–

El Segundo-based

Mattel Inc.

and Universal Studios agreed to market and distribute feature-length DVDs starring Mattel’s Barbie and Polly Pocket characters to revive doll sales.

General Electric Co.

‘s Los Angeles-based Universal will handle global marketing and distribution of future Barbie DVDs, the companies said in a statement. Seven earlier direct-to-DVD Barbie films by El Segundo, California-based Mattel, the world’s largest toymaker, have sold 27 million copies worldwide.

The films will include the first movie featuring Polly Pocket, Mattel’s second-biggest girl’s brand. Mattel and Los Angeles-based Universal will release the first film under the agreement, “Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses,” later this year. Total Barbie sales have declined for nine straight quarters, and Barbie movies generally have had stronger sales than dolls or accessories, the company has said. “We’re confident that marrying the strength of our brands with Universal’s marketing and distribution muscle will create a powerhouse,” Neil Friedman, president of Mattel brands, said in a statement.

–


Napster Inc.

estimates music delivered to mobile phones will be worth billions of dollars in the next two years, said Bradford Duea, president of the Los Angeles-based seller of songs and music subscriptions over the Internet, during an interview at the CTIA Wireless 2006 show in Las Vegas. “Outside of the U.S., the mobile opportunity is actually larger” than the market for music downloads to computers, Duea told Bloomberg News.

The company indicated earlier this month that revenue in the most recent quarter will exceed $26 million and total subscriber count grew to more than 600,000.. Napster, which is trying to narrow the gap with

Apple Computer Inc.

‘s market-dominating iTunes music service, has a partnership with Ericsson AB to sell Napster Mobile for phones. In 2005, mobile music sales quadrupled with more than 200 million songs downloaded and consumers spent almost $40 billion on phones that are capable of playing music, according to a March report by American Technology Research.

–

Billionaire Ron Burkle has hired former Philadelphia Inquirer Executive Editor James Naughton to assist in his bid to buy 12 Knight Ridder Inc. newspapers, his closely held company,

Yucaipa Cos.

, said on Tuesday. Naughton, retired president of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies and a former New York Times reporter, will help Yucaipa recruit employees.

Yucaipa wants to buy the papers, including the Inquirer and San Jose Mercury News, that

McClatchy Co.

plans to sell after completing its $4.5 billion purchase of

Knight Ridder Inc.

Burkle is working with the Newspaper Guild-CWA union, which represents employees at eight of the papers for sale. Yucaipa earlier hired Robert Hall, former publisher of the Inquirer, as an adviser.