After the media sector in Thailand took a dive in 2007, it is expected to pick up this year, thanks to improved business prospects in the local economy after the formation of a new coalition government, the Bangkok Post has reported Tuesday.

Although Thai stock markets continue to be slow, due to fears of a U.S. recession and heavily sold Thai stocks, media stocks are attracting more investors.

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The Baki-Kheber's bank accounts, which hold revenues from newspaper sales in Gaya, Gasid and Azermetbuatyayim, were arrested beginning Sunday, the Azeri Press Agency reported Monday.

The freezing of the accounts have been imposed on revenues from the sales of the Baki-Kheber because the newspaper is in debt AZN 2179.4 (€1,754.52, US$2,588.79), according to a letter from Yasamal district court Zaur Abdullayev, which was sent to Gaya, Gasid and Azermetbuatyayim.

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Despite losing readers due to heavy competition, Metro was the most read newspaper in the last two months of 2007, Newspaper Innovation reported Saturday.

Although Metro lost some readers in local markets, its national edition gained readers over 2006. The free daily recorded 1,571,000 daily readers in the last four months of the year, while paid newspapers Aftonbladet came in second with 1,255,000 readers and Expressen came in third with 1,040,000, according to figures from research group Orvesto.

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A group of investors holding just under a 5 percent stake in the New York Times Co. urged the company to buy up more digital firms, according to a regulatory filing Monday.

Hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners and investment firm Firebrand Partners, which together own about 4.9 percent of the outstanding shares, stated although they think the publisher should spend more on digital companies, they are not looking to change the company's dual class share structure, Reuters reported Monday, citing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

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Global mobile entertainment revenues will exceed US$64 billion by 2012, from merely US$20.7 billion in 2007, according to the latest report from Jupiter Research. "With more widespread penetration of 3G handsets – or entertainment-focused 2.5G handsets like the iPhone – there is likely to be a much greater surge in both the adoption and overall usage in rich media services," stated Windsor Holden, author of the report, "Mobile Entertainment Markets: Opportunities & Forecasts 2007-2012."

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More than eight million people living in the United Kingdom listen to Web-based radio services every week, and about two million download podcasts every week, according to a survey conducted by research firm Ipsos Mori.

Survey results suggest Internet radio has hit the mainstream in the UK, finding that more than 12 million people have listened to Internet radio, and 8.1 million listen every week either through live streaming or "listen again" services, MediaGuardian reported Monday.

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Samsung Networks has launched the first Voice-over-Internet (VoIP) service for mobile phones in Korea, which will cut phone charges.

The Samsung Wyz 070 service allows users to make and receive mobile phone calls through the WiFi wireless Internet network, a wireless local-area network (LAN) found in homes, offices, schools and other public places, Asia Media reported Thursday.

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Russian news and information agency RIA Novosti publicly launched its newly integrated and converged multimedia newsroom Monday, featuring a fully equipped, two-floor newsroom with a central hub, the only one of its kind in Russia.

The newsroom now houses an integrated news department, which enables the news agency to more efficiently cover all multimedia formats, such as video, infographics and user-generated content, as well as traditional text and photos.

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Since the recent launch of ACAP, the new standard to protect the intellectual property of anyone publishing on the Web, the blogosphere has been full of comments about it -- and not all of them have been polite.

In addition to a great deal of supportive commentary, the Automated Content Access Protocol has faced an inevitable flurry of criticism. ACAP and its supporters, which includes the World Association of Newspapers, are facing the issues head-on and answering their critics.

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