You'll never know how much you miss something until it's gone, right? Well, that seems to be the case for the NHL, who, after spending months fiddling around with contract negotiations and delaying the start of the season, is seeing record viewership numbers for televised games. 

The abbreviated season finally got under way in January (after Nike reminded the big wigs at the NHL who's really the boss). But NBC Sports had a few tricks up their sleeve to ramp up excitement in a shorter amount of time. 

Viewership during the regular season went up 18 percent over last year, Forbes reports, making this the most-watched regular season in 19 years. Seven of the top eight NHL telecasts of the season came during NHL Sports Network’s new Wednesday Night Rivalry, which featured games between some of the league’s longest and feistier rivals. It drew some of the larger sponsors, too, including Discover and Verizon.Continue reading...

WePay, as the above video illustrates, offers a simple formula that lets merchants accept online payments and donations through its just-released WePay Payment Buttons.

“Our main customers are individuals and small businesses looking for a quick and easy way to collect money online. We found that other payment buttons were not doing the trick,” WePay CEO Bill Clerico told Venture Beat.

Founded in 2008, WePay has raised $19.2 million and boasts hundreds of millions of dollars in annual payments. Their accessible grab-embed-stick process offers payment buttons including “Buy Now,” “Donate,” and “Register.” The pricing structure is 2.9 percent and 30 cents per transaction for credit cards, and 1 percent plus 30 cents for bank payments.Continue reading...

Anheuser-Busch and Major League Baseball extend partnership.

Best Buy lavishes compensation on new CEO.

Delhaize bets big on retailing in Greece despite economic turmoil.

Dell and HP struggle to sell PCs.

Denver bans outdoor advertising for medical marijuana outlets.

Larry Ellison buys Hawaiian island and everyone wonders what Oracle founder will do with it.

Exelon benefits from ties to Obama administration, New York Times says.

Fox and Ad Council use Glee to target texting while driving.

General Mills, McDonald's and other marketers are accused by feds of collecting data about kids. Continue reading...

Barclays got out of the branch-banking business in the United States in the early 1990s, but now the British bank is making a digital run at the U.S. by wooing Americans to its new online banking service.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Barclays, which will have its name on the side of the new Brooklyn Nets arena when it opens later this year to basketball (and Barbra Streisand) fans, is looking to “diversify funding for its growing credit-card operations” in the U.S. The British bank, as Marketwatch notes, today went live in the U.S. with a high-yield savings account and certificates of deposit through its Barclays Bank Delaware subsidiary.Continue reading...

comScore has been polling major brands such as Best Buy (see above) about their biggest concerns when it comes to digital marketing. Their biggest concern is how to ensure effectiveness: where their ads delivered in-view, to the right target audience, in the right geography, in a brand-safe environment and absent of fraudulent delivery?

It's an issue the research firm addresses in a new white paper, released this week to support its Validated Campaign Essentials offering to validate digital campaign delivery.Continue reading...

Apple in sight of $1 trillion valuation, according to analysts.

AstraZeneca fails to stop entry of generic versions of its antipsychotic drug to U.S. market.

Bats alarms Wall Street with derailed IPO.

Bloomberg and CNN continue transition to digital.

Bulgari tries to make a name in wine.

Chick-fil-A pressure heats up.

Dairy Queen benefits from early warm weather.

Darden finds restaurant consumers remain fickle.Continue reading...

The Orange Bowl is one of college football’s oldest bowl games, having taken place annually since 1935. This year’s Orange Bowl on Jan. 4 between the Clemson Tigers and West Virginia Mountaineers features a sponsor that has got a whole slew of public-health organizations feeling pretty fed up with the NCAA: Camacho Cigars.

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the American Cancer Society and eight other groups are asking the NCAA to end the relationship between Camacho and college sports, the Washington Post reports. The sponsorship covers the next three Orange Bowls as well as for next year’s Bowl Championship Series title game. It also “includes a large presence at several game-day events for the maker of Camacho and Baccarat The Game cigars, including lounges where fans can light up,” the Post adds.Continue reading...

American Airlines parent AMR bankruptcy could foist huge losses on key creditors.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs honored with exhibition highlighting his patents and trademarks.

AT&T blasts federal critique of T-Mobile deal, as AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile deal with Carrier IQ privacy concerns.

Barnes & Noble continues to struggle financially with digital transition.

Chili's drives menu changes and sales with retrofit.

Disney raises dividend to highest level in 20 years.

Fiat closes plant as European demand falls.

GM offers to buy back Volt from owners.Continue reading...