Vid-Biz: Republicrats, DVDs, HDTVs

Republicrats Lands Unilever as a Sponsor; political comedy series will have an episode that features an animated I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter character. (MediaWeek)

Study: Consumers to Move from Buying to Renting DVDs; Solutions Research Group survey says consumers will also cut back on theater-going. (Video Business)

HDTV Shipments Surpass Standard Definition for the First Time; HDTV unit shipments finally overtook their standard def counterparts in 2008, and are forecast to hit 241.2 million by 2012, up from 97.1 million units in 2007. (iSuppli)

Univision Starts Mobile Streaming; Spanish language channel to feature clips from news and sports shows. (MediaPost)

Terra Wins Mobile and Online Video Rights to 2012 Olympic Games; Spanish web portal will have those exclusive rights for South America (minus Brazil). (paidContent)

VBrick Gets Funding; analog-to-IP video services provider secures $10.4 million of a $15.7 million Series F round, bringing the total raised to more than $50 million since 1999. (PE Week Wire)

The New York Times Launches HD Video Player; new video player is from Brightcove, can stream at 1.5 megabits per second and higher. (Beet.tv)