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Sony Corp. of America.December 15, 2004: Sprint and Nextel announce plans for a $36 billion merger,creating a new major wireless phone power with a customer base to challenge its twolarger rivals — Cingular and Verizon. The new wireless company—-- which will becalled Sprint Nextel — will have about 40 million customers.January 27, 2005: SBC Communications Inc. announces plans to acquire AT&T ina deal worth $16 billion. The new company combines AT&T’s national and global IPbasednetworks and expertise with SBC’s strong local exchange, broadband and wirelessassets. SBC says the merger creates a “premier, global provider for new era of communications.”February 14, 2005: Telephone giant Verizon Communications agrees to acquireMCI for more than $6.7 billion, scuttling a competing bid for MCI by QwestCommunications.March 16, 2005: Media giant Viacom announces plans to split into two publiccompanies. One company would consist of the firm’s cable networks — includingMTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and Showtime — and entertainment propertiesled by Paramount Pictures. The other company would control older assets, includingCBS, the Infinity Radio unit and the firm’s billboard business.April 8, 2005: Cable giants Time Warner and Comcast Corp. reach agreement tobuy bankrupt cable operator Adelphia Communications Corp. in a $17.6 billion deal.Michael E. Gerhard, (mgerhard@bsu.edu) Ph.D., Associate Professor, Ball StateUniversity, compiled this list from various news sources.NEW JOURNAL: SPORTS MEDIAI’d like to announce a new academic journal from the University of Nebraska Pressthat will begin publication in Fall 2005/Winter 2006.The Journal of Sports Media will be a traditional media research journal that encouragesunique social science research using a variety of methodologies, including qualitative,quantitative, and empirical. In addition, JSM will encourage and publish shortessays on key topics, comments and responses on published articles, book reviews andreview essays, and reports on the major relevant conferences and research seminarsof the year. The articles will be sought mainly from academicians and researchers inrelevant fields, but key industry leaders and/or figures from sports media will be encouragedto submit appropriate topics that have an appeal to a non-academic audience.The journal will be open to researchers in all aspects of sports, including law,economics, ethics, sociology, psychology, history, gender and race studies, etc., insofaras those apply to areas of media and mass communication such as television, radio, theInternet, newspaper, magazine, advertising, public relations, etc. It is hoped that thisjournal will fill a niche in the academic community and give sports media researchers aprimary outlet for publication.If this is not your particular area of interest, I would encourage you to tell otherfaculty and students about this new research opportunity. We will have informationforthcoming about submitting papers for review for the first issue. Please contact me ifyou have any questions, or would like to contribute to the journal in some way.Dr. Brad Schultz , Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Sports MediaDept. of Journalism, University of Mississippi (662) 915-5161 bschultz@olemiss.eduBEA—Educating tomorrow’s electronic media professionals 41