Nickelodeon is drawing a line in the sand that likely never would be sanctioned by the network's amiable cartoon hero, SpongeBob SquarePants: It is going to refuse to give in to public pressure to ban ads for non-nutritious foods despite all the concerns about childhood obesity.

"As an entertainment company, Nickelodeon's primary mission is to make the highest quality entertainment content in the world for kids," the company wrote in response to four Democratic US senators' pleas to the network, according to the New York Times. "That is our expertise. We believe strongly that we must leave the science of nutrition to the experts."

The Viacom-owned network has no plans anytime soon to mimic Walt Disney Co., which a year ago unveiled a strict set of nutritional standards and said it would ban ads for noncompliant foods from its child-focused cable channels by 2015.Continue reading...

Amazon pounced on the opportunity to add Viacom programming to its Prime streaming lineup last month after the broadcast giant couldn’t work out an extension deal with Netflix. That loss is likely costing Netflix big-time as it saw the exit of popular kids shows like Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants and Blue's Clues, the very type of content that parents desire when they need to use the electronic babysitter. 

However, Netflix battled back this week by signing a deal with DreamWorks Animation, in turn setting itself up to stream a whole host of new kid-friendly content based off of the studio's popular big-screen hits. In another move that seems orchestrated to remind folks, particularly parents, that Netflix still has scads of family programming, it has launched a new site, Netflix Families, that highlights “information on the best ways to stream and videos on how families use Netflix,” as well as feeds of curated content perfect for kids, the company said in a new release.Continue reading...

The streaming race between Netflix and Amazon is neck and neck again as both service providers have inked new streaming deals for in-demand programming.

The news comes just a week after Netflix suffered a blow as it relinquished its deal with Viacom and saw Amazon quickly scoop up its rights to popular kids programming like Dora the Explorer, Blue's Clues and others. But now, Netflix is back on the horse thanks to a new deal with DreamWorks.

The long-in-the-making deal with DreamWorks Animation will supply Netflix with 300 hours of original programming inspired by much-loved DreamWorks characters like Shrek and The Croods, as well as series featuring Casper the Friendly Ghost and Lassie, which DreamWorks has rights to through its purchase of Classic Media.Continue reading...

Riding high on nearly 30 million domestic subscribers and over 4 billion hours of streamed video, Netflix continues to be the streaming darling. Though, that reputation may come into question with one important demographic now that Netflix no longer has the rights to stream content from Viacom, which holds the rights to popular children's shows like Blue's Clues and Dora The Explorer. However, Amazon Prime, Netflix's main competitor, wasted no time scooping up the Viacom licensing deal in a reported $200 million, two-year contract, Reuters reports. 

Amazon won’t divulge how many customers subscribe to its $79 annual Prime membership, but it did say that children’s shows are “one of the most watched TV genres" on their service, CNN reports. The company couldn’t be prouder of its new deal, devoting a major chunk of its homepage to a note to its customers, particularly highlighting the major increase in kid shows on the service. The deal is quite the dig at Netflix, whose CEO Reed Hastings told CNBC last week, "If you're a parent and your child's looking for Blue's Clues, you know, that is definitely a problem," while also noting that his company still offers plenty of kids’ programming.Continue reading...

Apple faces a limited ban on product sales in wake of court victory by Samsung.

Toyota recalls nearly a quarter-million Prius and Lexus hybrids.

Allegiant Air emerges as most profitable airline in America.

Amazon plans major expansion of grocery delivery, report says, while it is attacked by French culture minister as "destroyer of bookshops" and reaches deal with Viacom to stream kids' shows.

Bloomberg begins fund to invest in startups.

Carl's Jr and Hardee's go after McDonald's disaffected Angus customers.

Chrysler challenge of federal recall effort on Jeeps is unusual.

Delta plans to reduce operations at Memphis hub.Continue reading...

Apple sells largest corporate-bond offer in history.

Monster sues to halt effort to curb energy drinks.

Twitter opens up self-serve ad platform to all businesses.

Chrysler Group auto sales rose 11 percent in April; Ram truck sales were up 49 percent.

Coda Holdings electric-vehicle maker files for bankruptcy.

College Football Playoff unveils new (and quite boring) logo. 

Domino's results ride pan pizza wave.

Fisker Automotive fell apart because it sought too much, too fast.

Ford says sales of Lincoln MKZ have shaken off supply and launch problems.Continue reading...

IBM may sell part of its server unit to Lenovo, misses estimates for first time since 2005 and struggles to deal with mobile computing shift.

AB InBev reportedly strikes deal with US on Modelo acquisition, as Busch heir resigns from NRA in wake of gun control bill's defeat in US Senate.

Dell sees Blackstone end its pursuit.

Adidas brings out "Boston Stands As One" t-shirt as CVS Caremark pledges to raise money for bombing victims, along with JetBlue and other companies.

Al Jazeera pushes back U.S. launch date.

Amazon may be unveiling mobile payments solution according to patent filing. 

The Atlantic magazine plans to launch paid digital content.

Avis taps celebrities to target "professionals" in new ad campaign.

BBC America and Twitter announce content-sharing partnership.

Boeing may see FAA clearance for Dreamliner as early as today.Continue reading...

Coca-Cola posts lower net and unveils U.S.-bottler deal.

JCPenney buys time with credit line.

Twitter seeks deals with NBC and Viacom for high-quality video content.

A&W plans to move upscale and test fast-casual concept.

Amazon targets older consumers with new store.

Apple dominates in best-paid executives as board retains Jobs deputies.

BMW will debut EV brand Zinoro in China in early 2014.Continue reading...