Mediagazer: Premium VOD Is Doomed If This Piracy Study Is Correct (Andrew Wallenstein/paidContent)

1:35 PM ET, February 16, 2011

Top News:

A simple way for publishers to manage access to digital content — (Cross-posted on the Google News Blog) — At Humboldt University in Berlin today, Eric Schmidt announced Google One Pass, a service that lets publishers set their own prices and terms for their digital content.

Edmund Lee / AdAge:

Google Outbids Apple — Offers Publishers 90% Cut on Tablet Subs — Popular Science Already Bought into Both Apple and Google's New Sub Plans — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — While Apple steadfastly clings to its 30% cut of magazine subscriptions sold through its App Store, Google just made a better offer …

Discussion: TechCrunch, PSFK, The Big Picture, The Next Web, Soup and SAI, more at Techmeme »

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Powered By Google Checkout, One Pass Is A Payment System For Content Publishers

Discussion: Editors Weblog and Engadget

Nathan Koppel / Wall Street Journal:

Apple's Subscription Rules Raise Possible Antitrust Issues — Apple Inc.'s new subscription service could draw antitrust scrutiny, according to law professors. — Apple will allow magazines, newspapers and other publishers to sell subscriptions of varying lengths to users of Apple's popular iPad, iTouch and iPhone products.

Antony Bruno / Billboard.Biz:
Apple's New Subscription Rules Could Kill Streaming Music Services

Discussion: paidContent, Editors Weblog, Company Town, Ars Technica, NAA Community, hypebot and the Econsultancy blog

John Gapper / John Gapper's blog:
Apple's battle for control with Amazon

Discussion: SAI, Mashable!, MediaNama, Between the Lines Blog, thebookseller.com/news … and mocoNews

Nat Ives / AdAge:
Popular Science Accepts Apple's Terms, Starts Selling iPad Subscriptions

Discussion: MediaMemo, eMedia Vitals, Popular Science, FishbowlNY, MacStories and Nieman Journalism Lab

CBS News:

CBS News' Lara Logan Assaulted During Egypt Protests — CBS News Chief Foreign Correspondent Separated From Her Crew And Brutally Assaulted on Day Mubarak Stepped Down — On Friday February 11, the day Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stepped down, CBS correspondent Lara Logan was covering …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Wrap, National Review, Salon, Committee to Protect …, The Huffington Post, LA Observed, The Wire, Poynter, Mediaite, Press Gazette, TVNewser, The Daily Caller, Debbie Schlussel, Guardian, Runnin' Scared, Politics Daily, Editors Weblog, coats2coats.com/wordpress, Big Government, AOL News, Tuned In, PopWatch, The Maynard Institute, On Media's Blog, rbr.com, Free Press, The First Post, ThinkProgress, The Atlantic Online, PopEater, New York Magazine, About.com Journalism, News Desk, Media Diary, From Inside the Box, TBD All News, The Informer, @rafat, @jeffbercovici, @brianstelter, @jaketapper, FishbowlDC, @thegarance, Inside TV, Hot Air, The Frisky, Chickaboomer, The Atlantic Wire, FrumForum, Broadcasting & Cable, FishbowlNY, Gawker, New York Observer, NPR, @nbcnightlynews, AmSpecBlog and Deadline.com

Suzi Parker / Politics Daily:
Lara Logan Assault: For Female Reporters, the Added Peril of Turbulent Places

Discussion: The Wrap, The Wire, The Huffington Post, TVNewser and Big Government

Foster Kamer / Esquire:
Lara Logan Assaulted in Egypt: Notes from the Night Before

Discussion: Runnin' Scared, TV Squad, Media Decoder and Mediaite

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

Inside Twitter's Sales Machine: A Secret Guide For Advertisers (Video) — Twitter hopes to generate something like $100 million from advertising this year, but first it has to teach people how to buy its ads. Here's how they're doing that: A hand-holding how-to video …

Emily Steel / Wall Street Journal:

WPP to Unveil Interactive Ad Network — Advertising giant WPP PLC is preparing to unveil a new interactive ad agency network called Possible Worldwide, part of a broader push to reposition its business to tap global growth in digital ad dollars. — The network will stitch together four digital ad agencies …

Discussion: 5 Blogs Before Lunch and AdPulp

Kunur Patel / AdAge: WPP to Roll Up Digital Agencies Into New Unit

Scott Libin / Poynter:

WJLA General Manager Bill Lord on future of TBD.com: ‘We need to be more cost conscious, and we need more page views’ — In retrospect, maybe choosing the name TBD was prophetic. — Six months after its birth, the fate of the Washington, D.C., metro news site now appears to be determined …

Kara Swisher / BoomTown:

Exclusive: Facebook Grabs Microsoft Global Ad Head Carolyn Everson — Apparently, it's not only in Google's pond where Facebook fishes for talent-the social networking giant has recruited Microsoft's global advertising head Carolyn Everson as one of its top sales execs.

Discussion: Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, AdAge, Beet.TV, CNET News, paidContent and ClickZ, more at Techmeme »

James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:

On the Media: Is a not-for-profit news website in the cards for L.A.? — Venture capitalist and former Times Mirror executive Tom Unterman is ‘very hopeful’ about launching the venture. First hurdle: $10 million. — I've been wondering for a couple of years whether someone would bring Los Angeles …

Discussion: LA Observed, Reuters and Poynter

Joe Mullin / paidContent:

Have Media Companies Destroyed Their Copyrights With The ‘Share’ Button? — Righthaven has become controversial by taking a sue-first-ask-questions-later approach to copyright enforcement on behalf of its newspaper clients, which include MediaNews Group as well as the smaller chain that owns the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Kat Stoeffel / New York Observer:

The Lion's Catty Boys: The Claws Come Out for Dan and Dave — The cubs are pawing each other over at the Lion. As the West Village spot bids to pick up the mantle of Waverly Inn, several stakeholders are distancing themselves and the restaurant from its two most conspicuous investors, Dan Abrams and Dave Zinczenko.

Discussion: Gawker

Jeff Bliss / Bloomberg:

Texas Attorney General Seeks Google Ad Rate Formula — Texas Attorney General Gregg Abbott's office has requested an array of information from Google Inc., including the firm's formula for setting advertising rates, according to a demand for documents by state antitrust officials.

Discussion: Bits, New York Magazine, Digital Daily, Fortune and CNET News, more at Techmeme »

DealBook:

Borders Files for Bankruptcy — Borders Group, the beleaguered bookseller, filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday after failing to secure agreements with publishers and other vendors about reorganizing its debt. — The bookseller listed $1.29 billion in debt and $1.27 billion in assets …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Moral Hazard, Deal Journal, AOL News, Gawker and CrunchGear, more at Techmeme »

Glynnis MacNicol / The Wire:

The Best Parts Of Michael Wolff's Adweek Hit Pieces Are In The Comments Sections — In the past three weeks Michael Wolff's Adweek has attempted to launch itself into the consciousness of New York media with a series of hit pieces penned by a journalist named Dylan Byers.

Alex Alvarez / Mediaite:
Michael Wolff Vs. Elizabeth Spiers: The Anatomy Of A Media Feud

Discussion: Michael Gross

Dylan Stableford / The Wrap:

Comcast Profits Up as Company Looks for NBC Primetime Turnaround — With NBC Universal securely in its pocket, Comcast reported a 7 percent increase in fourth quarter revenue and an 11 percent jump in operating income on Wednesday, as cable customers ordered more services and advertising grew.

Discussion: rbr.com, Online Video News, MediaMemo, New York Times, The Wire and CNET News

Andrew Adam Newman / New York Times:

Competing for the Cover of the Rolling Stone — AS Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show famously sang in 1973, getting “your picture on the cover of the Rolling Stone” signaled that a band had officially arrived. But for the first time in its 44-year history, Rolling Stone editors are ceding …

Discussion: FishbowlNY and eMedia Vitals

Andrew Wallenstein / paidContent:

Premium VOD Is Doomed If This Piracy Study Is Correct — A new PricewaterhouseCoopers study casts serious doubt on consumer willingness to pay for movies on digital platforms. Warning: Film-industy executives interested in reading further may want to first increase dosage of any anti-depressants they might be taking.

Discussion: GigaOM and Future of Journalism