Business Watch

Netflix tops 1 billion hours

SAN FRANCISCO -- Netflix says its subscribers watched more than one billion hours of online video last month as the advent of high-speed Internet connections and high-powered mobile devices change viewing patterns.

The milestone announced Tuesday is the latest sign the Internet video service may be starting to reduce the amount of time its 26.5 million streaming subscribers spend watching advertising-supported entertainment bundled in more expensive cable-television packages. Netflix Inc. sells the service for $8 per month.

The rising use of Netflix indicates the company's efforts to expand its Internet video library are paying off.

The one billion hours of collective viewing during June works out to a monthly average of 38 hours per streaming subscriber. That's up from an estimated 28 hours per customer in December.

U.S. auto sales surge

DETROIT -- From mini cars to monster pickups, sales of new cars and trucks surged in June and eased concerns Americans would be turned off by slower hiring.

Automakers sold nearly 1.3 million cars and trucks in June, up 22 per cent from the same month last year. Chrysler posted its best June in five years. Sales soared at Volkswagen, which is on track for its best year in the U.S. since 1973.

The results allayed fears growth would stall after a strong start to 2012. Earlier this spring, sales were on track to reach 14.5 million this year, boosted by mild weather and the post-earthquake return of Japanese cars to dealers. But the pace dropped to 13.8 million in May, as the stock market plunged and hiring slowed. In June, there was more bad news about jobs growth, and consumer confidence fell for the fourth straight month.

But buyers didn't go away. June's sales pace rose to 14.1 million, according to Autodata Corp.

Chuck E. Cheese makeover

NEW YORK -- Chuck E. Cheese has been given the pink slip.

The company that operates the chain of children's pizza restaurants is retiring the giant rodent's outdated image -- and the man who voiced its character for nearly two decades. CEC Entertainment Inc. says it plans to launch a national ad campaign Thursday with a new image of Chuck E. Cheese as a hip, electric-guitar-playing rock star.

It's just the latest makeover for the 35-year-old mascot, which started life as a New Jersey rat who sometimes carried a cigar.

CEC Entertainment is struggling to revive sales at its more than 500 pizza restaurants, which offer games, prizes and a musical variety show.

In May, CEC said revenue fell 4.2 per cent in the first quarter.

Bell drops sponsorship

CALGARY -- Bell Canada is not sponsoring any rodeo events at the Calgary Stampede this year and an animal-welfare group says it believes its campaign had something to do with the move.

The Vancouver Humane Society launched an e-campaign in June 2011, urging the public to demand Bell (TSX:BCE) stop sponsoring the rodeo. The campaign included a pre-written letter that could be sent to Bell chief executive George Cope.

The society says more than 1,200 people had participated before the page was taken down last Friday when the group learned of Bell's change.

"To us, it's a significant change," said humane society spokesman Peter Fricker. "What we hope it means is that it's showing an increase in corporate distaste for the rodeo and obviously we're pleased that Bell Canada is no longer a major sponsor, or a sponsor, of the Stampede rodeo."

Bell is still a major sponsor of Stampede events around the rodeo, presenting free live entertainment at the Bell Centennial Plaza.

European bank to cut rate

FRANKFURT, Germany -- Europe's sinking economy and wobbly banks could get modest help Thursday from an interest rate cut by the European Central Bank.

Economists think the ECB will cut its benchmark refinancing rate by at least a quarter point to 0.75 per cent, a record low. On Tuesday, the rising expectation of a rate cut helped lift stock markets in Europe, which have been rallying since European leaders last week announced new measures to fight the debt crisis.

The ECB is likely to hold off from more aggressive measures. Its president, Mario Draghi, has said there is only so much the central bank can do and it was up to Europe's politicians to restore confidence in the 17-country eurozone.

European leaders agreed at a summit in Brussels last week to create a banking regulator under the ECB's aegis with the power to rescue banks directly. The goal is to spare single governments from being overwhelmed by the costs of rescuing banks.

-- from the news services

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 4, 2012 B6