Shares in N.Y. game publisher Take-Two Interactive were up Wed. after company reported strong results for its 3rd quarter and its executives told analysts in conference call they were upbeat about future. At same time, Take-Two revealed that it was acquiring Westlake Village, Cal., competitor TDK Mediactive (TDKM) for $22.7 million in move that Take-Two CEO Jeff Lapin said would “complement our portfolio of proprietary brands and will provide an excellent platform for Take-Two to further expand and diversify its product offerings.” TDKM boasts large line of mass market and children’s games such as Shrek franchise based on hit animated movie -- categories that Take-Two hasn’t been strongest on. In late afternoon trading, Take-Two shares were up $6.12 (20.57%) at $35.87.

Sen. Schumer (D-N.Y.) criticized the lack of emergency plans by most cellphone companies during the recent blackout and urged FCC Chmn. Powell in a letter to encourage broader adoption of wireless priority access. Schumer said only one wireless carrier, T-Mobile, had a wireless plan in place and said T-Mobile was one of the smaller carriers in N.Y. “I am especially concerned by reports I have received that police, firefighters and other first-responder personnel were not able to place telephone calls,” Schumer wrote. He laid out a 3-part plan to improve priority service: (1) Imposing a mandatory requirement that wireless providers participate in the wireless priority access system. (2) Increasing the volume capacity for wireless phone systems. Schumer said cellphone services should be able to handle more than 25% of their customers at one time, especially since dramatic rises in cellphone usage were projected for the future. (3) Increasing the power supply backup for cellphone towers. Transmitters lost battery power as the blackout wore on and Schumer said service providers should keep more battery backups and have more portable generators. “Over the years, traditional telephone landlines and most other utilities have developed so-called ‘redundancies’ -- if one power system fails, there is a backup to keep people safe,” Schumer said. “The wireless industry just isn’t there yet, and it needs to catch up quick.” In a letter to the N.Y. Times, CTIA Pres. Thomas Wheeler said there was a “monumental spike in traffic” during the blackout, but preliminary reports showed wireless systems performed well despite the circumstances. “This was an outage of monumental proportions and the degree to which all communications providers worked to maintain service while the power was restored is to be commended, not regulated,” Wheeler said.

Both sides claimed victory Mon. in a Cal. Supreme Court decision holding that a preliminary injunction issued against a Web site operator for posting DVD decryption information didn’t violate federal or state free speech laws.

The Cal. PUC’s preliminary work to prepare for addressing Triennial Review issues the FCC is expected to refer to the states has pointed up a potential area of conflict between the FCC order and Cal. state law. The potential trouble concerns line sharing. Cal. law supports line sharing and gives the PUC authority over it and doesn’t allow the agency to invalidate a state statute because it’s inconsistent with federal law. The Triennial Review order is expected to sharply limit states’ authority over line sharing. The PUC in Jan. set a zero monthly interim rate for the unbundled high-frequency portion of local loops for SBC and Verizon, citing state Sec. 709.7 as mandating a state policy to promote line sharing as a competitive vehicle. The PUC has a proceeding pending on setting permanent rates and policies for line sharing. It asked all parties to respond within 30 days of the Triennial Review order’s release on how the FCC order would affect the state line-sharing proceeding. The agency wants parties to address whether state policies ensuring competitive access to shared lines were inconsistent with or would thwart requirements of the Telecom Act.

Ad spending rose 2.8% in the first half of 2003 over the same time period last year, increasing in 6 of the 11 reported media by 2%-19%, preliminary figures by Nielsen Monitor-Plus showed. Research found that Hispanic TV experienced the greatest ad growth with 19%, while magazines grew almost 14% and local newspaper ad spending almost 10%. Syndicated TV, network TV, cable TV and national newspapers all dropped 4%, with network radio down only 1.4%, the study said -- www.nielsenmedia.com/newsreleases/2003/.

AT&T expanded its accusations against MCI/WorldCom in a court filing Wed., saying it had routed Defense Dept., Army and Navy calls through Canada, creating a security risk. The accusation, in an objection AT&T filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, N.Y., disagreed with MCI/WorldCom’s statement (CD Aug 5 p1) that there wasn’t any access charge fraud as alleged by AT&T in an earlier objection (CD July 29 p1).

An internal review of MCI/WorldCom’s access charge practices shows the company is complying with legal and regulatory requirements, it told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez, N.Y., in a report filed Mon. The report was in response to AT&T’s July 28 filing with the court that outlined concerns about the fraud charges and asked the court to make changes in MCI’s reorganization plan to assure AT&T could file racketeering and fraud charges against MCI/WorldCom.

Shares in Midway Games tumbled more than 30% Wed. after Chicago videogame publisher reported disappointing results in its 2nd quarter ended June 30 and significantly reduced its fiscal year earnings forecast. In late afternoon trading, shares were down $1.02 (30.09%) at $2.37. CEO David Zucker told analysts in conference call that slashed earnings estimate was caused by company’s decision to delay certain key game releases from this fall until next year as part of major effort to boost quality of its products. Zucker replaced Neil Nicastro at Midway’s helm one week before E3 Expo in May (CED May 8 p6).

Acclaim Entertainment said Mon. it received notice from Nasdaq indicating it was granted 180-day extension -- until Jan. 20 -- within which to regain compliance with minimum $1 bid price per share requirement of Nasdaq SmallCap Market. But Acclaim said it was told that if it hadn’t demonstrated compliance with Marketplace Rule 4310 by Jan. 20, Nasdaq would determine whether it met initial listing criteria under rule. If company meets initial listing criteria, Nasdaq will notify it that it has additional 90 days in which to demonstrate compliance, Acclaim said. Acclaim would have right to appeal determination to Nasdaq Listing Qualification Panel but it admitted that “there can be no assurance that the company will regain compliance.” As company’s future on Nasdaq remains up in air, it continues to fight off lawsuits. It also faces SEC probe into revenue reporting of Acclaim and certain other game publishers (CED July 22 p4). Acclaim, meanwhile, continues to seek funding for its operations because of lack of capital and shortage of cash. One possible solution to latter problem, Acclaim said in preliminary proxy SEC filing earlier this month, would be sale of more stock and other securities -- issue that’s scheduled to be voted on at annual stockholders meeting Sept. 5 (CED July 23 p8). Same SEC filing revealed, among other things, that co-founder Gregory Fischbach would continue to receive former annual base salary of $775,000 until Aug. 2005 despite fact he stepped down as company’s CEO in June and held only his role as co-chmn.

Struggling game publisher Acclaim Entertainment is looking to sell more stock and other securities to help fund its operations, Glen Cove, N.Y., company said in preliminary proxy SEC filing Tues. Acclaim’s auditor, KPMG, said in publisher’s annual 2003 fiscal report earlier this year that it questioned Acclaim’s ability to continue as going concern because of lack of capital and shortage of cash (CED May 22 p4). Acclaim said in SEC filing Tues. that its annual stockholders meeting will be held Sept. 5 at Wyndham Windwatch Hotel in Hauppauge, N.Y. There, stockholders will be asked to vote on proposal to issue as many as 30 million shares of Acclaim stock or other securities over course of 6 months that follow meeting. Stockholders will also be asked to elect 7 directors and ratify appointment of KPMG as its auditor for next fiscal year. Acclaim also said in filing that it agreed to 2-year contract extensions with co-chmn. Gregory Fischbach and James Scoroposki through Aug. 2005 for $775,000 and $500,000 salaries and bonuses of 3.25% and 2.75% of company’s annual pretax profit, respectively. Filing said Fischbach and Scoroposki received $452,083 and $291,667 salaries in 2003. Meanwhile, filing said it entered into new employment deal with CFO-Exec. Vp Gerard Agoglia providing for him to remain in current positions until June 2006 (but to be renewed annually without written notice) providing him with annual base salary of $371,000 and bonuses of up to 100% of his then base salary subject to achievement of goals established by company. He received $216,417 salary in 2003, filing said. CEO Rodney Cousens received $410,121 salary in 2003 and $800,000 bonus, filing also showed. Acclaim also said it forgave loan to former pres. Edmond Sanctis and agreed to continue his salary for one year. Hours after filing was made, company announced that it named Paul Eibeler, ex-Take-Two Interactive pres., pres.-COO of Acclaim N. America. Cousens said: “We have gone to great lengths to implement new systems to improve the way we design our products, manage our operating expenses and stabilize the organization so that it can attain a stronger position in the marketplace. An important part of this process includes strengthening our senior management team and we are very pleased to have Paul join us and lend his leadership skills and industry- wide credibility to help expedite our improved performance and success.” As Acclaim continues to face class-action lawsuit alleging SEC violations among other things (multiple suits were recently combined into one complaint), company acknowledged late last week that SEC had targeted it and certain competitors as part of videogame industry probe (CED July 22 p4).