capsule” programs through the Web. They include interviews with President Kennedy and Martin Luther King, a tour of the White House offered by first lady Jacqueline Kennedy and interviews with the rock band U2.
Tom Brokaw has also packaged programming related to his book “The Greatest Generation,” NBC said.
More recent material includes Williams’ narration of his return to Hurricane Katrina-stricken areas and the CNBC special “The Age of Wal-Mart.”
DENVER
Calif. firm accused of phony ATM sales
Colorado securities regulators have issued a cease and desist order against a California-based company accused of fraudulently selling automated teller machines to investors in Colorado.
Regulators allege that OneSource Financial Group, based in Costa Mesa, Calif., took more than $600,000 from 23 Colorado investors beginning in October. Two men, Mark Lebowitz and Alex Roderick, were named in the order.
The state alleges that investors were promised a share of revenues collected through transaction fees at the ATMs, which were to be placed inside casinos or gas stations. Regulators allege that the ATMs “never existed,” Fred Joseph, Colorado’s securities commissioner, said Thursday.
NIWOT
Crocs to offer another 6.5 million shares
Niwot-based Crocs Inc. has filed a registration statement for a secondary offering of 6.5 million shares. Proceeds will go to the selling shareholders. Piper Jaffray & Co. and Thomas Weisel Partners LLC will be joint managers for the offering.
The company also raised its second-quarter earnings guidance to 23 to 25 cents per share, up from its previous expectation of 21 to 22 cents per share.
George B. Boedecker, one of three founding members of the trendy sandalmaker, resigned as a director of the company effective Wednesday. Boedecker resigned “for personal reasons” and did not leave because of a disagreement with management, the company said in a filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
WASHINGTON
Allard aims to protect AF Space Command
Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., and Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., introduced legislation Thursday in both houses of Congress to protect the Air Force Space Command, based in Colorado Springs, from significant personnel reductions.
The legislation prohibits the secretary of the Air Force from reducing the number of military personnel, civilian employees and contractor support personnel for Air Force Space Command until a report is submitted that includes a description of proposed reductions, justification for the reductions and an assessment of the effect of the reductions on the Air Force Space Command.
BOULDER
REI plans to double, modernize store
Seattle-based Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) said Thursday that it will expand and renovate its Boulder store as a new design prototype.
The 21,000-square-foot store at 1789 28th St. will take over the adjoining space currently occupied by Old Navy, doubling its size to 42,000 square feet. The renovation is set to begin in February 2007. The project will be completed in the fall of 2007.
LONGMONT
DigitalGlobe to make $7.7 million on project
Longmont-based DigitalGlobe’s European business partner, Eurimage, has entered into a contract with the European Commission’s Joint Research Center to supply worldwide satellite imagery over a four-year period.
The DigitalGlobe portion of the contract is valued at $7.7 million and will support all EC institutions, services and agencies.
OAK BROOK, Ill.
McDonald’s plans to buy back shares
McDonald’s, the world’s largest restaurant company, plans to spend more than $1 billion from its sale of Denver-based Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. to buy back shares while spurring revenue with new beverages and foods, executives told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting in Oak Brook, Ill.
CHICAGO
United homing in on Windy City buildings
United Airlines is focusing on four Chicago skyscrapers that could be eligible for city incentives in its search for new executive offices, according to Crain’s Chicago Business.
The company sent a request for proposals to downtown Chicago landlords with a Friday deadline to present proposals, according to Crain’s. United is also scouting office buildings in Denver and San Francisco, but those efforts lag its search for space in Chicago, according to the article.
LAS VEGAS
Google to bundle software with Dell
Google on Thursday confirmed a long-rumored deal that will bundle some of its software on Dell Inc.’s personal computers, providing the online search engine leader with another potentially potent weapon in its fierce rivalry with Microsoft Corp.
“It’s a really big deal for both companies,” Google CEO Eric Schmidt said Thursday at an Internet industry conference in Las Vegas. “It’s very good for them and very good for us.”
Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
WASHINGTON
Chief says Fed cannot ignore asset prices
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank can’t turn a blind eye to price changes for stocks and homes when setting interest rates but should take action only when they threaten the overall economy.
“A central bank cannot ignore movements in stock prices, home values and other asset prices, but should respond to them only to the extent that they have implications for future output and inflation,” Bernanke said in a written response to questions raised by Rep. Jim Saxton, R-N.J.
