Like hangovers and resolutions that will never be kept, predictions are a tradition of the new year. 

With that in mind, we offer up our own prognostications. Some are obvious (come 2011, Jay Leno won't be on NBC's prime time; MGM will be sold) and some are out there (Disney will make a play for video game publisher Electronic Arts; Washington will throw some tough regulations at the cable industry in an effort to rein in programming costs).

Of course, saying MGM will be sold is a little bit of a "boy who cried wolf" prediction, so we'll go a step further and predict that Time Warner will beat out News Corp. for the foundering studio. News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch has shown a little restraint lately, such as when he pulled out of bidding for the Travel Channel (after raising the price). Also, Murdoch is going to spend much of the next year focusing on his battle with Google and other aggregators.

Meanwhile, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes is sitting on a pile of cash. If Time Warner grabs MGM, Warner Bros. gets total ownership of "The Hobbit," which could succeed Harry Potter as the studio's next big franchise.

On the executive-shuffle front, look for a lot of jockeying to succeed Warner Bros. CEO Barry Meyer in 2011. Expect TV chief Bruce Rosenblum and Home Entertainment Group president Kevin Tsujihara to duke it out for Meyer's office, but don't be surprised if dark horse Phil Kent, who oversees Turner Broadcasting, emerges as a serious contender.

Assuming the Comcast-NBC deal closes next year (and, heck, even if it doesn't), expect a lot churn in the executive suites. A joke making the rounds in the industry asks whether, among NBC Universal's Jeff Zucker and Jeff Gaspin and Comcast's programming chief Jeff Shell, there aren't too many Jeffs in the kitchen.

For the rest of our guesses, please see our story here. And if we happen to luck out and be right on any of these, we promise not to say "toldja!"

Make some predictions of your own. Leave us a comment and we'll run the best ones. Try to keep it clean!

-- Joe Flint

Photos: Top: News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch. Credit: Amy Sussaman / Getty Images. Bottom: Time Warner's Jeff Bewkes. Credit: Evan Agostini / Associated Press.

EMI Music became the first major music company to agree to distribute its music videos and concert footage on Hulu, the popular online video site.

Starting with today's announcement, EMI will make content available from its various music labels, including Virgin, Capitol and Blue Note. It launches with exclusive footage of Norah Jones performing music from her new album, "The Fall," in a concert at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City.

Music videos already have shown strong appeal for rival online video site YouTube, which is working with Universal Music Group to develop a service called Vevo, which would highlight such content on YouTube and elsewhere online.

"We think Hulu is an excellent, high-quality environment and a great place to connect with fans," Ronn Werre,  chief operating officer of EMI Music North America, said in a statement.

Hulu has attracted millions of online viewers with the lure of Hollywood-produced television shows and films, which are available for free. Over the summer, it began experimenting with music, striking a concert deal with the Dave Matthews Band.

-- Dawn C. Chmielewski

Photo: The cover of Norah Jones' latest release, "The Fall." Credit: EMI Blue Note / Associated Press

Don't look for CBS to join Disney, News Corp. and NBC in Hulu anytime soon.

CBS Interactive Chief Executive Officer Quincy Smith criticized Hulu in an e-mail he sent to staffers that naturally somehow found its way to the blog TechCrunch. The e-mail doesn't really say a whole lot that's new as CBS' decision to steer its content and money clear of the online video site speaks loud enough.

Nonetheless, leaked e-mails often reveal a lot more candor than canned statements, and that is what makes this one interesting as Smith sounds like he'd like to start a public relations offensive against Hulu.

In the e-mail Smith wrote: "We should think about how hard it would be to prove that some ratings declines are a result of reckless Hulu streams." He then added that would help make the case for TV Everywhere, the Time Warner and Comcast Corp. initiative that CBS has signed on to that will require consumers to prove ("authenticate" is the word the industry uses)  that they already subscribe to a cable or satellite service before being able to watch content online for free. Hulu requires no such authentication from its users.

There are two schools of thought on online viewing. On the one hand, anything that takes viewers away from their TV sets and the ads that go with them is bad for the business. However, online platforms also can be strong promotional devices for the networks. The real challenge will be figuring out maximizing revenue and whether advertising or advertising and some sort of subscription model is the way to go.

Though CBS may be anti-Hulu, which offers lots of shows and limited commercials, it does stream some of its own shows on its CBS.com and its TV.com site. 

CBS confirmed that memo being circulated is indeed Smith's e-mail. What will be more interesting is what CBS does to whoever leaked the e-mail. On that topic, CBS declined comment.

-- Joe Flint