Microsoft Embedded In Hollywood

The potential breakup of Microsoft Corp., which a federal judge ruled a monopoly Friday, could have significant ramifications for the entertainment industry. Not only does the entertainment industry rely in large measure on the same Windows operating system and Internet Explorer Web browser that dominate the consumer and business worlds, but in the past four years Microsoft has made numerous strategic investments and struck joint ventures and marketing partnerships with many studios, networks and entertainment companies. Microsoft paid NBC $220 million in late 1995 toward a $400 million joint venture that has resulted in the transformation of NBC's America's Talking network into MSNBC, which is a partnership with Microsoft's MSN Internet service. In 1997, Microsoft invested $1 billion in cable and telecommunications company Comcast Corp. in hopes of accelerating upgrades to digital cable lines that would allow faster access to the Internet through cable modems and set-top boxes equipped with Microsoft software. Tele-Communications Inc. agreed in mid-1998 to include Microsoft's Windows CE operating system in 5 million of the company's digital set-top boxes. Through its stake in Comcast, Microsoft has an interest in cable modem service Excite@Home. Microsoft also bought television-based Internet service WebTV for $425 million in 1997, running it as a separate unit. Source: The Hollywood Reporter