DOW JONES- $13,328.85

S&P 500- $1,428.59

NASDQ- $3044.11

The Walt Disney Co.- $50.59

News Corporation- $24.58

Time Warner Inc.- $45.06

This week in the industry of entertainment diversified, according to Bloomberg, Providence Equity Partners Inc. sold its ten percent stake in Hulu.com back to the company for $200 million. This deal is said to value the video service at around $2 billion. Hulu is borrowing the money to fund the repurchase. Hulus’ Chief Executive Officer will receive about $40 million from this deal. As a result of this deal, it is said that employees of Hulu will be able to sell shares. Providence had invested $100 million in Hulu when the venture began in 2007. Disney, News Corp. and Comcast’s NBC Universal each held roughly equal stakes, while employees owned about ten percent.

I am not exactly sure how this deal will affect stock prices, however the stock prices of those companies that have stakes in Hulu, such as Disney and News Corp., have dropped significantly, whether it is a direct result of this deal taking place or not I cannot be sure but it may very well have affected them.

In other news from the industry London’s Sunday Times said it may take legal action against cyclist Lance Armstrong. This legal action could include pursuing him for alleged fraud over a liberal settlement, in the wake of the report labeling him a drug cheat. The newspaper is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. Armstrong  sued the Sunday times and two of its journalists over an article that appeared in the paper in 2004 that concerned the doping allegations. A senior source at the newspaper said that the case cost them about $1 million dollars. In August, Armstrong said he would no longer contest charges brought by the anti-doping agency.

Now that Armstrong is no longer contesting these charges, those that have endorsed him and supported him in any way may very well suffer from the huge fall of this once praised athlete.