Mediagazer: Apps as Money Pit (Lucia Moses/Brandweek)

12:35 PM ET, December 6, 2010

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.

Discussion: Noted, Mashable!, SAI, The Social, TechCrunch, Hillicon Valley, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, Techland, Fast Company, Tech Trader Daily, Search Engine Land, VentureBeat, The Next Web, New York Magazine and AfterDawn.com, more at Techmeme »

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 …

Discussion: Guardian, Social Medium, SelectStart, New York Magazine, Venture Capital Dispatch, Facebook Blog, The Social, The Wire, VentureBeat, International Media and Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, more at Techmeme »

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

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.

Discussion: Yahoo! News

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, ReadWriteWeb, GigaOM, Engadget, SAI and DSLreports, 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: FishbowlNY and TVNewser

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: Mixed Media, mediabistro.com and The Next Web

Abraham Murray / The Official Google Blog:

Discover more than 3 million Google eBooks from your choice of booksellers and devices — Today is the first page in a new chapter of our mission to improve access to the cultural and educational treasures we know as books. Google eBooks will be available in the U.S. from a new Google eBookstore.

Discussion: GigaOM, paidContent, New York Times, IndieBound, Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, MediaMemo, Faster Forward, Switched, ReadWriteWeb, The Next Web, Publishing Perspectives, VentureBeat and SAI, more at Techmeme »

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: Online Video News, The Next Web and Company Town

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.

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 / Mediaweek:

Salon's Swan Song? — Popular site seeks buyer amidst tough market — Who will buy Salon.com? The site's search for a buyer has drawn attention to its troubled business model as a standalone news site, but its content and audience could be valuable to a company willing to assume its losses.

Alex Hillman / dangerouslyawesome:

Fear and Loathing in Phoenix - My 48 Hour Binge Experience at NewsFoo — I'm coming down from a 48 hour binge. Not one fueled by two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers …

Discussion: Timetric Blog