Ticketmaster Entertainment

Call of Duty Grosses More Than $775 Million in Five Days to Destroy All Records

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on November 17, 2011 at 11:52 am PT

Activision’s latest Call of Duty title has shattered all previous entertainment records, grossing more than $775 million in its first five days of sales.

Sale of iLike to MySpace–$13.5 Million in Cash, $6 Million for Talent Retention–Delayed Over Tax Issues (Really!)…Plus, the List of Other Suitors!

Kara Swisher in News on August 17, 2009 at 11:25 pm PT

The board of iLike planned a meeting earlier tonight to go over a buyout offer by MySpace, several sources close to the situation said. But it was suddenly canceled because of some thorny tax implications related to the talent-retention part of the deal to purchase the social music start-up. This does not mean the pending acquisition is in jeopardy, sources said, and it could be on track to be signed as early as today, barring any more complications. What’s also been unclear is the actual price the social networking giant is paying for iLike, which has been reported as about $20 million. In fact, only $13.5 million will be paid in cash, with $6 million slated for forward payments to retain key talent.

D7: The Conference in Quotes

John Paczkowski in D7 on May 29, 2009 at 12:00 am PT

Like last year’s D6 conference, this year’s D7 has had its share of memorable lines. Here’s a selection of some of the better ones, including this quip from Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz: “You can’t take nine women and make a baby in the month; there is a process.”

D7 Video: Ticketmaster Entertainment CEO Irving Azoff

Beth Callaghan in D7 on May 27, 2009 at 10:01 am PT

Irving Azoff hopes to pull off the deal of a lifetime by merging Ticketmaster Entertainment and Live Nation–in effect, covering both ends of the live music spectrum. In order to do so, he has to convince Washington D.C and face a range of skeptics that includes Bruce Springsteen. He takes the stage with Kara Swisher to talk about the company and the future of the music business.

Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff: How to Make Money While Music Becomes “Demonetized”

Peter Kafka in D7 on May 27, 2009 at 9:31 am PT

As a longtime music executive and talent manager, Irving Azoff has had to find a way to work with everyone from inebriated rock stars to David Geffen. But he’s never had to placate Washington, D.C. before. But that’s what Azoff needs to do in order to pull off the deal of a lifetime: A merger between his Ticketmaster Entertainment, which dominates the ticketing business, and Live Nation, which dominates the live concert business. When Azoff isn’t busy trying to convince people that the merger doesn’t violate antitrust regulations, or running his ticketing company, he manages the careers of everyone from the Eagles to Christina Aguilera. Note the one thing in the music business he doesn’t spend time on: Selling recorded music.

Welcome to Lucky D7: Still Gambling on the Digital Future

Kara Swisher in D7 on May 4, 2009 at 12:26 am PT

Incredibly, this is the seventh year of the D: All Things Digital conference. We feel very lucky to get here, especially in the midst of what our own site’s Digital Daily scribe, John Paczkowski, has so perfectly dubbed the “econalypse.” Ironically, Walt Mossberg and I planned to launch the very first conference in the middle of the last major downturn for tech, in 2001. But, in the carnage of the Web 1.0 meltdown, we actually held off for two years, with our first D gathering taking place in 2003.

Welcome to Lucky D7: Still Gambling on the Digital Future

Kara Swisher in D7 on May 4, 2009 at 12:15 am PT

Incredibly, this is the seventh year of the D: All Things Digital conference. We feel very lucky to get here, especially in the midst of what our own site’s Digital Daily scribe, John Paczkowski, has so perfectly dubbed the “econalypse.” Ironically, Walt Mossberg and I planned to launch the very first conference in the middle of the last major downturn for tech, in 2001. But, in the carnage of the Web 1.0 meltdown, we actually held off for two years, with our first D gathering taking place in 2003. Well, we’re still going–making the same long-term bet that the digital revolution will keep rolling as we did at D1. Here’s our lineup for D7.