Also ...

Softbank Corp.’s Ziff-Davis Inc. said it will start a 24-hour cable television channel about computers and the Internet, as the publishing company bets that a niche channel can be profitable. ZDTV: Your Computer Channel will be based in San Francisco. . . . Ford Motor Co. said it has formed a joint venture with real estate industry rivals Los Angeles-based CB Commercial/Madison Advisory Group and Cushman & Wakefield Inc. to manage its worldwide property portfolio. . . . David R. Carpenter, retired chairman and chief executive of Transamerica Life Cos., will head Beverly Hills-based Paradigm Partners International, a new financial services consultant.