Sprint Nextel and Clearwire's reported $12 billion joint venture to roll out ultra-fast wireless Internet access would be a significant boost to the cellular aspirations of Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Google.

The Wall Street Journal said the two companies have raised $3.2 billion in outside financing, including $1.05 billion from  Comcast, $550 million from Time Warner Cable, $500 million from Internet giant Google and  $1 billion from Intel. 

Cable companies are fretting at the wireless advantage of AT&T and Verizon, both of which have rolled out IPTV service to millions of customers over the last year. This combination, which reportedly will allow them to brand the service as their own, would allow them to add high-speed wireless to their TV, Internet and telephone options. .....More.....

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Nuru Rimington-Mkalif is a 21-year-old, unknown, London-based filmmaker who suddenly finds himself represented by William Morris Agency and positioned to make a Hollywood feature film -- because of an online contest. 

Filmaka.com, the online studio created by former Fox TV chief Sandy Grushow and "Bend It Like Beckham Producer" Deepak Nayar, selected Rimington-Mkalif from among hundreds of online contestants. The site relied on a combination of online peer review from 3,600 members and the opinions of people like actor Bill Pullman ("Sleepless in Seattle") and producer Laura Bickford ("Traffic")

"I never allowed myself to think I would win," Rimington-Mkalif said in an interview. "I just focused on getting it done."

Former Wall Street Journal Publisher Gordon Crovitz  phrased the problem facing newspapers succinctly: "Print revenue has declined much faster than online can be built up," he told the audience at the Milken Global Conference. "We're trading newspaper dollars for online nickels."

The newspaper business is a microcosm of the dilemma faced by all traditional media: How do you move to a new medium you know is your future, when the financial model isn't worked out?

Philadelphia Inquirer Publisher Brian Tierney, for example, told how he traded a $700 two-day ad in the newspaper ad for a $300 online spread for a week -- and explained that it was

I read just now that liberal agitator MoveOn.org has attracted 3 million people to vote online for its "Obama in 30 Seconds" contest to pick which Obama advertisement gets picked for national TV.

And I suddenly realized that the long-predicted democratization of content distribution may finally be underway. As I see online contest after contest (See my posts this week on Filmaka.com and Massify.com earlier this week) bring in hundreds, thousands, millions of ordinary folks to vote on their favorite content,  submit themselves to the will of the masses and create hits, I'm thinking perhaps we're finally at the cross-over point -- where  advertising executives, record executives, studio chiefs, publishers et al are only one piece of the content food chain, not the sole arbiter of what content the public sees and hears.

I've been writing the last few days about the Hobson's choice faced by TV networks and other content providers: either cannibalize the revenue from your TV programs  by airing them with less profitable ads on the Web; or keep them on TV -- and watch users copy them and post them for free on the Web.

At the 11th Annual Milken Institute Global Conference on Monday, I'll have a chance to flesh out the paradox on a panel with Eric Feng, Senior Vice President of Audience and Chief Technical Officer, Hulu.com; Albhy

Nokia and Sony BMG's announcement yesterday that buyers of select Nokia phones will get complete access to the Sony BMG's entire music catalog is a model that's likely to be repeated over and over in the years ahead.

Financial details weren't disclosed. But presumably Nokia -- which signed a similar deal with Universal Music Group earlier this year -- is paying a hefty licensing fee for this interesting marketing vehicle: $20 (my number) for every phone sold? Not a bad idea.....More

With TV pilots costing millions of dollars, why not test the product and your directors first on the Internet?

That's what Filmaka.com, launched today by former Fox TV chief Sandy Grushow and "Bend it Like Beckham" producer Deepak Nayar, aims to do. And along the way, it aims to build an audience for the website by hosting online competitions for directors and writers for TV pilots and online series.

Filmaka amassed a community of more than 3,600 aspiring filmmakers from 95 countries and started production on about 40 Web series. Talent agency William Morris has signed on to help vet the content.

The beauty of the approach is that even if Filmaka doesn't find any talent (and there aren't many examples yet of online recruiting launching TV hits),

Why is cost the #1 focus?  There was a time when quality was worth a few cents more.  Isn't paying a little more for something that lasts twice as long worth it?

And what about the fight between form and function.  Remember when a coffee pot may not have looked so great but it didn't wind up all over your kitchen counter.  Isn't all the coffee winding up in the cup more important than a new design?

It might be beneficial to look at how we've gotten into this extreme cost and form conscious mode and take a few steps back.  I was recently talking to a CFO of a large manufacturer and the ONLY point he wanted to talk about was cost.  Not something better, more innovative or superior in any way, shape or form.  Something cheaper that looks cool will sell ! What's happened to our country?

Talk about a tempest in a teapot.

A Comcast executive's revelation at Digital Living Room last week that the cable company is testing cameras in its DVRs in the living room set off a storm of angry blogs.

It began when Chris Albrecht of NewTeevee quoted Gerard Kunkel, Comcast's senior vice president of user experience, as saying the company is testing cameras that recognize you when you turn on your cable box, allowing your TV set to make recommendations about what you might want to see, or to serve up tailored ads.

The angry comments started on the New Teevee site, ranging from "officially the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard in my life" to "Comcast is trying to make Orwell’s vision of 1984 come true".

Although we're running a business summit called Digital Living Room next week, all signs suggest it's a misnomer.

Not that people don't gather in their living rooms to enjoy digital media. They do. Some 70% of kids now watch TV while surfing online -- and presumably text on their mobile phones. My 13-year-old and 15-year-old can attest to this.

It's a misnomer because people increasingly aren't concerned about where they enjoy their media. They want access to it anywhere, anytime.

"It's social convergence enabled by divergent technologies," says Mike Goslin, vice president for Disney Online Studios and a speaker at DLR. "People may be scattered all over the place, but connected virtually."