Margins Check: Napster, a weather sale, Microsoft’s ads and more

Editor’s Note: Welcome to On the Margins, a feature for RCR Wireless News’ weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week, the RCR Wireless News staff considers events in the wider business world and how they could affect the wireless industry.
–Napster announced it will begin selling unprotected MP3 files in the spring. The company’s move mirrors that of several other digital music vendors. The proliferation of unprotected digital music may well serve as a boon for the nascent but potentially blockbuster mobile music scene.
–The Weather Channel is reportedly up for sale, and could go for as much as $5 billion. The Weather Channel has a significant mobile presence, and potential buyers could use the transaction as an opportunity to beef up their wireless position.
–Media giant Viacom announced Microsoft will manage the online ads for its various properties, which include MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures. Microsoft is the newest major player in the online ad-serving market, thanks largely to last year’s $6 billion acquisition of aQuantive, and though the company has not yet made major moves into mobile ad waters, it may well do so in the future.
–As the ongoing writers’ strike continues to cripple rivals, News Corp.’s Fox TV channel is set to do gangbusters this year thanks to its “American Idol” program and its deal to broadcast the Super Bowl. Those vendors that have agreements with News Corp. would do well to cash in on the company’s position, and those on the sidelines might consider establishing ties with the media giant.