With about 65 percent of the population now subscribing to broadband, ISPs are duking it out for new customers. The companies are offering cut-throat prices and new promotions to win over new subscribers. But for millions of Americans living in regions where carriers don't find it profitable to offer service, only one choice of Internet provider exists today.

What worries cable and online video companies most about the expected merger between Comcast and NBC Universal? They say the combined entertainment giant would have too much control over a wide body of content. And it could make it difficult for competitors to offer NBC broadcast and cable shows and Universal movies in the same way Comcast subscribers would receive it.

After Charter won approval of its bankruptcy plan, the company said it will raise prices and consider consumption-based billing. Charter hasn't been profitable since the company went public in 1999 and constantly ranks at the bottom of most customer satisfaction surveys.

AOL said it plans to cut one-third of its work force, or about 2,500 jobs, in an effort to trim $300 million in annual costs as part of its planned spin-off from Time Warner. The struggling Web pioneer said it had asked for volunteers, but will perform involuntary layoffs if enough workers do not step up.

In a widely watched ruling that other states and the federal government are expected to follow, California passed first-in-the-nation energy efficiency standards for new television sets.

FCC Media Bureau chief Bill Lake says the FCC should consider spurring more competition and variety in the set-top box market as one way of helping spur broadband adoption. That came in a presentation at the FCC's open meeting on the status of the national broadband plan and the gaps to rollout and adoption that need to be bridged.

FOX has done it again, and this time, once again, FOX says its misplay of the wrong crowd video was another regrettable mistake. Obviously, news executives at the network consider this to have been another sloppy error.

Candido Figueredo sits on his bullet-riddled porch holding the tools of his trade: a reporter's notepad, a mobile phone and a black 9mm submachine gun. "I'm a rare species of journalist," admits Figueredo, the regional correspondent of Paraguay's largest daily newspaper.

A memo from new Washington Times Publisher Jonathan Slevin, says "limited resources and fiscal constraints" will likely prompt more changes at the paper, which has been in a period of crisis since three top executives were fired and its head editor resigned.

At a time when some critics insist that content in newspapers is unofficially for sale, Tampa's Creative Loafing is about to put that notion to the test. To raise money for the Children's Home, Creative Loafing has opened an online auction allowing the highest bidder to provide content and make editorial choices for its Jan. 20 edition.