Movies on video to be items of the past at Circuit City

Circuit City Stores, the nation’s second-biggest electronics chain, is phasing out movies on videotape altogether in favor of DVDs.

“The people who are buying movie titles these days want to buy them on DVD,” Circuit City spokesman Jim Babb said Friday. “People have embraced the technology in a big way, and we’re responding to that by increasing the space given to DVD titles.”

The Richmond, Va.-based company will continue to sell VHS movies on its Web site and stock blank tapes and videocassette recorders in its more than 600 stores, Babb said. Circuit City has no timetable for eliminating VHS tapes from all of its stores, Babb said.

Above, Mike Colvin of Chesterfield, Va., browses through the DVD section of the Circuit City store near Richmond, Va.

Cable television: Sources: Adelphia to file for bankruptcy protection

Adelphia Communications Corp., the nation’s sixth-largest cable television operator, is expected to file for bankruptcy protection on Monday, sources familiar with the matter said Friday.

The Philadelphia-based company has reached an agreement with two banks for a $1.5 billion loan that would allow it to continue operating while it reorganizes, said sources.

The financing is being arranged by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc.’s Salomon Smith Barney division, the sources said. The loan would be spread among a large number of banks.

Adelphia spokesman Eric Andrus said the company would not comment on the likelihood or timing of a bankruptcy filing.

Merrill Lynch: Martha Stewart probe prompts broker suspension

Merrill Lynch has suspended the broker who handled a trade for Martha Stewart in the shares of ImClone Systems Inc., a troubled biotech company whose former CEO has been arrested on securities fraud charges.

In a statement released late Friday, Merrill Lynch said it had put Peter Bacanovic, as well as his assistant, Douglas Faneuil, on paid leave following an internal investigation. Merrill Lynch said it has turned over information to the relevant authorities.

Stewart has come under scrutiny from congressional investigators and federal prosecutors over the sale of nearly 4,000 shares of ImClone in December, which came a day before federal regulators said they would not consider the company’s new cancer drug. ImClone’s shares plummeted after the news came out.

Stewart has said that her trade was perfectly legal and based on information available to the public at the time.

Greeting Cards: Hallmark considering sale of Crown Media operations

Kansas City Mo.-based Hallmark Cards is reportedly considering the sale of all or part of its stake in Crown Media Holdings Inc., a company that operates the Hallmark cable channel.

The Wall Street Journal’s Friday online edition quoted sources familiar with the matter saying the company was considering the sale, which could be worth as much as $1 billion. Hallmark officials did not comment on the report.

Hallmark, the world’s largest greeting card manufacturer, operates a production facility in Lawrence.