BUSINESS BRIEFS
NBC shows on Zune Marketplace
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Microsoft Corp. said late yesterday it will sell TV shows, including popular NBC series, on the Zune Marketplace, a move that brings its selection of content for the digital media player a step closer to what Apple Inc.'s iTunes offers for Apple's much more popular iPod.
Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft said it also planned to send out software updates overnight that add new features to the Zune devices and the PC software used to buy and manage digital content.
Microsoft ventured into downloadable video sales for Zunes last October when it released its second-generation players and software, but the content was limited to music videos.
In a small victory over Apple, Microsoft said the Zune Marketplace will also carry NBC shows including "The Office" and "Heroes."
NBC Universal has said it pulled its shows from iTunes over Apple's unwillingness to set different prices for TV shows.
MERCK CUTTING 1,200 SALES JOBS
TRENTON, N.J. — Merck & Co. said yesterday it is eliminating 1,200 U.S. sales jobs, a move that comes a week after federal regulators' surprise rejection of an experimental cholesterol drug heavily touted by the pharmaceutical company.
The cuts come on top of the elimination of about 8,100 positions under the sweeping restructuring plan announced in December 2005, Merck's so-called Plan to Win.
The new cuts are to be completed by the end of July, with employees of the Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based company being notified by the end of this month.
BANKS TIGHTENING LOAN STANDARDS
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve reported yesterday that more banks are tightening lending standards on home mortgages, other types of consumer loans and business loans in response to a spreading credit crisis.
The Fed said the percentage of banks reporting tighter lending standards was near historic highs for nearly all loan categories.
The survey, conducted in April, found that nearly two-thirds of banks surveyed had tightened lending standards on traditional home mortgages with 15 percent saying those standards had been tightened considerably.
But the survey found that the tougher lending standards extend far beyond home mortgages to other types of consumer debt such as credit cards and home equity lines of credit.
TARGET SELLS SOME CARD RECEIVABLES
MINNEAPOLIS — Target Corp. says it is selling an interest in its credit-card receivables business to JPMorgan Chase for about $3.6 billion.
The Minneapolis-based discount retailer says the interest represents about 47 percent of the principal amount of Target's outstanding receivables.
The deal is expected to close before the end of the month.
PILGRIM'S POSTS 2ND-QUARTER LOSS
DALLAS — Pilgrim's Pride Corp., the nation's largest chicken producer, said yesterday its second-quarter loss widened from a year ago as it paid more for feed and took a restructuring charge.
Pilgrim's Pride also said its U.S. business would probably lose money in the current quarter, and it might be summer 2009 before the company returns to normal operating profit margins.
SHAREHOLDERS OK AFLAC CEO PAY
COLUMBUS, Ga. — Shareholders of health and disability insurer Aflac approved almost $15 million in compensation for Chairman and Chief Executive Dan Amos yesterday in the first stockholder vote on executive pay by a major U.S. company.
Aflac Inc., which sells insurance in the U.S. and Japan, said about 93 percent of the votes approved the 2007 compensation package of the company's top five executives. About 2.5 percent were against it.
The Aflac board voted in February 2007 to give shareholders an advisory "say-on-pay" vote.
