Top News:
Nadia Damouni / Reuters:
Exclusive: AOL mulls breakup, then merger with Yahoo — (Reuters) - AOL Inc, undergoing a radical transformation into the king of content on the Internet, is actively exploring a breakup involving a complicated series of transactions that may lead to a merger with Yahoo Inc, sources close to the plans told Reuters.
Andrew Wallenstein / paidContent:
How Mark Zuckerberg Fooled ‘60 Minutes’ — Leave it to 60 Minutes to pass off Facebook's utterly meaningless redesign of the site's profile pages as some kind of “exclusive” worth leading a segment on the company's founder, Mark Zuckerberg. It's not just that correspondent Lesley Stahl …
Wall Street Journal:
No Longer Tiny, Netflix Gets Respect—and Creates Fear — As Rivals Look to Counter Its Online Movie-Streaming Service, Hollywood Cautiously Cuts Deals to Provide Some Content — After years as a bit player in entertainment, Netflix Inc. is being eyed for a new role by Hollywood: industry hulk.
Discussion:
New York Times, GigaOM, Engadget, DSLreports and SAI, more at Techmeme »
David Carr / New York Times:
To Beat ‘Today,’ Look to Tomorrow — When a sports team loses long enough, fans get restless and soon enough, the coach ends up getting the gate. After all, you can't fire the whole team, right? — Unless you work in television. Last week, every single member of the perennially last place “Early Show” on CBS was shown the door.
Discussion:
TVNewser
Brian Stelter / New York Times:
ESPN Says Study Shows Little Effort to Cut Cable — Seeking to understand the cutting of cable cords, ESPN has waded into the Nielsen Company's audience sample and concluded that the cancellations are currently a “very minor” phenomenon. — The sports network's study provides a new answer …
Discussion:
The Next Web and Company Town
Jeremy W. Peters / Media Decoder:
Dan Abrams Plans 3 Web Sites — After a successful run with his Web sites that cover media, sports, gossip and technology, Dan Abrams, perhaps best known not as an Internet entrepreneur but as an MSNBC personality, is expanding. — Mr. Abrams will start three online properties early next year …
Discussion:
On Media's Blog and Poynter
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Hulu Orders Up a New Bite-Size Show. It's Going to Taste a Lot Like “Talk Soup.” — Hulu is a great place to see shows that just ran on TV. Is it a good place to see Internet shows that talk about shows that just ran on TV? — Stay tuned! — Plans are underway for a Hulu …
Discussion:
The Next Web
Jeremy W. Peters / Media Decoder:
Cosmo Sets Sights on Mongolia — Coming to a newsstand most likely not near you: Cosmo Mongolia. — Cosmopolitan, which has been helping women all over the world unlock the secrets to better sex, tighter tushes and the enigmatic male psyche for four decades, will begin to sell a Mongolia edition this week.
Discussion:
New York Observer and New York Magazine
Lucia Moses / Brandweek:
Apps as Money Pit — Magazine publishers are pouring money into apps, seduced by the notion that tablet computers can open a new avenue to make money from their content. But will they ever make it back? Certainly not in the near term and, perhaps, never.
Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
KPMG: Print media ‘very resilient’, paywalls unpopular — Just two per cent of users would pay for a website that they currently use for free, according to a new survey published today KPMG. — The KPMG media and entertainment barometer study also revealed that despite growing use of digital media …
Discussion:
paidContent:UK
Amy Larocca / New York Magazine:
Planet Monocle — Tyler Brûlé ushered in a design revolution with Wallpaper magazine. His new global media strategy is equally rarefied, and only occasionally ridiculous. Listen to him for a while, and the world seems positively aglow with possibility.
Eric Pfanner / New York Times:
French Publishers Fight Back With a Communal Digital Newsstand — PARIS — With sales of newspapers and magazines flagging at the ornate kiosks that adorn the boulevards of Paris, French publishers hope that a planned “digital kiosk” can help revive their fortunes.
Lewis DVorkin / The Copy Box:
At Forbes, we believe in the “continuum” of media and content — When you've been in the media business as long I have, it's fascinating to watch how all of a sudden “old” becomes “new” again and “dead” springs back to “life.” — Barry Diller, who left the old (broadcast TV) for the new …
Discussion:
Talking Biz News
Julian Lee / Sydney Morning Herald:
Fairfax chief executive quits — Update Fairfax Media chief executive Brian McCarthy has resigned from the company, effective immediately, and has left the company's Sydney Pyrmont headquarters this afternoon. — His replacement is Greg Hywood, who joined the Fairfax board earlier this year …
Discussion:
TheAustralian, mUmBRELLA and Guardian