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Apple completes pass for Super bowl highlights

By TIMES WIRES
Published February 1, 2007

For the first time ever, football fans will be able to download video highlights of the Super Bowl, and they will be offered exclusively through Apple Inc.'s online iTunes Store. The National Football League said Tuesday it will make highlights from Sunday's game available for purchase online the following day. The download, in English or Spanish, will cost $1.99 and will be viewable on computers or iPods. A 90-minute video of the NFL's coverage of the Super Bowl will also be sold for $1.99. "It's another way for fans to relive the Super Bowl before they get to the water cooler," said Brian Rolapp, the NFL's vice president for media strategy. Video highlights from the NFL's regular-season and playoff games have been available from the iTunes Store since September.

Nike kicks in bid for German soccer

Nike Inc., taking on Adidas AG in its home market of Germany, may take over as the official uniform supplier to the country's soccer team. The German soccer federation, known as the DFB, received an offer worth $778-million from Nike for an eight-year contract, DFB president Theo Zwanziger said Tuesday in Frankfurt. Adidas' current agreement is worth about one-sixth of that, he said. An accord with Nike would end more than 50 years of cooperation between the DFB and Adidas, which has provided apparel for Germany's three World Cup championship teams and three European Championship winners.

DreamWorks axes British animator

Battered by the box-office failure of Flushed Away, DreamWorks Animation SKG has formally severed ties with its British maker, Aardman Animations. DreamWorks said its fast production pace and aggressive marketing never meshed with Aardman's more European, laid-back approach to moviemaking. "While I will always be a fan and an admirer of Aardman's work, our different business goals no longer support each other," said Jeffrey Katzenberg, chief executive officer of DreamWorks Animation SKG.

XM, Toyota stay on same wavelength

XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., the largest pay-radio provider, won a contract extension from Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. to provide XM receivers as a factory-installed item in Toyota and Lexus models through 2017. Toyota is expected to exceed 1-million factory installations of XM receivers a year by 2010, Washington-based XM said Wednesday. XM and smaller rival Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. use agreements with automakers to boost subscriptions. Each Toyota and Lexus that comes with an XM receiver includes a 90-day trial subscription for the radio service. Subscriptions start at about $13 a month, according to XM's Web site.

[Last modified February 1, 2007, 00:17:39]