Welcome to Media Money

Media is bigger business than ever – tens of billions of dollars of TV ads, movie ticket sales, DVDs, and online ads – and it’s not just the Viacoms and Yahoos that are media companies. Starbucks sells DVDs, Intel (which doesn't sell anything directly to customers) buys primetime commercials to sell its brand – and Procter & Gamble produces stand-alone webisodes and computer games – creating content to compensate for the fact that the 30 second spot has become the least profitable type of advertising.

I grew up in L.A., steeped in the Hollywood world and joined CNBC after six years writing for Fortune Magazine and appearing on CNN. From Los Angeles and New York, every weekday I'll report on everything from studios' first-look deals with producers, to Apple's digital downloads and its contentious relationship with Wal-Mart, to buzz about what company could be the next YouTube.

A couple major conflicts dominate the biz-- the battle between hardware (the new high definition DVDs) and digital downloads. The death of the studio system as studios transition from producing big budget films to a lower-overhead, distribution-based business model. There's the fight for movie theaters to stay competitive with ever-increasing flat-screen TVs. And then there's the question of who's creating content and who's getting paid for it—Hollywood or everyday Joes.

You can find me on CNBC every day – starting on ‘Squawk on the Street’, through ‘On the Money’ – and my segments will also be posted here. Please e-mail me – let me know what stories you're interested in hearing more about, and of course I always welcome a media scoop!

Questions? Comments? MediaMoney@cnbc.com