Mediagazer: Hulu, Viacom Expand Content Partnership; SpongeBob (And Nickelodeon Friends) Join Hulu Plus (Natasha Lomas/TechCrunch)

12:15 PM ET, October 10, 2012

Top News:

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Willie Geist Is Named Co-Host of 9 a.m. Hour of ‘Today’ — NBC's “Today” show on Wednesday welcomed Willie Geist, the MSNBC newsman and occasional comedian, as the new co-host of its 9 a.m. hour. The network confirmed that Mr. Geist would become a permanent presence on “Today,” …

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable and Inside TV

Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:

Penske will tear down Variety's pay wall: sources — Variety's pay wall is going to come tumbling down, informed sources say, now that the 107-year-old Hollywood trade title has been acquired by Deadline.com owner Jay Penske. Penske, who is believed to have paid Reed Elsevier between $26 million …

Ben Fritz / Los Angeles Times: Jay Penske discusses plans for Variety

Ben Fritz / Los Angeles Times:
Variety bought by Deadline owner Penske Media, Third Point

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Anthony Shadid a finalist for National Book Awards — Anthony Shadid is a finalist in this year's National Book Awards' nonfiction category. The New York Times reporter's memoir “House of Stone” was published shortly after his death from an asthma attack in Syria this February.

Discussion: GalleyCat and The Wrap

Kira Goldenberg / CJR:

Columbia J-school dean stepping down — Nicholas Lemann, dean of Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism, will be stepping down at the end of the current academic year, the school announced on Wednesday morning. (The news broke in the media world on Tuesday afternoon.)

Discussion: Media Decoder, FishbowlNY, Columbia University …, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Poynter, @profjeffjarvis, The Wrap, @jeffjarvis, @chanders, @nytfridge, @romenesko, @sree, @carr2n and @evgenymorozov

John Cook / Gawker:

Bain Capital Wants a Piece of Gawker — After we published nearly 1,000 pages of Bain Capital's confidential financial records—including audits revealing for the first time that Bain employed a potentially illegal tax dodge currently under investigation by the New York attorney general …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM and Business Insider

AllThingsD:

Twitter Buys Vine, a Video Clip Company That Never Launched — If Twitter ends up running its own video service, this should help: The messaging service has bought Vine, a video-sharing start-up. — We don't have terms for the deal, but this looks a lot like an “acqhire” …

Discussion: Engadget, NetNewsCheck Latest, Business Insider, VatorNews, TechCrunch, SocialTimes, The Next Web, WebProNews, Mashable!, Softpedia News and The Verge

Jim Romenesko:

New York Times to make ‘final offer’ to guild on Thursday — A message sent to New York Times guild members on Tuesday evening says management answered staffers' “demonstration of profound unhappiness” — a brief Monday afternoon walkout — “by throwing a tantrum and taking two provocative actions Tuesday.”

Discussion: Poynter, nyguild.org, LA Observed, New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, JIMROMENESKO.COM and The Newspaper Guild

Dan Sabbagh / Guardian:

Jimmy Savile: BBC to bring in outsider to head inquiry — The BBC is preparing to bring in an outsider to head its independent inquiry into the Jimmy Savile affair, after criticism of its slow response to the unfolding scandal and claims that the Jim'll Fix It star was apparently able to get away with sexual abuse over several decades.

Kate Solomon / TechRadar.com:

Samsung adds Spotify streaming to Smart TVs — A new Spotify app is coming to Samsung Smart TVs so you can stream music through your television. As well as hitting Samsung's smart TV sets, the app will also be available on connected Blu-ray players and home theatre systems.

Discussion: @andysternberg

Adrienne LaFrance / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The Orange County Register is hiring dozens of reporters, focusing on print-first expansion — Why did the Orange County Register send reporters and photogs to cover 40 — yes, four-zero, 40 — high-school sporting events in one weekend? No, it's not another news mob. Nor is it a one-time thing.

Discussion: The Newspaper Guild

Melena Ryzik / New York Times:

Art.sy Is Mapping the World of Art on the Web — Any music fan knows that there are myriad ways to find new songs online: a scroll through digital playlists and streaming radio services like Pandora, which serve as musical recommendation engines. Likewise, Netflix subscribers are regularly showered …

Discussion: Softpedia News, Fortune, TechCrunch, NYConvergence.com, Open Culture, The Verge and PandoDaily

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Kobo acquires French digital software company Aquafadas — Toronto-based e-reading company Kobo has acquired French digital software company Aquafadas, the companies announced at the Frankfurt Book Fair on Wednesday. The terms of the acquisition were undisclosed.

Discussion: TechCrunch