Google Inc. has inked a deal with Universal Music Group to be able to sell downloads from the world's largest record company's song catalog, said executives familiar with the agreement.

Universal also granted Google a license to include its music in the technology company's cloud locker service, which lets users play their personal music collection from any Web browser. The two companies had been widely expected to reach a deal, but did not sign a contract until Wednesday morning, just hours before Google's press event to debut its music store.

The agreement is a coup for the Silicon Valley search giant, which has labored for more than a year to persuade major music labels to get on board with its ambitious plan to offer a full digital music service for mobile devices that use Google's Android operating system.

Google is set to announce a key component of that service on Wednesday a download store akin to Apple Inc.

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Afterthe coffee. Before figuring out that fine line between clever and stupid.

The Skinny: Today's headlines include Time Warner Cable's latest deal for its new Los Angeles sports channel, Sony Corp. wants to get into the distribution business , reviews of "The Descendants" and a new Howard Cosell biography.

Goal! Time Warner Cable has snagged the Galaxy soccer team for its new West Coast regional sports channel.

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Google, which is set tolaunch a digital music storeon Wednesday, has reached a handshakeagreement with Sony Music Entertainment to license itscatalog, which includes songs by Adele, Sade and Foster the People, among others, said an executive close to the negotiations.

Oncea deal is signed, as both parties expect,the only major record company not tojump on board with Google would beWarnerMusic Group.

EMI and Merlin Network, which represents more than 18,000 independent artists and labels, have agreed to let Google sell downloads fromtheirmusic catalogs, and Universal Music Group is widely expected to alsocome to terms Wednesday with the Mountain View, Calif., technology giant.

The record companies and Googlehave declined to comment on their negotiations.

Googlehas been laboring for more than a year to obtain licenses fromrecord companies to build a music service for its Android mobile operating system.

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Location filming on Los Angeles streets continued to slide last week dueto a steadyfalloff in local TV shoots.

The decline was led by a 37% drop in production days for TV shoots compared with the same time a year ago, according to data from the film permitting group FilmL.A. Inc. Television production has been down 15% in the last six weeks overlast year.

Blame New York and the lousy television advertising market.

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Time Warner Cable is putting the finishing touches on a deal to snag the television rights to the Los Angeles Galaxy away from Fox Sports West.

Landing the rights to the soccer team on its new sports cable channel didn't come cheap though. Time Warner Cable is paying $55 million over 10 years ($5.1 million per season) for the rights, according to a person familiar with the terms of the deal. Fox, which had been paying less than $500,000 per season, passed on its option to match that offer. The deal will take effect next season.

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As 2011 winds down, the media industry is seeing its hopes of an advertising rebound fade away.

The year began with a bang as advertisers paid hefty premiums to buy commercial time on major networks and prominent cable channels. TV chiefs were optimistic that the advertising market's momentum would continue throughout the year.

But the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which put a months-long halt to automobile production, threw a wet blanket over those hopes. Japanese automakers slashed their U.S.

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A longstanding artists community and celebrity vacation destination, Santa Fe has a new rising star -- one it hopes will help the state regain its footing as a leading production destination for filmmakers.

This week, Santa Fe Studios, a nearly $30-million production facility in the southeast part of the mountain town, will open for business. Built in line with the citys traditional pueblo architectural style, the 65-acre studio includes two 19,275-square-foot soundstages with lush offices and dressing rooms, access to electric cars and ultra-high-speed broadband technology.

Financed partly by a $10-million economic development grant from the state, the facility will be New Mexicos fifth studio and the second largest after Albuquerque Studios, which has eight soundstages and has been home to dozens of feature film and television productions including Marvel Studios The Avengers and four seasons of AMCs Breaking Bad.

While the investment in a new studio less than 80 miles from the Albuquerque appears to be a gamble, its owners -- longtime producing and directing brothers Lance and Conrad Hool, along with Lances son Jason -- tout the smaller-city facility as the boutique alternative for filmmakers looking to shoot in the state.

New Mexico now has a first-class studio, said Lance Hool, producer of such movies as "Man on Fire" and "Flipper.

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After the coffee. Before figuring out who took my invite to the 'Twilight' premiere.

The Skinny: Like everybody else I watched Bob Costas interview Jerry Sandusky and like everybody else, my opinion only got stronger. Costas was excellent. In the headlines, 2011 is not a banner year for advertising, ABC has started selling commercials for the Oscars and NBC has shuffled the deck chairs of its prime-time schedule.

Shrinking growth.

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