Vid-Biz: Vudu, Bright House, TV Ads

Vudu Debuts New High-End Box; the XL2 Internet movie player is designed for home theater installation, lets users download and watch movies in Vudu’s high-def HDX format; can going high end save the troubled set-top company? (emailed release)

Bright House Launches Road Runner Video Store; online VOD site will offer movies for rent or purchase from TV networks and movie studios, similar to Comcast’s Fancast site. (CED)

eMarketer: U.S. TV Ad Spending to Decline in 2009; research company says the ad spend will drop 4.2 percent next year to $66.9 billion, online video ad spending as a percent of TV ad spending to grow from less than 1 percent this year to 1.7 percent in 2010. (eMarketer)

DivX Sues Yahoo Over Toolbars; lawsuit comes after Yahoo backed out of a two-year agreement; DivX has not yet removed the toolbar option from its downloads. (Rueters with additional reporting by NewTeeVee)

Sanctuary Picked Up for Second Season; former web series finds success on Sci-Fi Channel, moves on to sophomore outing. (Hero Complex Blog)

Xbox Adds Magnolia Pictures to its Marketplace; films like The Host and The World’s Fastest Indian added to the lineup of movies offered. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Theatrical Movie Revenues Up, Attendance Down; at $8.148 billion, the 2008 box office tally has already surpassed 2007 — but attendance is down 3.56 percent. (Deadline Hollywood Daily)