Tv Guide Inc

Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. withdrew its petition to federal regulators asking that its on-screen program guide be carried on AOL Time Warner Inc.'s cable systems. Time Warner Cable temporarily stripped out the guide beginning in March 2000. Gemstar petitioned the FCC to force Time Warner to stop blocking the guide, which allows viewers to see descriptions and other information about upcoming television shows and movies. The agency has been reviewing the request for more than a year.

Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc., the provider of interactive program listings that is being bought by Macrovision Corp., reported a fourth-quarter loss compared with a year earlier, when it had a gain from a legal settlement. The net loss was $1.49 million, or break even per share, compared with profit of $31.8 million, or 7 cents, a year earlier, Hollywood-based Gemstar said. Sales rose 7.5% to $155.8 million, missing the $159.2-million estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Shares of Gemstar International Group Ltd., the maker of VCR Plus software that is trying to buy rival TV Guide Inc., rose 14% after it said it has been selected to join the Nasdaq 100 index on Jan. 3. Gemstar, which had $166.5 million in 1999 sales, surged $9.31 to close at $74.94 on Nasdaq. The shares have risen more than fivefold this year. Gemstar is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands but has its headquarters in Pasadena.

After Gemstar International Group shares hit a 52-week intra-day high Thursday, some on Wall Street are speculating that the Pasadena company may be close to striking a deal with America Online. Gemstar makes technology for interactive TV program guides, and it has already attracted the attention of such media heavyweights as Microsoft and NBC. Gemstar's shares rose as high as $80.50 in Nasdaq trading before closing at $78.44, up $3.19 for a 4% gain and a record high close.

The Justice Department has threatened to file a lawsuit against Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. for alleged antitrust violations before the July 2000 merger that created the Pasadena-based company, sources said Thursday. The department is investigating whether Gemstar International Group Limited and TV Guide Inc. violated federal regulations forbidding publicly traded merger partners from certain cooperative activities before they combine, a source close to Gemstar said.

Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc., the largest maker of software for on-screen television program guides, posted a second-quarter loss Monday on costs related to its $14.9-billion purchase of TV Guide Inc. The loss was $134.8 million, or 33 cents a share. A year earlier, net income was $28.9 million, or 12 cents, the company said. Sales surged more than fivefold to $334.2 million from $63.2 million.

Former Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. Chief Executive Henry Yuen may face jail time after a judge said a plea deal with prosecutors in a case over document destruction wasn't a sufficient punishment. U.S. District Judge John Walter at a hearing in Los Angeles tentatively rejected a proposed sentence of six months home detention, a $1-million donation to charities for fraud victims and a $250,000 fine that Yuen and federal prosecutors had agreed on for his guilty plea.

Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. named a key executive from its largest shareholder as it tries to counter a wave of bad news that has cut its stock price in half. Gemstar, a maker of television program guides, named Jeff Shell co-president and chief operating officer. Shell previously served as president and chief executive of News Corp.'s Fox Cable Networks Group. News Corp. holds a 42.6% stake in Gemstar.

Barnes & Noble Inc. said its first-quarter net loss widened as it took a $14.9-million write-down for its investment in Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc., whose shares tumbled 75% last year. The largest U.S. bookstore chain raised its annual profit forecast because of surging video game sales at its 60%-owned GameStop Corp. video game chain. The loss widened to $16.3 million, or 25 cents a share, from $11.5 million, or 18 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 12% to $1.13billion.