Ad agency and media owners would much rather buy analytics companies than ad tech firms, according to an annual survey by AdMedia Partners. Only 27% of respondents said they wanted to acquire tech companies, as opposed to 61% expressing interest in analytics firms.

Bill Cosby, whose "Cosby Show" garnered hit ratings and critical gold for NBC from 1984 to 1992, is re-teaming with the network and with the former producer of his show, Carsey Werner's Tom Werner, to develop a multigenerational family comedy. The show "is being eyed for development outside of the traditional pilot season window," writes Lesley Goldberg.

As it turns, Aristotle figured out what makes content viral over 2,000 years ago. “The answer, he argued, was three principles: ethos, pathos, and logos,” Maria Konnikova writes in The New Yorker. “Content should have an ethical appeal, an emotional appeal, or a logical appeal.” Konnikova checks in on a couple of researchers at Wharton who are building on Aristotle’s original findings. 

Amazon is reportedly readying a Web TV service, and has already floated the idea with top networks about licensing their programs. “The new service it has discussed with media companies would offer live TV channels, such as those available now on cable or satellite TV,” The Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources. “Through its Prime Instant Video service, Amazon now offers various TV shows and movies on demand for subscribers to its Prime free-shipping service.” 

Time Warner Cable CEO Rob Marcus is "not negotiating” on terms for the company's purchase, which will not go below $160 per share, he tells Mike Farrell. Last week TWC rejected a $132.50-per-share bid from Charter Communications.

Hearst U.K. will debut a British version of Town & Country magazine in May. Harper’s Bazaar France, originally set to launch this year, will instead premiere in 2015 "as it hunts for a new editor in chief, according to industry sources in Paris," Women's Wear Daily reporters write. Publishers for the French edition are Hearst Magazines International and Groupe Marie Claire.

AccuWeather Inc. announced it will be launching a 24/7 TV channel -- a move it's been planning for a while, but decided to showcase now in light of the Weather Channel's being pulled off DirecTV due to a carriage dispute last week.

MSNBC's formerly positive coverage of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie as "a Republican who cut against the party grain and lit up the screen with his everyman-ish, Springsteen-loving spontaneity" has, due to Bridgegate, "curdled in a spectacularly public fashion," writes Michael Barbaro and Bill Carter. "Detailed dissections of the case, and a rotating cast of indignant lawmakers from New Jersey, are now a staple of the network’s shows." Meanwhile, Christie cries foul, denouncing MSNBC as "partisan" and "almost gleeful" in its criticism of him.

Stateside, Paramount Pictures just became the first big Hollywood studio to stop releasing major movies on 35-millimeter film. “The studio's Oscar-nominated film ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ is [its] first movie in wide release to be distributed entirely in digital format,” the Los Angeles Times reports, citing industry execs. “The decision is likely to encourage other studios to follow suit, accelerating a complete phase-out of film that could come by the end of the year.” 

There’s no chance of Bill Gates reclaiming the CEO spot at Microsoft, but, once the company finds a replacement for Steve Ballmer, its founder is expected to play a more prominent role than in recent years. “While some investors have dropped hints in the media that he [along with Ballmer] should head for the exit … [Gates] is more likely to remain visible … as well as more active within the company,” Kara Swisher reports, citing sources. “This is no surprise given Gates’ very active mind.”