As the battle between ReplayTV and TiVo rages on, Time Warner Cable announced a new deal yesterday that will give Southern California residents a reason to choose ReplayTV. Select Time Warner Cable customers in Southern California will soon be provided with ReplayTV digital video recorders and the free ReplayTV Service as part of their cable service. This six month trial which will begin next month will include a special ReplayZone giving Time Warner Cable customers new and powerful ways to find and record the feature programming they want to view.

ANGELA’S ASHES (Paramount Home Video) is director Alan Parker’s 1999 adaptation of Frank McCourt’s acclaimed autobiography about life with his alcoholic father, long-suffering mother and many siblings in 1930s Ireland. Robert Carlyle and Emily Watson star. The DVD comes with audio commentary from both Parker and McCourt. THE BIG TEASE (Warner Home Video), co-written by star Craig Ferguson, is a surprisingly sweet-natured 2000 comedy about a Scottish hairdresser who comes to L.A. to enter a hairstyling contest. Kevin Allen directs a cast that includes Frances Fisher, David Rasche and Mary McCormack.

San Diego’s MP3.COM recently announced that there are now over 500,000 songs and audio files available for users to download. The song "Self-Respect" by the artist Buckley V. Valeo was the 500,000th track added to the site and can be accessed at www.mp3.com/bvv. With so many artists posting their music on websites such as MP3, this begs the question: what chance is there of an artist being successful without the support of a major or indie record company? MP3.COM’s current Top Five list of downloads includes:

Canada’s Paradigm Electronics has just released a new line of compact speakers designed for home theater and audio called the Cinema Line. These magnetically shielded speakers can be placed next to a television, computer, or a home theatre system without causing harm to the surrounding components. These 2-driver, 2-way Paradigm Cinema speakers have 5/8 inch high-frequency drivers made with polymer/metal composite domes, high-temperature voice coils, unique one-piece dome/formers, ferrofluid cooling and oversized magnets. They also have three-and-a-half inch bass/midrange drivers that feature polypropylene cones, high temperature voice coils and focused-field magnetic assemblies. These are unique Paradigm technologies never before found in palm-sized speakers. These new palm-sized speakers can be combined with another pair of Paradigm Cinema speakers, a Paradigm Cinema CC center channel and a PDR-8 subwoofer to create the Paradigm Cinema HT system. Individual speaker prices range from $149 for ...

Warner Bros. Records is denying it, but rumors persist around Hollywood that a Van Halen/David Lee Roth reunion is pending. To appease egos -- not that there are any egos in Van Halen -- the revived act will be called "Van Halen - Featuring David Lee Roth." Details beyond that are hazy. There is some speculation that the band may go out on tour, but Eddie's health problems will likely delay that for a while. After the obscene musical and commercial failure of Van Halen III, featuring former Extreme front man Gary Cherone, the pressure is on Warner Bros. Records and Van Halen to put out a popular and profitable record.