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Warner Bros. picks Blu-ray over HD DVD

By Times staff and wires
Published January 5, 2008

LOS ANGELES - Warner Bros. Entertainment said Friday it will release movie discs only in the Blu-ray format, becoming the latest studio to reject the rival HD DVD technology and further complicating the high-definition landscape for consumers. Warner Bros., owned by Time Warner Inc., was the only remaining studio releasing high-definition DVDs in both formats. It is the fifth studio to back Blu-ray, developed by Sony Corp. Only two support the HD DVD format, developed by Toshiba Corp.

Chapter 11 filings grew 24% in 2007
OKLAHOMA CITY - U.S. company bankruptcy filings to reorganize or liquidate in Chapter 11 increased 24 percent last year compared with 2006, according to statistics compiled from court records by Jupiter eSources LLC. All types of bankruptcy filings rose 40 percent in 2007, including petitions by individuals to liquidate assets or to pay out creditors over several years, according to the survey. Although totals for the year rose, the rate of personal bankruptcy filings declined in December, Jupiter said. The pace of filings last month, 3,658 every day the bankruptcy courts were open, was the fewest since September, according to Jupiter.

Kraft considering firing thousands
NORTHFIELD, Ill. - Kraft Foods Inc., the world's second-largest foodmaker, may eliminate "several thousand jobs" as chief executive Irene Rosenfeld spends cost savings on new products, according to Alexia Howard, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York. The job cuts may push Kraft's restructuring savings above $1 billion by the end of 2008, Howard said. Kraft has 90,000 workers worldwide.

Nothing's sweet about allegations
HARRISBURG, Pa - The Hershey Co. and other candymakers have been sued in New Jersey and Pennsylvania by suppliers and consumers alleging a price-fixing scheme. The three lawsuits were filed in federal courts last month - two in Harrisburg and one in Newark, N.J. - citing recent news reports that authorities in Canada and the U.S. are looking into chocolate industry pricing practices. All three complaints seek class-action status. The filing of such complaints is not unusual even though no charges have been filed, said James McCarthy, an attorney for Michael McNamara, a Michigan consumer who is a plaintiff in one of the Pennsylvania lawsuits.

A Landmark sale could reach here
NORFOLK, Va. - Two Tampa Bay area titles within Landmark Communications' community news subsidiary could be part of any deal involving the privately held media company. Real Estate News Citrus and Real Estate News Hernando/Pasco are owned by Landmark Community Newspapers, one of the entities that Landmark Communications, based in Norfolk, Va., might be looking to sell. Landmark, which owns the Weather Channel and such newspapers as the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., and the News & Record in Greensboro, N.C., said Thursday it hired J.P. Morgan and Lehman Brothers to help it explore strategic alternatives, including the possible sale of businesses.

[Last modified January 4, 2008, 23:15:38]