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Media Money with Julia Boorstin

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  Friday, 24 May 2013 | 3:26 AM ET

Ashton Kutcher: 'Facebook Is the New Religion'

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Getty Images
Ashton Kutcher speaks at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2013

Actor and angel investor Ashton Kutcher says he will invest only in companies that have a mobile component. He made the revelation in an interview I hosted on-stage at the CTIA wireless conference.

Kutcher, who has played lead roles in Hollywood films such as "Dude, Where's My Car?," "Just Married," and "What Happens in Vegas," is a backer of some of the world's hottest start-ups, including Square, Uber, AirBNB, and Spotify.

However, Kutcher criticized mobile platforms like Apple's iOS, Android, and Windows for making it too-hard to discover new apps, holding back the industry's growth. And in a bold move, given his audience, he criticized mobile carriers, saying that they should move beyond their focus on cellular plans.

»Read more
  Wednesday, 22 May 2013 | 1:39 PM ET

CTIA Buzz: Mobile Mags Remade, Only on Nokia Lumia

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Zinio Looks to Transform Mobile Content
CNBC's Julia Boorstin looks at Zinio, a new app that looks to transform mobile content by offering 5,500 magazines to users, with Michelle Bottomley, Zinio president.

At CTIA, the wireless communications convention in Las Vegas, one of the hottest mobile apps isn't new—Zinio's magazine reading app has been around for a dozen years and has 12 million registered users. But a new version, designed exclusively for Nokia's Lumia Windows Phone 8, makes the most of that phone's capabilities and drives more user engagement.

Zinio aims to make the best of magazines available to consumers on the go, by presenting recommendations based on users' interests across 5,500 magazines. Fans of certain titles—from Elle and Shape to Maxim and Harvard Business Review—can pay to download one magazine or subscribe to an individual title.

»Read more
  Wednesday, 22 May 2013 | 11:16 AM ET

Microsoft Unveils New Xbox, Plans Exclusive Games

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Microsoft Introduces Xbox One
Microsoft announced its latest gaming system called Xbox One, reports CNBC's Julia Boorstin.

Microsoft unveiled its long-anticipated next generation Xbox, called the "Xbox One," a device that allows users to switch more easily between entertainment options. The company also said Tuesday it is partnering with game makers to produce 15 exclusive games on the console.

At the tech giant's Redmond, Wash., headquarters, interactive entertainment business president Don Mattrick said the new Xbox aims to be a single device that can provide all the entertainment for a living room, and to simplify an entertainment experience that "has become too complex."

The console is controlled by voice and motion with much more sensitive sensors than the existing Xbox console. The device is personalized so when a user says "Xbox One" and turns on the device, it shows a personalized home screen, to browse games, TV, movies and music.

»Read more
  Monday, 20 May 2013 | 5:07 PM ET

After Tumblr, 8 Potential Takeover Targets

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Gabriel Bouys | AFP | Getty Images

In the wake of Yahoo's announcement on Monday that it's snapping up Tumblr for $1.1 billion, the attention has shifted to other private technology companies that could be next. (A little horn-tooting: After Facebook bought Instagram more than one year ago for $1 billion, I predicted that Tumblr would be the next big acquisition in this new media space.)

»Read more
  Friday, 17 May 2013 | 2:50 PM ET

Facebook's Growth Dependent on User Engagement

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A Peak Into Facebook's Future
Mobile users are driving Facebook's growth but it needs other services to keep users engaged, reports CNBC's Julia Boorstin.

A year after Facebook's initial public offering, the question is: What's the plan for Facebook's future? What does it need to do to remain the dominant social network and to pull its stock price back above where it priced its IPO.

Rupert Murdoch Tweeted Thursday night a warning "Look out Facebook! Hours spent participating per member dropping seriously. First really bad sign as seen by crappy MySpace years ago.."

Facebook said the rumors that it's losing its cool factor for the younger demographic aren't true. In its most recent earnings call, in a response to a question about some studies showing a shift in behavior, the company called younger users its "most engaged and active." But the company acknowledged it's carefully watching the trend. Competition is rising, so investors are wondering what Facebook will do to hold on to its crucial, and often fickle, younger users.

»Read more
  Friday, 17 May 2013 | 1:36 PM ET

Beyond the Big Three: The Who's Who at Facebook

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Who Are Facebook's Emerging Leaders?
In the past few months several new names have come into the spotlight, reports CNBC's Julia Boorstin. And, William Hambrecht, WR Hambrecht + co-founder & CEO, shares his thoughts on the stock's status.

When Facebook went public a year ago, the spotlight was on three principal characters: CEO Mark Zuckerberg, COO Sheryl Sandberg, and CFO David Ebersman.

The three C-suiters were on the public stage throughout the company's road show presentations to potential investors, and literally on stage together as they rang the opening bell the day of its IPO.

Zuckerberg and Sandberg have had a particularly busy year; in addition to running the company Zuckerberg has gotten involved in philanthropy and political action, and Sandberg has been on book tour to promote "Lean In." But as the company grows, so does its bench of high-profile executives.

(Read More: Facebook Shares One Year On—Time to Reconsider?)

»Read more
  Thursday, 9 May 2013 | 5:17 PM ET

Look Out Netflix, Amazon—Here Comes YouTube

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YouTube Launches Subscription Channels
Google's YouTube Channel starts at $0.99 a month, reports CNBC's Julia Boorstin.

YouTube unveiled its subscription services for its YouTube channels, as it looks for a way, beyond advertising, to cash in on the 1 billion users per month that visit its site.

Though YouTube allows content creators to sell individual episodes or movies, this move seems like a dramatic shift as it treats its most popular videos like premium content—a move away from its emphasis on free, ad-supported video.

The pilot program starts Thursday in 10 countries, with 30 partners and 50 channels, ranging from full episodes of Sesame Street to Ultimate Fighting Championship fights.

»Read more
  Wednesday, 8 May 2013 | 7:11 PM ET

News Corp. Profit Beats, Boosted by Cable Strength

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News Corp. shares pushed higher after-hours following better-than expected fiscal third-quarter results. As with other media companies, cable networks are driving the media giant's growth—regional sports networks as well as the National Geographic Channels.

Cable strength offset declines in publishing and education. Ahead of the company's planned split of the media assets from the publishing and education assets this summer, this quarter's results highlights the potential for growth the former holds, and the risks inherent education and publishing.

The company the company expects total operating income for the fiscal year ended in July to grow in the mid to high single-digit percentage range.

»Read more
  Tuesday, 7 May 2013 | 7:03 PM ET

The Big Takeaways From Disney's Earnings

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Patrick Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images

With its stock trading at an all-time high, Disney delivered growth across each of its five divisions, beating Wall Street expectations on both the top and bottom line.

In an exclusive interview with CNBC's "Closing Bell," CEO Bob Iger called it "all in, a great quarter for the company." Showing the strongest gains, parks and resorts revenue grew 14 percent, while operating income grew 73 percent.

"Our parks and resorts had a great quarter that was helped a lot by some of our investments, notably at Disneyland and in Florida, but also our new cruise ships," Iger said.

»Read more
  Tuesday, 7 May 2013 | 4:20 PM ET

Disney CEO: Excellent Quarter Across the Board

CNBC's Julia Boorstin speaks to Disney's CEO Bob Iger discusses what's driving results, and his expectations for the summer season. "We've seen a steadily improving economy," he says. »Read more

About Media Money

Media Money keeps you ahead of the curve in the ever-changing but always exciting media business. From Hollywood to Bollywood, digital explosions to perils in publishing, Julia Boorstin brings you the insight you need to better understand this evolving but ever entertaining industry.
  • Working from Los Angeles, Boorstin is CNBC's media and entertainment reporter and author of CNBC.com's "Media Money" blog.