• Report: AMC In Talks For Stake In BBC America
    AMC Networks is reportedly in talks to acquire almost 50% of BBC America, according to sources cited by Bloomberg reporters. BBC Worldwide "is interested in a partnership that lets BBC America use AMC’s advertising sales and distribution network," writes Bloomberg.
  • Gawker Ready To Make Friends With Rival Publishers
    Is Gawker Media finally ready to grow up, and play nice with other publishers? That, at least, appears to be the plan under the supervision of editorial director Joel Johnson. “According to Johnson's marching orders, the company shouldn't be in the business of shivving rivals, but instead be looking for ways to partner with them,” Capital New York reports. “He named Buzzfeed, The Guardian and Reddit as examples of media companies he admires and might like to team with.” 
  • Diapers.com Founder Readies Next Ecommerce Venture
    Marc Lore, founder and CEO of Diapers.com (which he sold to Amazon in 2011), just raised $55 million for a new ecommerce venture named Jet. “The investment is being led by New Enterprise Associates, with additional investment from Accel Partners, Bain Capital Ventures and MentorTech Ventures,” Re/Code reports.  “Many of the details of the products Jet will sell remain a mystery … But sources say the e-commerce company will be extremely tech-focused and is working on innovating around its logistics network.” 
  • Are Investors Turning On Yahoo Management?
    Calling Carl Icahn. Yes, with the honeymoon officially over between Marissa Mayer and Yahoo investors, Forbes’ Eric Jackson says it’s time for another activist investor to take on the company’s leadership. “Investors would rather get all of the cash coming back to Yahoo from the pending Alibaba IPO, as well as what’s already on the balance sheet, rather than see … Mayer and her management team spend it on value-destroying acquisitions,” Jackson writes. As for Mayer, Jackson adds: “Two years after her hiring … I think it’s fair to point out that she has made a number of costly and …
  • Newspapers Lost 1,300 Newsroom Employees In 2013
    Total number of newsroom employees in U.S. newspapers dropped 3.2% in 2013, from the previous year's figure, with a loss of 1,300 full-time professionals according to the American Society of News Editors. "That was better than the 2,600 net job loss in 2012 but brings total newsroom employment at newspaper organizations to roughly 36,700," writes Rick Edmonds.
  • Time Warner Cable Agrees To Arbitration To Decide Dodgers TV Dispute
    Time Warner Cable, which owns rights to SportsNet LA, has agreed to enter binding arbitration to end the dispute with other pay TV providers over the price they would pay to carry the Dodger-owned channel. Time Warner will "let an arbitrator determine a fair price" for channel carriage, writes Los Angeles Times reporters.
  • NY Times Co. Loses Ground In Second Quarter
    During the second quarter, digital gains couldn’t make up for print losses at The New York Times Co. As such, “The company said it expects total circulation revenue to be flat in the current quarter, compared with the year-ago period, and total advertising revenue to decrease in the mid-single digits,” The Wall Street Journal reports. 
  • Zillow Buys Trulia For $3.5B
    The online real estate market moved toward consolidation; Zillow is was buying Trulia for $3.5 billion, but said the Trulia would sustain its own identity. Trulia CEO Pete Flint stays as CEO.  Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff stated; "Consumers love using Zillow and Trulia to find vital information about homes and connect with the best local real estate professionals."
  • Legacy Media Helps SMBs Online
    For small and medium sized businesses (SMBs), to sustain themselves in a  digital environment business listings management (BLM) can help. However, because of limited time and resources, managing online listing can be tough for SMBs. Legacy media companies are beginning to offer their SMB partners BLM as a supplement to existing print and digital advertising products. It serves as both a value-add and a crafty way to keep them from turning to other providers of advertising solutions. BLM also makes larger media spends more effective and increases brand awareness.
  • Reddit Adopts "Live" Breaking News Feature
    Reddit has officially launched its Live tool for breaking news. Live is “essentially a live-blogging tool that’s tailored to Reddit,” and was apparently born from the realization that some users really like updating posts, VentureBeat reports. “The regular Reddit submission process wasn’t built for that purpose, as it limits the number of times you can update a post, doesn’t allow you to alter the headline, and won’t let you collaborate with other Reddit users.” 
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