Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and TWICE have been sold to NewBay Media by Reed Business. The titles expand NewBay’s presence in the broadcast and consumer electronics space. Each of the titles, purchased from Reed Business Information U.S., will continue to be published as part of NewBay’s line of print, online, and in-person products and services. NewBay plans to keep intact most of the employee base of the publications. NewBay Media’s brands are centered on five vertical markets — pro audio, broadcast & video, musical instruments, AV/consumer electronics and K-12 education. NewBay publishes and produces more than 40 publications and show dailies, 50 websites, and 30 daily and weekly enewsletters, as well as 50 custom publishing efforts. NewBay claims a reach of more than 3 million readers in print and 1 million online and in person. This deal follows word that most of Nielsen Business Media, including the print and online editions of The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Adweek, Brandweek and Mediaweek, is just two weeks away from being acquired by James Finklestein’s News Communications; Lachlan Murdoch may also be considering joining forces in the sale. Watershed Publishing
Comcast nears NBC deal as GE buys stake from Vivendi — Comcast (CMCSA), the No. 1 cable and broadband provider, appears poised to complete a potentially ground-shaking deal that would give it control of NBC Universal, now owned by General Electric (GE). USA TODAY
FCC Considers Allocating TV Spectrum For Wireless Broadband — In a move certain to rile TV broadcasters, the Federal Communications Commission took the first step Wednesday toward examining whether portions of the broadcast spectrum should be reallocated for wireless broadband. ONLINE MEDIA DAILY
Internet Needs Structural Revamping to Keep Growing — The supply of Internet addresses will run out in 2011 unless service providers adopt a new standard for assigning them. Online traffic has continued to accelerate at a dizzying pace, unaffected by the global recession, and demand for addresses to connect mobile devices, appliances and cars to the web will only grow. TechNewsWorld
