It's tough being CNN. The brand that invented the 24-hour news cycle and which made its name covering the Iraq war and other crises has always had to find a way to drive tune-in when there isn't an OJ Simpson-on-the-lam or other breaking news story.

So if you're a CNN executive these or most other days, you're hoping — to yourself, at least — for another "drop everything and watch this" story to unfold somewhere in the world. Nothing really nasty, mind you; just something that will rivet viewers' attention on CNN the way they always do when something goes bad somewhere around the globe.

"The world still knows to turn to CNN whenever a crisis erupts," David Bohrman, the Current TV president who served as CNN's Washington bureau chief, commented to the Wall Street Journal. "That is the brand." And therein likes the rub.Continue reading...

Just when you think the final story has been written about Netflix — the story begins again.

The high-flying video subscription service, largely credited with driving Blockbuster into bankruptcy, has had business issues of its own in the past year. Now it's looking to a new partner — cable operators — who traditionally view streaming in general, and Netflix in particular, as the enemy.Continue reading...

Ace Hardware debuts first-ever paint campaign.

AIG sells $6 billion in AIA shares to help repay bailout loan.

Angie's List creates rare success with paid-content model.

Apple expected to pass 100 million iPad sales by year-end as iPad 3 is unveiled this week and excitement builds for Apple TV.

BP stock rises on proposed $17.6 billion settlement in oil spill.

Carlos Slim's America Movil reportedly starting a Netflix-like online service for Mexico.

Facebook asks advertisers for big investments in exchange for expanding fan base.

Frontier low-cost airline may be relaunched or sold.

GlaxoSmithKline expands in China.

GM struggles to make Volt a sustainable business.Continue reading...

Time Warner is a global media leader, so it needs to track media consumption patterns on behalf of its businesses, brands and advertising partners. So this week it donned a lab coat to launch the Time Warner Medialab, located in the Time Warner Center on New York's Columbus Circle, as a firsthand source of insights.

The high tech hub shows the public where media and technology is headed in its vision of "Content Everywhere," while gathering visitors' feedback on how the proliferation in digital platforms is affecting their media consumption and experience.

Separately, Time Warner Cable, which spun off from Time Warner in 2009 for an estimated $9 billion, this week announced a partnership with the New York-based Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) as the site of the next Time Warner Cable Learning Lab.Continue reading...

The annual indie-film extravaganza known as the Sundance Film Festival got underway Thursday night in Park City, Utah, and the New York Times noticed something there that had been missing at recent fests: many corporate sponsors.

Eight brands are officially sponsoring this year's festival, which launched as an offshoot of Robert Redford's Sundance Institute in 1978: Adobe, GE, Sprint, Yahoo!, Bertolli, Grey Goose, Time Warner, and Hilton. Last year, the festival had two — Honda and Trident — and neither of them are back.Continue reading...

“Netflix will be sold by Easter,” Porter Bibb, managing partner at Mediatech Capital Partners, told Bloomberg News. "I am hearing very serious rumblings from inside Verizon that they are very serious about either Netflix or something similar."

A deal with Verizon would put sorely needed cash in Netflix’s pocket as international expansion is on hold while the company staggers to regain profitability, reeling from a disastrous 2011, which saw a number of mishaps for the video rental/streaming brand.

After hiking subscription rates 60% in July, a customer revolt led to an ill-fated attempt at restructuring their DVD and streaming plans with the planned (then abandoned) launch of Qwikster, which sent nearly one million subscribers into exile; so they un-restructured but still lost close to 800,000 customers.Continue reading...

Amazon considers remedy for Kindle faults.

Anheuser-Busch InBev plans reality show for Budweiser brand.

Apple and HTC face judgment day on patent dispute, as Apple celebrates 100M apps from the Mac App Store and The Beatles' success on iTunes.

AT&T reportedly gets a break in its T-Mobile acquisition plan.

Auto Nation seeks new dealerships in existing Sun Belt markets, while U.S. auto dealers get creative with promotions.

Diamond Foods faces challenge over payments to walnut growers, complicating acquisition of Pringles from P&G.

Disney Four Seasons hotel begins construction.

General Mills takes G-WIN digital innovation initiative global.

GM faces potentially long investigation of Volt fires.Continue reading...

MF Global faces federal investigation over missing funds as its bankruptcy proceedings rattles Wall Street.

Unilever shelves some Culver brands.

AIG makes headlines as earnings slump continues.

Apple may be mulling end of Mac Pro line.

Autodesk shifts R&D budget toward the cloud.

Boeing must help airlines learn to fly new Dreamliner.

Debenhams tests virtual pop-up stores in the U.K.

DirecTV and News Corp. renew contentious carriage deal.

E! Network caught by surprise by Kim Kardashian divorce.

FDA ordered by President Obama to ease drug shortages.Continue reading...