New owners of NBC Studios in Burbank unveiled plans Wednesday for $750 million worth of upgrades to the historic lot where top entertainers and newscasters have broadcast to the nation since the 1950s. Under construction is the first of four 14-story office towers to be built over the next decade around the movie and television lot where Johnny Carson turned “beautiful downtown Burbank” into a running joke on “The Tonight Show.” For the full story visit http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-nbc1-2008may01,0,5895773.story

American Medical Response in Lancaster has reached a tentative labor agreement with the International Association of EMTs and Paramedics. The agreement brings the strike of IAEP, Locals #77 and #187 to a halt. “After several months of talks, we have reached an agreement we believe equitable for all parties, and we expect employees will fully ratify the agreement in the next few weeks,” Matthew Levy, IAEP national director, said. The agreement stipulates that employees’ wages will increase by 20 percent over the next four years, with initial increases being retroactive to November 2007. In addition, the company will make no changes to employees’ health care benefits through the end of this year. Striking workers are expected to return to their normal shifts effective no later than Friday. AMR and the union have agreed not to pursue any claims that have resulted from the work action.

NEW YORK — U.S. manufacturing contracted for a third straight month in April while the number of workers claiming jobless benefits hit a four-year high and planned layoffs soared, according to data today that showed the economy remained on shaky ground. Other data showed personal spending in March was stronger than expected — a bit of good news in an economy that is largely fueled by consumer spending — but inflation pressures increased. The manufacturing news, released by the Institute for Supply Management, was marginally better than expected, though it was still the fourth time in five months the index showed manufacturing contracting. For the full story visit http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-econ2-2008may02,0,813826.story

The Walt Disney Co. is back in the retail game following its acquisition of the Disney Store Chain from subsidiaries of The Children’s Place Retail Stores Inc. The purchase will result in Disney owning and operating 220 stores in the U.S. and Canada and closing 98 stores in the U.S. and two in Canada. Through the global retail chain, Disney can better take advantage of its popular franchises, such as High School Musical and Disney Fairies, said Andy Mooney, chairman of Disney Consumer Products. Disney sold the Disney Stores chain to The Children’s Place in 2004. James D. Fielding has been named as president, Disney Stores Worldwide.

Forbes has released its annual CEO compensation report, ranking chief executives of publicly-held companies on their paychecks and rating how much bang for the buck they gave their shareholders. Countrywide’s Angelo Mozilo earned the title of least efficient CEO, coming in dead last out of the 175 execs that were eligible in the pay for performance rankings. He was also called out as the fourth best-compensated, although to be fair Forbes was using data from 2006 which was a much better year, salary-wise, for the company’s founder. According to a 10k filed with the SEC on April 24, Mozilo’s total direct compensation for 2007 was just under $11 million, which doesn’t include a $10 million “employment term extension award” given to thank Mozilo for putting off his planned retirement for another three years. It also doesn’t reflect the $121 million he reaped from selling Countrywide stock. In addition to performing worse than other companies in its sector, Forbes reported that since Mozilo took over as top executive in February 1998, Countrywide has trailed the S & P; 500, with a 6 percent annual return. Mozilo’s average annual pay has been $66 million. Amgen’s Kevin Sharer came in as the sixth least efficient executive. Forbes showed him receiving just $3.97 million compensation in 2007, which would put him in the bottom third of earners. However, the company’s 10k filed April 1 showed his total compensation closer to $20 million. The average CEO on the list earned $12.4 million, with those running the biggest 500 companies in the U.S. taking a 15 percent pay cut in 2008.

Image Entertainment subsidiary Egami Media will make its films, comedy specials and other specialty programming available through iTunes. Egami, based in Chatsworth, will initially make 100 titles available for rental and purchase on the same day as the DVD release when possible. Additional new releases and catalogue titles will follow. Egami’s library includes more than 2,000 titles.

NEW YORK — Answering Wall Street’s calls for a slimmer and more focused company, Time Warner Inc.’s chief executive said Wednesday that the cable system operator in which it holds a majority stake would become a completely separate entity. Jeffrey L. Bewkes did not spell out how and when the split-off of Time Warner Cable Inc. would be accomplished. Bewkes said that he was “very optimistic” about the prospects for the cable business but that “we just believe that the two entities would ultimately be more valuable if separated.” Time Warner owns 84% of Time Warner Cable, a portion of which was spun off into a separate public company that began trading last year. For the full story visit http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-timewarner1-2008may01,0,7150381.story

Businesses may find themselves getting a bit of a break from the U.S. Postal Service come May 12. Although first-class rates are going up a penny (get your Forever stamps before May 12), commercial volume and contract prices, rebates, online price reductions, and other incentives for services such as Express Mail, Priority Mail, Parcel Select, Parcel Return Service, and International Mail will go into effect as well. “These innovative pricing incentives will make our products more attractive to all shippers, especially small businesses,” said Postmaster General John Potter in a prepared statement. “We’re pricing our products to sell in today’s competitive shipping market.” Highlights of the changes include: – Express Mail rates will now be based on zones, so customers will pay less for short-hop mailings. Online and corporate account purchases will qualify for a 3 percent savings. Other price reductions are available for those who ship quarterly minimums. – Priority Mail shippers who use electronic postage can save an average of 3.5 percent on their packages. – Parcel Select will have pricing and volume incentives for large- and medium-size shippers. – Parcel Return Service will move entirely to a weight-based pricing system, with lower prices for many lighter packages. Visit http://www.usps.com/prices for more details on all of the pricing changes.

On an 8-2 vote, the Federal Reserve lowered the federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point, to 2.0 percent, citing a high level of uncertainty about inflation. The Fed expects that inflationary pressures from rising energy and commodity prices will level out somewhat, but increasing problems in the residential real estate markets and stressed financial and credit markets are still areas of concern. The discount rate was also reduced by a quarter percent, to 2.25 percent.

Online service provider United Online has agreed to purchase global florist FTD Group Inc. In a deal worth $800 million. The buyout diversifies Woodland Hills-based United Online and gives additional revenue streams from e-commerce and retailing. “Our proven expertise in implementing marketing initiatives to drive results should enable us to leverage the FTD brand and bring FTD products to United Online’s over 50 million consumer accounts,” United Online Chairman, President and CEO Mark R. Goldston said. Under terms of the merger agreement FTD shareholders will receive cash, United Online shares and a principal amount of secured notes.