In a move to bring profitability to its popular video sharing site YouTube, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has inked a deal with Time Warner, Inc. (NYSE: TWX) to show clips of the company's television shows and movies.

When Google announced back in 2006 that it would be paying $1.65 billion for the popular video sharing site, a lot of critics questioned whether or not the company would be able to turn a profit from the site, which at the time had around 46% of the online video market share.

Some good news has emerged for premium cable network HBO, a unit of Time Warner, Inc. (NYSE: TWX). During the past few years, the channel's high-profile losses of Sex and the City, Six Feet Under, and finally, The Sopranos raised speculation that HBO could be struggling for new hits and new subscribers.

But according to the latest subscription figures, the number of HBO faithful has actually risen slightly in the first full quarter since Tony Soprano and his families faded to black in June. The new data shows that HBO's subscriber base rose by 80,000 in its third quarter to 28.94 million, an increase of 0.3%. Monthly subscription fees make up the vast majority of HBO's total revenue, which is expected to hit $3.7 billion this year.

SNL Kagan analyst Deana Myers told Reuters: "It seemed like a lot of people said they were going to cancel HBO after Sopranos ended ... it did seem like it was going to go down." Perhaps the amusing Entourage or the darkly comic Curb Your Enthusiasm have expanding fan bases? Or maybe people hold on to their premium channels for the sports and movie offerings? It could be that folks are just too lazy to call their cable providers. Either way, it's a nice nugget of surprising news for HBO and TWX. Now if we can just work on that writers' strike ...

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

As my blogs suggest, I expect VIP treatment -- a spot behind the velvet rope, a complimentary bottle of Cristal, a second bottle for my entourage, and someone to hold my parasol.

It turns out, however, that I need to start expecting VoIP treatment.

That's right, finance fans, VoIP is short for "voice over internet protocol." It's the way internet users are starting to make calls. By using a phone connected to a high-speed internet line, they can connect anywhere and talk to anyone.

Time Warner has been in this market for a while, but it's trying to increase the market share. Skype (owned by eBay) announced today that it had reached 100 million users. Additionally, Vonage Holdings Corp., may offer up to 31.25 million shares priced at $16 to $18 each in an initial public offering, according to a regulatory filing on Friday.

Citing industry analysts, Vonage estimates the market for Internet phone service in North America may get as high as 15.3 million consumers by the close of 2007.

15.3 million consumers?! Getting VoIP treatment?!

Well, did any of those 15.3 million consumers get invites to the afterparty I'm going to tonight?

I didn't think so.