Michael Jackson's memorial at the Los Angeles Staples Center will be a traffic-stopping mob scene; an expensive, coffers-draining circus for the city. But it'll also be a huge cash cow for a number of Los Angeles businesses.

The fact that 1.6 million people registered for the lottery for 17,500 available tickets indicates just how great the demand is. The tickets are free and concert promoter AEG Live wants to make sure that nobody profits from them. eBay (EBAY) is cooperating with AEG's demands and is cracking down on the many tickets for sale that immediately populated the site.

It's been a tumultuous summer for DVR service TiVo (TIVO), with a handful of court rulings that have sent the stock bouncing all over the place. The latest news is sending the stock down. Following a major victory for TiVo in early June, now there's a setback: Dish Network (DISH) subscribers can keep using their DVR service while the court battle wages on, headed to another appeal.

Here's the rollercoaster timeline: In early June TiVo [9.09 -1.68 (-15.6%) ] won a federal patent case against Dish Network [16.10 -0.38 (-2.31%) ] , sending TIVO stock up 53 percent in just one day. The court determined that Dish violated TiVo's technology patent, awarding $103 million in damages and forcing the company to disable about four million DVRs. (This is on top of a $104 payment a jury awarded TiVo from EchoStar (SATS) [15.83 -0.31 (-1.92%) ] in 2006). This ruling lays the groundwork to make other cable and satellite companies pay TiVo to license its service and also makes it an attractive acquisition target.

The newspaper industry has been struggling to figure out how to compensate for declining ad revenues and monetize its content online. Gannett (GCI) announced plans to slash between 1,000 and 2,000 jobs, mostly from its local papers. The money-losing Boston Globe, which is owned by the New York Times (NYT), yesterday announced "Globe Reader" a new digital version of the newspaper. It's formatted to look like the print edition and can be read online or offline. For now it won't cost extra, but the preview edition will be available only to Globe subscribers. Will it keep subscribers or add new ones? We'll see.

The New York Times also announced that it will expand its digital content service, allowing other newspapers to post and update content even if it hasn't been published first in a print edition. The Times ended its "Times Select" subscriptions a few years ago and now it wants to make sure its generating as much revenue from digital rights as possible. The Times' main revenue source, advertising, continues to be weak. It seems the Gray Lady would be wise to experiment with online subscriptions to compensate for the fact that when it comes to ads, digital dimes are replacing analog dollars.

Here's the question the publishing industry is trying to figure out: Does it make sense for Google (GOOG) to have the rights to exploit "orphan" books, those whose copyright holders can't be found? Is it bad if Google has the exclusive rights to those books through its book search initiative?

Now the president of the U.S. arm of Oxford University Press is asking Congress to prevent Google from having the "exclusive" rights to orphan books. Tim Barton is proposing that Congress give others the same rights over these works as Google. The issue at hand is the settlement Google made last fall with publishers, which has been endorsed by the major U.S. publishing associations, though it's being investigated by the Department of Justice and has been criticized by libraries and law professors.

The media conglomerates are trading down today, off more than the Dow. One factor pulling them down is the Supreme Court's decision not to consider their appeal to challenge Cablevision Systems' (CVC) new DVR service. This is a direct blow to NBC Universal (GE), CBS, ABC (DIS), and 20th Century Fox (NWS), who sued Cablevision in 2006.

This decision will enable Cablevision to soon roll out a new kind of DVR, which requires much less capacity.

Yes, it's totally gruesome to think about how Michael Jackson's estate and others will benefit from the King of Pop's death, but it's inevitable. And in the days following Jackson's death, more and more news is coming out about just how many ventures may benefit. Yes, AEG has to grapple with refunding some $85 million of concert tickets, and insurer Lloyd's of London will have to deal with the claims. But perhaps most striking is the sad, ironic fact that the King of Pop's death is sure to bolster his assets to compensate for his debts in life.

As expected, Jackson's songs bounced to the top of the charts on Thursday and have remained there. But now there may be much more content to sell. On the eve of his death, Jackson's last rehearsal for his upcoming AEG concert series was recorded on camera, and will reportedly be released as his last album and as a DVD. This could help AEG earn back some of its investment in the upcoming London concerts as well as help Jackson's estate, which is laden with some $400 million to $500 million in debt. AEG hasn't gotten back to me on this news, but it's safe to assume that they would like to try to turn anything recorded from the rehearsals into a product to sell.

These days news is far more dramatic than fiction.

After all the terrible revelations in the Madoff case and today's sentencing, Ruth Madoff's statement, saying she feels "betrayed and confused," was just the kind of line screenwriters dream of penning. Hollywood loves a good story, and Ponzi schemers like Madoff are providing plenty of fodder for plot twists and terrifying villains. Both documentaries and fiction based on the truth are designed to tap into the cultural zeitgeist, with a kind of relevance that aims to sell tickets and boost ratings.

The news about the advertising industry seems to get worse every day; just last week I reported that "Upfront" ad sales hadn't started and the overall ad industry is expected to drop 15 percent this year. But one of the nation's biggest advertisers, GM (GMGMQ.PK) has some good news for the national ad market, which should end up helping local ad spending as well.

Just like a lot of news today, the eye-grabbing headline is the fact that General Motors ad spending won't get any worse. And "less worse" could mean a turnaround for the battered ad industry is coming early next year.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen from Viacom's Paramount (VIA) and Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks Studio is already breaking some major records, making it likely to be the biggest film of the year.

It opened in over 4,200 U.S. theaters Wednesday, bringing in an estimated $55 million at the box office, $16 million of which was from post-midnight shows early Wednesday morning, the best opening day ever for a Wednesday release.

Time Warner Cable (TWC) one of the biggest creators of cable content, and Comcast (CMCSA) the nation's largest cable broadcaster, have teamed up to help the industry compete in an Internet-dominated world.

They're working on a model TWX's CEO Jeff Bewkes has dubbed "TV Everywhere." Comcast will roll out a national test of "On Demand Online" in July, giving 5,000 subscribers access to programming from Turner's TNT and TBS. The idea is to give cable subscribers access to cable TV content online, through a secured website. It would be an added value for subscribers, and it's intended to ensure that the content isn't available elsewhere.

When it comes to big launches, it seems the movie business is king, with blockbuster opening weekends making headlines and generating huge buzz. But the video game industry is actually bigger than theatrical movie going.

The US box office generated about $9.8 billion in revenue last year while video game sales in North America were more than $20 billion. Now Activision/Blizzard (ATVI) is trying to make the launch of its sequel to "Call of Duty" the biggest entertainment launch ever. The maker of the hit Guitar Hero video game has hired TBWA/Chiat/Day, publicly tasking the firm to make the video game's November release bigger than any past video game or movie.

By this time of year the TV networks are usually wrapping up their upfront ad sales period in which they sell about 80 percent of their primetime ad inventory. But not this year. The nets acknowledged to the LA Times that the actual selling hasn't begun.

The advertisers are waiting for the broadcasters to lower their prices and the nets are holding out. The longer the stalemate the less power the networks have, and the further prices drop. Analysts expect prices to drop by as much as 15 percent, which would bring the total spent on upfront ad sales down to about $7.4 billion from $9.2 billion last year.

News Corp.'s (NWS) social networking site, MySpace, just announced it's cutting its staff by nearly 30 percent as part of a restructuring and an attempt to "return to start-up culture."

MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta, who started in his role in April, said in a company release IThis is one of the the first major moves from News Corp's CEO of Digital Media, Jonathan Miller, who was hired for the newly-created position in March. He says in the release that this restructuring "will help MySpace operate much more efficiently both structurally and financially moving forward."

It's not all doom and gloom. Despite lost revenue as companies shift from analog to digital models and the sector downturn of certain businesses like DVDs, there are still bright spots in the global entertainment industry. Pricewaterhouse Coopers released its Global Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2009-2013. According to PWC, the industries that are sure to maintain sustainable revenue growth are those that offer an experience that can't be duplicated -- like video games, or 3-D movies. And according to the report, people are willing to pay or watch ads, as long as the content is unique. Another key trend is digital: companies are looking for more efficient ways to distribute and consumers are looking for easier, cheaper ways to consume. PWC projects that digital spending will drive industry growth, comprising 25 percent of total revenues by 2013.

Video games are a distinct bright spot, with a projected 5.8 percent compound annual growth rate over the next five years, more than any other media with the exception of online ads or Internet access. The video game industry -- just the games, not the hardware -- will generate $17.2 billion in sales this year, growing to $21.6 billion in 2013, which will make it three times the size of the recorded music industry. That's great for the companies like Electronic Arts (ERTS) and Activision/Blizzard (ATVI), which dominate the market. And it's not just the same old revenue streams; advertising in video games is expected to hit $886 million this year, and grow to $1.4 billion in 2013.

With ad budgets tighter than ever and TV commercials easily skipped, branded content looks like an appealing way to engage with a targeted group of consumers. That's what Microsoft (MSFT) is counting on as it builds a branded content business, partnering with hit TV production house Reveille on four web shows over the past year. Today Reveille and Microsoft are launching a series that promotes Microsoft's own business software.

The series, "It's Everybody's Business With Jack and Suzy Welch" debuted yesterday on MSN and is being promoted across the web and in Business Week. Microsoft is pulling out all the stops, hiring two of the biggest names in business to give advice to Microsoft customers.

Friday marked the end of analog TV and the transition to a fully-digital service. Most of the media attention has been on the bad news.

Despite some two billion dollars spent on educating and preparing consumers, still, nearly three million American homes will lose service. But there's a great silver lining that's getting lost in the shuffle.

After a year of a contract dispute hanging over the Hollywood studios, the Screen Actors Guild finally voted to approve a new two-year contract, approving it by a vast majority. Now movie and TV productions can start new productions without even a hint of fear about potential labor conflict.

But you didn't see any celebration in the media stocks on this news; all the media giants, Disney (DIS), Viacom (VIA), CBS (CBS), Time Warner (TWX), suffered a decline along with the market.

The headlines in the news industry just keep getting worse and worse.

The New York Times Company (NYT) has been struggling with its plans for the Boston Globe; last night members of its newspaper guild rejected pay and benefits cuts, putting the paper one step closer to closure. The New York Times Co. threatened to shut down the 137-year-old paper if it doesn't find $20 million in annual savings. Monday, reporters and editors at Boston's paper of records voted to narrowly reject $10 million in concessions in the form of a 8.3 percent wage cut plus cuts to health care and retirement benefits. But what's coming now will be worse. The Times Co. now plans to impose a 23 percent pay cut.

The media, including myself, has been buzzing about the ongoing doom and gloom for the advertising industry as automakers continue to pull back their marketing spend. But now we're hearing about some green shoots (if you will) for auto ads.

Sanfrord C. Bernstein's Michael Nathanson turned heads when he upgraded estimates and stock price targets for media stocks Disney (DIS), News Corp (NWS), and CBS (CBS). Nathanson is flat-out bullish, despite the fact that GM (GMGMQ.PK) cut its number of brands in half, could reduce auto advertising by $1.3 billion, 9 percent, next year.

The doors to E3 on the floor of the Los Angeles convention center just opened and the video game giants are trying to one-up each other and attract consumer dollars.

The themes are motion sensor, portability, and convergence. The console makers, Microsoft's (MSFT) XBox 360, Sony (SNE) PlayStation, and Nintendo (NTDOY.PK), are all looking to serve hard-core gamers with complex controllers and shoot-em-up games while also expanding to a broader demographic of casual gamers. Motion control sensors, popularized by the Nintendo Wii, is now a must have. Meanwhile video game makers Electronic Arts (ERTS), Activision (ATVI), Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) and THQ (THQI), are are competing to generate high-quality graphics and varied virtual environments.