Warner Home Video may have found a solution to the format war between the Sony-developed Blu-ray and Toshiba's HD DVD high-definition video discs: a hybrid disc that it is calling Total HD. Today's (Thursday) New York Times reported that the one-disc-fits-all development will be announced by Warner Bros. Chairman and CEO Barry Meyer at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, which opens on Monday. In an interview with the Times, Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Group, described the new disc as an elegant way for studios to make their content available more widely "in a way that is not conceding defeat" for whichever format they have been backing. Initially, the Times observed, the new disc would add a fourth DVD version of every available movie or TV show, but Warner is seeking to find a method for incorporating the standard DVD format on Total HD, thereby combining all formats on a single disc. Meanwhile, South Korea's LG Electronics, said on Wednesday that it plans to unveil a player capable of playing either Blu-ray or HD DVD discs at the CES. The company provided no further details other than that the players will become available during the first quarter of this year.

Analysts were attributing a fourth-quarter surge in the number of subscribers to Blockbuster's online rental service to its new Total Access program that encourages customers to return their DVDs to the rental company's brick-and-mortar stores, where they can receive free rental coupons for doing so. The company said Wednesday that it now has 2.2 million online customers, 500,000 of whom joined up in the fourth quarter, representing a jump of more than 29 percent in the quarter. Rival NetFlix remains the undisputed leader in online DVD rentals, with about 6 million subscribers. Blockbuster shares on Wednesday umped 6.6 percent on the news to $5.64.

News Corp's Fox Filmed Entertainment unit boasted on Wednesday that it had set an industry record by grossing $3.56 billion in ticket sales last year, thanks largely to such hits as Borat: Cultural Learnings to Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, Ice Age: The Meltdown, and X-Men: The Last Stand. Once again demonstrating the strength of computer-animated features, the Ice Age sequel turned out to be the company's biggest earner of the year, raking in $456 million worldwide. FFE, whose largest division is the 20th Century Fox film studio, ended the year strongly as its Night at the Museum produced $127 million at the domestic box office in only the final two weeks of the year.

Representing a big boost to the relatively young Endeavor talent agency, Robert Newman, head of rival ICM's motion picture group, said Wednesday that he and Matt Solo, former head of ICM's television literary department, will join Endeavor as partners in the agency. Their departure comes as ICM continues to adjust to the turmoil inherent in installing a new regime, the Los Angeles Times, which, along with the New York Times reported the defection, commented today (Thursday). It was unclear which of their clients would also jump ship to Endeavor. Newman's included directors Robert Rodriguez, Baz Luhrmann, Guillermo Del Toro and Mike Figgis. He expressed confidence that they would join him. Solo's had included House creator David Shore, Grey's Anatomy co-executive producer Mark Wilding, and The Shield creator Shawn Ryan. Newman told the New York Times that leaving ICM after 17 years was "the hardest decision I've made in my life. ... They gave me my start in the business. I'm honored to be asked to join Endeavor, and do that with confidence that they have the greatest resources and opportunities."

During a holiday week loaded with so many reruns that it looked like a week in summer, live game shows, football, and the Kennedy Center Honors rose to top positions in the weekly Nielsen ratings. Indeed, the top-rated show of the week was NBC's Deal or No Deal on Monday night, which scored a 9.0 rating and a 17 share. The four major networks, however, averaged a 5.0 rating for the week, down from an average 7.3 for the season.

The top ten shows of the week according to Nielsen Research: 1. Deal or No Deal (Monday), NBC, 9.0/17; 2. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS, 8.9/15; 3. Sunday Night Football, NBC, 7.9/15; 4. NCIS, CBS, 7.2/12; 5. CSI: NY, CBS, 6.9/12; 6. NFL Sunday Overrun, Fox, 6.8/13; 7. 1 Vs 100 (Monday), NBC, 6.7/13; 8. Criminal Minds, CBS, 6.5/11; 8. Shark, CBS, 6.5/11; 10. Criminal Minds (Thursday), CBS, 6.4/11; 10. Kennedy Center Honors, CBS, 6.4/11.

A former -- and possibly disgruntled -- publicist for Fox News has been identified as the source of rumors that Brit Hume, the channel's managing editor in Washington, has been having an extramarital affair with Megyn Kendall, a general-assignment correspondent for the news network. The online Radar magazine was able to identify the rumormonger as Paul Schur by matching the IP address of his computer to the IP address used to spread the rumor, which has been denied repeatedly by both Hume and Kendall. In a report appearing Wednesday, Radar quoted a Fox spokesperson as saying, "If it's true, it's unfortunate [Schur] has resorted to this." The magazine quoted insiders as describing Schur's recent departure as abrupt and unexplained, indicating, it said, "that he may have been trying to exact vengeance on his former employer." Schur has declined to comment on the matter.

The Baghdad offices of a satellite network broadcasting to Iraq from headquarters in Dubai have been officially shut down by the Iraqi government after a newscaster reporting on the execution of Saddam Hussein wore black mourning clothes and referred to him as "president." Official news reports had called him "the tyrant" or "the criminal." The network, Al Sharqiya, had already abandoned the offices two months earlier as its personnel came under attack, presumably from Shiite militiamen. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry accused Al Sharqiya of broadcasting false news and inciting sectarian violence. There was no interruption of the channel's programming, which has included protests of the execution by Iraqis who have fled the country. In an interview with today's (Thursday) Daily Variety, Saad Bazzaz, the owner of Al Sharqiya, said that it was "still on the air. Nothing has changed. ... We do not belong to that group of channels that represent a particular sect or political party. ... In Al Sharqiya, there are no Shias or Sunnis. There are only Iraqis." Bazzaz had been Saddam's broadcasting chief until he fled the country in 1992. Meanwhile, two guards and an unidentified official were arrested and questioned Wednesday in connection with the release of an unauthorized video of the execution that included a shouting exchange between Saddam and observers moments before he was hanged. National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie told the Associated Press that the guard force had been infiltrated by an Arab TV station.

National Public Radio is planning to add video to its morning news programming, Broadcasting & Cable magazine reported Wednesday. The trade publication said that in March, the public radio network will enhance its Morning Edition program with what it has called "NPR Rough Cuts," video that will allow listeners to comment on the program using their video cell phones. Additional video content will be unveiled later in the year, NPR spokeswoman Andi Sporkin told B&C.

Fox's once high-flying The O.C. has been canceled after being trampled in its Thursday-night time slot by two of the top-rated shows on television. The number of viewers tuning into the Fox teenage drama dropped from 5.7 million viewers last season to just 4.1 million this year, where it has competed against ABC's Grey's Anatomy and CBS's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. In an interview with TV Guide Online, creator/executive producer Josh Schwartz commented that having to vie against those shows represented "an impossible task" but maintained that the scripts this year were the strongest yet. He indicated that the series finale has long been in the works. "It's going to be a really satisfying ending for people who have been with the show for four years," he said.