Sports fans in the US will now have the chance to cheer fours and sixes as much as home runs.

Satellite TV service provider DirecTV Group plans to step off the baseball diamond and onto the pitch by bagging broadcast rights for big-ticket cricket tournaments in 2009.

With an Asian Indian population pushing 3 million in the US, DirecTV is assured of a loyal fan following. Indians are crazy about the game, with the country boasting the largest global cricket audience. Cricketers are feted like pop stars and tote multi-million-dollar sponsorship deals.

DirecTV’s fare includes the one-year old smash hit Indian Premier League (IPL) – which features the shorter Twenty20 version of the game. The money-spinning IPL has caught the imagination of not only fans but also Bollywood superstars and companies who have paid millions of dollars to buy franchisee teams.

In partnership with Willow TV Inc, DirecTV inked multi-year agreements giving it broadcast rights to offer marquee tournaments like the International Cricket Council's  World Cup in 2011 as well as other keenly followed tours and tournaments.

Beginning Feb. 11, U.S. cricket fans can purchase tours at $299.99 for the full season, or at $199.99 for the IPL & ICC World T20 packages, DirecTV said.

The fanfare in the US will start tonight at Times Square in New York with cricket promos running on the Reuters screens in the evening.  

(Writing and reporting by Savio D'Souza)

(Photo: Reuters)

The comic book setting is inauguration day 2009. And it is the president-elect who is the superhero and none other than the irrepressible Spider-Man who's the fan.

"...This is your day, after all, and I know it wouldn't look good to be seen palling around with me," Spider-Man says as he tries to leave Obama to the limelight.

"Hey, not so fast," says the soon-to-be commander-in-chief.

Then comes the confession: I've been a big fan of yours. The conversation ends with a fist bump between the two men.

Obama, in turn, might get the services of Spider-Man as he deals with multiple problems that have landed on his plate: the recession, the Iraq war and the Israel-Palestine conflict.

"The future president's gonna need Spider-Man," the narrator says.

Meanwhile, on the cover page, Spidey is seen trying to broker a deal with Obama: "Hey, if you get to be on my cover, can I be on the dollar bill?"

The issue will hit the stands on Jan. 14 as Marvel joins the long list of newspaper publishers, news stations and gold coin makers hoping to cash in on the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.

(Picture: Marvel Comics)

Keep an eye on:

• US Supreme Court asks for governement's view of an appeal by film studios and TV networks of ruling allowing a new digital video recorder service by Cablevision (Reuters)
• CBS expands carriage deals with Verizon (Reuters) and adds new programs on TV.com (WSJ)
• Time Warner's AOL Web services arm will expand and centralize is digital publishing operations (Reuters)

His comments sent Yahoo's stock up as much as 12 percent before a Microsoft spokesman clarified to say that there were no current discussions between the companies. Furthermore, "Microsoft has no interest in acquiring Yahoo."

So what's the story? It seems the notion of a deal is still simmering in Ballmer's mind, but there is, of course, the overwhelming question of price.

When Microsoft made an offer for Yahoo back in May, it was priced at $33 per share. Yahoo rejected the deal. Now Yahoo's stock is trading at about $13.  That leaves a lot of room for negotiation. Maybe too much room.

Why not take a stab at playing investment banker? What's a fair price for a Microsoft-Yahoo deal now?

(Photo: Courtesy of Gartner)

The movie about a billionaire industrialist turned super hero was the tenth biggest weekend box office performance of all time and the second biggest non-sequel. The expectations had been building up. The stock kept climbing steadily from the start of the year to hit a 52-week high on Friday.

"Iron Man" won the praise of critics -- It has a 94 percent fresh rating on RottenTomatoes.com, which has taken a consensus of 163 reviews. The movie critic website says that Iron Man is the best-reviewed movie of 2008 so far.

Marvel managed to please them all: critics, audiences and, today, investors. For a company that emerged from bankruptcy in 1998, it has been a remarkable turnaround story. Its shares rose further today on the box office numbers.

Marvel has been planning this for years. And now that "Iron Man" has succeeded at the box office, all eyes are on the irritable green giant, who has been lying low since "Iron Man" took center stage. Marvel is planning a barrage of marketing for "The Incredible Hulk" when it gets closer to the movie.

Few analysts are as excited about "Hulk", which has yet to generate a similar level of buzz.

The company also said it will not release any movie in 2009, when the company will have to look for trickle-down revenue from "Iron Man" and "Hulk."

Marvel fans should watch 2010. That's when the "Iron Man" sequel is planned. And so is, as some speculate, "Spider-Man 4." There's also a movie on "Thor" in the same year and two "Avenger"-themed films slated to hit theaters in 2011.

Reuters coverage:
Analysis
Box office performance
First quarter financial results

(Photo: Reuters)