Blockbuster will attempt to do what the major studios could not: make downloading movies appealing to consumers. On Wednesday the video-rental company announced that it had bought the online movie service Movielink, which was originally launched in 2002 by five studios: MGM, Paramount, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros. with the hope that it would become an attractive alternative to pirate websites. But the service never appeared to fulfill its founders' expectations -- largely due, it was said, to prices that corresponded to those for DVDs (although many "extras" were missing) the slow downloading time, the inability to burn the movies to discs, and the difficulty of showing the downloaded films on TV sets. Although the five studios reportedly poured more than $100 million into the service, the Wall Street Journal said today that Blockbuster paid less than $20 million for it. Several analysts suggested that the figure may have been much less than that amount.

BitTorrent, the controversial video distribution company that has often been linked to Internet piracy, plans to inroduce a new service next month that will allow consumers to watch movies and TV shows legally as streaming videos -- but they'll have to watch commercials first. The San Jose Mercury News noted that the service could "point to a potential revolution in how consumers access television and movies." Unlike other movie-download services, the BitTorrent service will not require consumers to wait hours for movies to be downloaded. They'll be able to watch them much like the way they watch movies on TV -- and without paying for them. Moreover, the Mercury News suggested, such services could eventually replace traditional television.

It may be an indication of how far high-definition DVDs have come or how low sales of VHS tapes have fallen, but reports said Wednesday that during the first six months of the year, people for the first time bought more movies on hi-def DVD than they did on VHS tape. Word of the landmark achievement for the Blu-ray and HD DVD formats came on the same day that Warner Bros. announced that its hi-def release of 300 set a new sales record for high-definition releases as it sold 250,000 copies in its first week in release.

In yet another lawsuit challenging Hollywood's accounting practices, Tom Hanks, his wife Rita Wilson, and writer-actress Nia Vardalos have sued Gold Circle Films, claiming the company has cheated them of millions of dollars. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles on Wednesday claims that their film, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, has grossed about $370 million, while the studio has indicated its gross receipts total $287 million. Gold Circle Films principal Scott Niemeyer responded: "Gold Circle has fully complied with its contractual obligations and has already paid plaintiffs a combined total of over $44 million in profits. Gold Circle has never thwarted the producers' audit rights."

Mel Shavelson, a prolific radio, TV, and movie writer, and a director and producer of many of the films he wrote, died Wednesday in Los Angeles of natural causes at age 90. He received Oscar nominations for best screenplay in 1956 for The Seven Little Foys, which starred Bob Hope as vaudevillian Eddie Foy, and two years later for Houseboat, which starred Cary Grant and Sophia Loren. His autobiography, published on his 90th birthday on April 1, was titled How to Succeed in Hollywood Without Really Trying, P.S. -- You Can't.

Given the Wall Street Journal's contractual obligation to CNBC until 2012, it may be unlikely that the newspaper will be able to contribute much -- if any -- content to the Fox Business Network, due to launch in October. But Rupert Murdoch, who called the deal with CNBC an "obstacle," indicated that it might not prevent the Journal from bolstering News Corp's satellite operations overseas. In a conference call with reporters and analysts Wednesday, Murdoch suggested that the Wall Street Journal may provide reports for Sky News in the U.K., Sky Italia in Italy, and Star TV in Asia. Moreover, he noted the deal with CNBC covered only business news, freeing the Journal, and its corporate sibling, Dow Jones News Service, to provide nonbusiness news to is U.S. news outlets.

Fox News anchor Shepard Smith has told TV Guide that his The Fox Report will begin presenting less trivia and more hard news. "We've already given up the 'coming up' teasing that we were known for," Smith said. "We did that because viewers said that's what they wanted. Viewers have said, 'Stop telling me for 45 seconds what you're going to do in the next four minutes.'" Although Smith insisted that he would not "make apologies for the way we've done it in the past," he said, "We're not going to do more crap. We're not going to do more titilating [stories], Hollywood movie reviews and jokes. ... There are other places that do that better than we do." Meanwhile, News Corp said Wednesday that Fox News Channel saw a 41-percent growth in operating income during its fourth quarter. In its SEC filing, News Corp said, "FNC's viewership was over 75% higher than its nearest competitor in primetime and nearly 60% higher on a 24-hour basis."

Former ABC newsman John Miller, who currently is the assistant director of the FBI's Office of Public Affairs, and Imagine Entertainment's Brian Grazer have struck a deal that will see Imagine producing a series based on actual FBI cases, the Washington Post reported today (Thursday). Miller told the newspaper that while the FBI has often consulted with movie and TV producers about projects that they developed, "What we were seeking to do was reverse-engineer the process. ... We were looking for what in effect is a custom job." Miller said that he had met with other producers before connecting with Grazer. "They'd respond that they had this idea for a show about an FBI agent who can fly and 'Can you help us with that?'" The new series will be called, The FBI.

CBS's new Drew Carey-hosted game show Power of 10, which attracted 9.23 million viewers (6.9 rating/12 share) when it was unveiled on Tuesday, moved into its regular Wednesday-night timeslot at 8:00, drawing 7.83 million (5.8/11), edging out Fox's So You Think You Can Dance, which drew 7.63 million (5.4/10). At 10:00 p.m. the back-by-popular-demand The Nine added up to its numbers as it drew a 1 rating and an 8 share, representing just 1.9 million viewers. Most younger viewers, however, tuned in to Dance, which out-powered Power handily in the 18-49-year-old demo.

British television, which has been accused by broadcast regulators of airing false and misleading contests and documentaries in recent months, has become embroiled in yet another controversy after police in West Midlands accused the Channel 4 network of twisting footage to make it appear that Saudi-trained clerics in England were drumming up support for terrorism. The footage, which aired on Channel 4's Dispatches program under the title "Undercover Mosque," had drawn protests from Britain's Muslim community, said to number 1.7 million. Reuters quoted prosecutors as saying that the footage had been "heavily edited" and that speeches were presented "out of context." Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Bethan David said in a statement, "The splicing together of extracts from longer speeches appears to have completely distorted what the speakers were saying." Channel 4 stood by the documentary.

Saying that it intends to take "a flexible stance in its TV business," Matsushita Electrice Industrial Co., which sells consumer electronics items in the U.S. under the Panasonic brand, announced today (Thursday) that it will begin manufacturing LCD TV sets. Until now, the company has manufactured only plasma models. Matsushita said that its first LCD high-definition edition, a 37-inch set retailing for about $2,500, will initially go on sale in Japan in September. It also plans to introduce a 42-inch and a 65-inch plasma model.