Distribution Deal

Endocare Inc. signed an eight-year agreement with Boston Scientific Corp., which will distribute Endocare's Cryocare surgical system for the treatment of prostate disease. Financial terms were not disclosed. Cryosurgery is an alternative surgical method to freeze and destroy targeted tissues through a minimally invasive procedure. Endocare develops, manufactures and markets medical devices used in the treatment of prostate diseases.

After eight years of legal battle with the entertainment industry, Kaleidescape has found a friend in Hollywood. Starting Tuesday, the manufacturer of high-end media servers will sell movies and television shows from Warner Bros., a first-of-its-kind deal for the company. Previously, the Kaleidescape system has only let users watch movies that they copy off a DVD or Blu-ray disc. That function landed the Sunnyvale, Calif., company in trouble when the DVD Copy Control Assn., a consortium of studios and electronics companies that manages the anti-piracy technology on movie discs, sued Kaleidescape in 2004.

DirecTV subscribers may lose popular channels owned by Viacom Inc., including MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, as early as Wednesday if the two companies are unable to come to terms on a new distribution deal. Viacom said on its website that its current contract with DirecTV expires at midnight Tuesday and no agreement is near. "Despite our best efforts, DirecTV has rejected all of our proposals to renew our agreement," Viacom said, adding that the latest offer from the satellite broadcaster is for a lower rate than Viacom said it gets from any other distributor in the industry.

Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal is wrapping up a new distribution deal with satellite broadcaster DirecTV, people close to the talks said. For NBCUniversal, parent of broadcast networks NBC and Telemundo as well as cable channels CNBC, Bravo, USA and MSNBC, among others, the agreement is the latest in a slew of new distribution contracts with the nation's largest pay-TV providers. Earlier this month, NBCUniversal reached a similar accord with Cablevision Systems Corp., the New York-based cable operator that has over 3 million subscribers.

Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks studio finalized a distribution deal with Walt Disney Co. on Monday after winning key financial commitments that it had failed to extract from its presumed partner, Universal Pictures. Under the deal, Disney will put up hundreds of millions of dollars for film print and advertising costs and will share its valuable pay television slots with DreamWorks.

Universal Records has signed a distribution deal with Blackground Enterprises, which releases music by R&B acts such as Timbaland & Magoo and Aaliyah, the 22-year-old star who died in a plane crash in August. The move follows the departure of Blackground from Virgin Records America, a division of struggling British music conglomerate EMI Group. Virgin severed ties with Blackground barely a year after striking an estimated $15-million joint-venture deal with the firm.

Computer monitor maker Hansol Multitech Inc. said it has signed an agreement with Ingram Micro Inc. for the immediate distribution of its full line of color monitors. Terms of the agreement weren't divulged. The deal gives Hansol access to a wide market because Santa Ana-based Ingram Micro is the world's largest wholesale distributor of technology products and services.

Pinnacle Micro Inc., a maker of optical data storage systems, entered a distribution agreement with MicroAge, an Arizona company that markets and distributes high-technology products. Later this week, MicroAge will begin distributing Pinnacle's recordable CD system worldwide, along with its 3.5-inch and 5.25-inch CD products. The 8-year-old Pinnacle creates systems for data-intensive computer applications, such as network storage, imaging and desktop publishing.

Interscope Records has struck a domestic distribution agreement with the 3-year-old Almo Sounds label, supplanting Almo's former deal with Geffen Records. Interscope is half-owned by Seagram's Universal Music Group; Geffen Records is fully owned by Universal. Almo will integrate its marketing and promotional operations with Interscope, but will also add a regional promotions department and publicist in-house.

There's a thaw in the century-old fight between Anheuser-Busch Cos. and Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar. The companies announced a joint distribution deal Monday even as they vowed to continue their international legal fight over the Budweiser trademark. St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch said it agreed to distribute Budvar's Czechvar Premium Czech Lager, which is currently sold in 30 states.

Cablevision Systems Corp. has signed a long-term distribution deal to carry broadcast and cable networks owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal unit. The agreement includes broadcast networks NBC and Telemundo as well as cable channels USA, Bravo, MSNBC, CNBC and NBC Sports Network. Cablevision has more than 3 million subscribers, primarily in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The NBCUniversal accord is Cablevision's third in recent months with a major content supplier. It has also signed agreements with CBS and Walt Disney Co. All the deals were reached without customers losing any signals, which often happens during these negotiations, including when Cablevision and News Corp.

It's a big day for the over-50 crowd. RLTV, a cable network that caters to older viewers with a mix of news, talk and reality fare, landed a major distribution deal that will substantially boost the tiny channel's distribution. Currently available in just 15 million homes, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks are adding RLTV to its digital service starting in December. The new deals should increase the number of homes that can get RLTV to 25 million. "This is a significant milestone," said RLTV President Paul Fitzpatrick.

Google is ready for some "Monday Night Football. " Walt Disney Co. has struck a distribution deal with Google Fiber to add its cable networks, including ESPN, ABC Family and Disney Channel, to the new broadband pay-TV service the search-engine giant is launching in the Midwest. For Google, getting the Disney properties will be key to competing against Time Warner Cable and satellite broadcasters DirecTV and Dish. Google Fiber is being unveiled in Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan. In both cities, Time Warner Cable is the major multichannel video program distributor.

TELLURIDE, Colo. - Keller Doss, a retired oil industry lawyer, is a Telluride Film Festival stalwart. The Texas movie buff first came on a lark two decades ago, camping in a park in this mountain resort town. He's been 19 out of the last 20 years and attends the screenings with a couple he befriended on his very first stay. Because organizers don't announce the lineup until the eve of the festival, Doss has to buy his tickets on faith. But he doesn't mind. "I just trust these guys to put on films that I'm going to like," said Doss, 61, who lives in the small West Texas town of Marfa, which he said "is about 400 miles away" from the nearest art house cinema, in Austin.

Time Warner Cable found an unusual way to land programming for its regional sports channel in Southern California. College football and basketball games from San Diego State, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and Fresno State will appear Time Warner Cable SportsNet, which launches in October and is already home to the Lakers and the Galaxy. To get the rights, Time Warner Cable had to do a little wheeling and dealing with CBS. According to people familiar with the matter, CBS Sports Network, a cable channel that focuses primarily on college sports, agreed to swap the rights to the games in return for greater distribution on Time Warner Cable systems.

SpongeBob SquarePants is getting the life squeezed out of him. Ratings have plummeted more than 20% at Nickelodeon, home of "SpongeBob SquarePants," "iCarly" "Dora the Explorer" and other popular shows, in the week after satellite broadcaster DirecTV stopped carrying the kids' channel. Other Viacom Inc.-owned networks, including MTV, Comedy Central and VH1, have also seen their ratings fall since disappearing from the homes of about 20 million DirecTV subscribers. The two companies have been arguing over terms for a new distribution deal.

DirecTV subscribers may lose popular channels owned by Viacom Inc., including MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, as early as Wednesday if the two companies are unable to come to terms on a new distribution deal. Viacom said on its website that its current contract with DirecTV expires at midnight Tuesday and no agreement is near. "Despite our best efforts, DirecTV has rejected all of our proposals to renew our agreement," Viacom said, adding that the latest offer from the satellite broadcaster is for a lower rate than Viacom said it gets from any other distributor in the industry.