Mediagazer: DirecTV Real Interested In Netflix, Contemplates Launching A Competitor (Dave Zatz/Zatz Not Funny!)

10:35 PM ET, April 26, 2011

Top News:

Alicia Dennis / People.com:

Katie Couric: I Am Leaving CBS Evening News — After weeks of widespread speculation about her future, Katie Couric is finally ready to go on the record. — “I have decided to step down from the CBS Evening News,” Couric tells PEOPLE exclusively. “I'm really proud of the talented team …

Bloomberg:
Couric Said to Weigh Move to ABC as CBS Anchor Job Ends

Discussion: TVNewser, The Wrap, Broadcasting & Cable, Vanity Fair, CBS News and Bloomberg

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

AOL's Patch Adding 8,000 Bloggers in ‘Full-On Course Correction’ — Ah, memories. Image via Wikipedia — Arianna Huffington must not be taking that class action lawsuit against her too seriously. Not only is AOL's new content chief not cutting down on the use of unpaid bloggers, she's doubling down — literally.

Discussion: paidContent, SAI, FishbowlNY and LA Observed

Sharon Waxman / The Wrap:

EXCLUSIVE: YouTube Finally Goes Hollywood With New Movies on Demand Service (Updated) — YouTube will imminently launch a movie-on-demand service charging users to stream movies off the world's largest video sharing site, TheWrap has learned. — The new service means a full-bore challenge …

Tanzina Vega / Media Decoder:

Faced With Declines, McClatchy Weighs Digital Subscriptions — The newspaper industry continues to take a major hit as reflected by earnings reported on Tuesday by The McClatchy Company, the parent company to newspapers like The Kansas City Star, The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald.

Discussion: The McClatchy Company, paidContent and MediaPost

Jay Rosen / Pressthink:

What I Think I Know About Journalism — Next month I will have taught journalism at New York University for 25 years, an occasion that has led me to reflect on what I have tried to profess in that time. — Or, to put it another way, what I think I know about journalism. — It comes down to these four ideas.

Discussion: Poynter and FishbowlNY

Joe Pompeo / Yahoo! News:

Village Voice taps Harry Siegel as metro columnist — The Village Voice has been without a metro columnist since the abrupt departure of longtime staffer Tom Robbins back in January. — Starting in June, however, a new name will appear where Robbins' once did on the the masthead …

Discussion: Runnin' Scared and FishbowlNY

Joe Pompeo / Yahoo! News:

Keith Olbermann's new show with a familiar name will premiere June 20 on Current TV — When Current TV announced in early February that Keith Olbermann was joining its prime-time lineup, the emerging cable news network set “spring” as the targeted launch date for the bombastic former MSNBC anchor's new show.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Media Decoder

Burgess Everett / On Media's Blog:
Olbermann announcement planned Tuesday

Discussion: Speakeasy, Mediaite, MyFox New York, The Wrap, The Wire, MediaPost, rbr.com, The Atlantic Wire, Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel

Andy Plesser / Beet.TV:

Breaking News on YouTube and the Emerging Role of the Citizen Editor/Curator — SAN BRUNO, CA — While YouTube is playing a unique role in providing raw video of the unrest in the Middle East to the Web, and to many of the the world's news organizations, the giant video site doesn't actually organize or vet video.

Betsy Rothstein / FishbowlDC:

Michael Kinsley Heads to Bloomberg View — New York Magazine National Affairs Correspondent John Heilemann released the tip just minutes ago of a possible job prospect for Bloomberg View. He wrote, “Just ran into Mike Kinsley in lobby of offices of Bloomberg View, getting tour from DShipley.

Discussion: @jheil, On Media's Blog and The Atlantic Wire

Benjamin Wallace-Wells / New York Magazine:

What's Left of the Left — Paul Krugman's lonely crusade. — If you are looking not only for clues into Barack Obama's character but for a definition of what his presidency will mean to the country, then the speech on fiscal policy that he delivered at George Washington University …

Discussion: Forbes.com, Mother Jones, Yglesias and Dealbreaker

Eric Athas / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The Pearl Project: Bringing colleges into the investigative ecosystem — Does a piece of the future of in-depth reporting include a pack of students, a couple of veteran journalists-turned-academics and some college credit? At Georgetown University, Barbara Feinman Todd and Asra Q. Nomani believe …

Discussion: AOL News

Bradley Johnson / AdAge:

Tweet This: Agencies Get 28% of Revenue From Digital — Mad Ave Better Take Note — You Are Digital, or You Are Very, Very Unimportant — Digital services accounted for an estimated $8.5 billion (28%) of the $30.4 billion in 2010 U.S. revenue generated by the 900-plus advertising …

Discussion: Folio, Techland and MinOnline

Ivanoransky / Retraction Watch:

More details emerge on ScienceBlogs-National Geographic deal — Yesterday, we reported that National Geographic had bought ScienceBlogs. We've now obtained a recording of a conference call between various members of National Geographic senior management, ScienceBlogs management …

Ivanoransky / Retraction Watch:
So who bought ScienceBlogs? Retraction Watch exclusive: National Geographic

Discussion: Pharyngula, CJR and Poynter.

Chris O'Shea / FishbowlNY:

The New York Times' Subscription Ad Campaign Costs $13 Million — The New York Times wants everyone to sign up for one of its subscription plans, so to help spread the word, the company launched a massive ad campaign. — WWD reports that the effort - which runs through 2011 …

Discussion: SocialTimes.com, UnBeige and TVSpy

Zeke Turner / WWD Media Headlines:
Memo Pad: New York Times' Subscription Push... Mary Berner Opts Out...

Discussion: Terry Heaton's PoMo Blog

Dave Zatz / Zatz Not Funny!:

DirecTV Real Interested In Netflix, Contemplates Launching A Competitor — DirecTV (DTV) hit up some of their customers today with a web survey. A very interesting web survey. As it's nearly all about Netflix (NFLX) - usage patterns, both physical discs and online streaming.

Discussion: GigaOM, Engadget and Electronista

David Hirschman / Street Fight:

EveryBlock's Adrian Holovaty: Enabling Community Conversation — Journalist and programmer Adrian Holovaty has been building out local news databases for a while now. A former Washington Post staffer, Holovaty is also the creator of the open-source platform Django, as well as chicagocrime.org (which later was folded into EveryBlock).

Discussion: Poynter and Future of Journalism

SAI: Silicon Alley Insider:

The Incredible Shrinking New York Times — The New York Times has righted its ship after a near-death experience during the last recession. — Thanks to sharp cost-cutting, the company has returned to profitability. And thanks to frantic debt restructuring, the NYT has also removed …

Discussion: The Wire

Ben Popper / Betabeat:

Ask Josh Harris: A Fireside Chat on the Future of Media — This week we present a special live event edition of Ask Josh Harris in partnership with General Assembly. — Josh Harris sat forward in his chair, eyeing the circle of young men gathered around him in a tight circle of chairs.