Music producer and pioneer Phil Spector has been found guilty of murder. Spector, who had gotten off in 2007 after a jury was unable to reach a verdict, faces 18 years to life for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson. Spector is known for his "wall of sound" aesthetic and work with the Beatles, as well as his eradict behavior during the first murder trial in 2007.
NBC Boston affiliate WHDH announced that it will air Jay Leno's new show weeknights at 10pm. The affiliate had expressed concern over whether or not Leno's new show would generate high ratings, upon which NBC said if they did not air the show, they would not be able to air other content. The station's owner, noted that "Upon further consideration, we have decided to telecast Jay Leno at 10:00 p.m. starting in September. Jay is from Andover where I went to school. I enjoy his humor. We hope the new show is a big success."
eBay announced that it will hand StumbleUpon back to its original owners. eBay purchased the social bookmarking site two years ago for $75 million. Like Skype, StumbleUpon shared few synergies with the online auction site, which may act as an indicator that eBay is truly ready to unload Skype.
Qtrax relaunched its free music service yesterday. Qtrax, which closed after an initial launch last year, reached a licensing agreement with the four major recorded music companies to host free DRM-encased downloads which cannot be played on Apple's iPod. The relaunched Qtrax will be ad-supported.
Shelly Palmer is a consultant and the host of MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer a daily show featuring news you can use about technology, media & entertainment. He is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV (2008, York House Press) and the upcoming, Get Digital: Reinventing Yourself and Your Career for the 21st Century Economy (2009, Lake House Press). Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, NY (the organization that bestows the coveted Emmy Awards). You can join the MediaBytes mailing list here. Shelly can be reached at shelly@palmer.net For information about Get Digital Classes, visit www.shellypalmer.com/seminars