Mediagazer: Google Play Movies, TV shows, and Music now on Google TV (Ambarish Kenghe/The Official Google …)

10:45 PM ET, October 9, 2012

Top News:

Variety bought by Deadline owner Penske Media, Third Point — The Hollywood trade paper Variety has been acquired by Penske Media Corp. and its financial backer, private equity firm Third Point, for about $25 million, in a power shift for the world of show business and a transformation of the industry's most famous news brand.

Ben Fritz / Los Angeles Times:

Jay Penske discusses plans for Variety — Jay Penske has emerged as one of the most powerful figures in the world of entertainment news for industry professionals. A virtual unknown in Hollywood just over three years ago, the 33-year-old son of auto magnate Roger Penske acquired editor …

Chris Staiti / Bloomberg:

Columbia's Lemann Said to Step Down as Journalism Dean — Nicholas Lemann, dean of Columbia University's Journalism School, plans to step down after almost a decade in the post, according to a person familiar with the situation. — The announcement could come as early as tomorrow.

Discussion: Columbia University …, @carr2n, Media Decoder, JIMROMENESKO.COM and @evgenymorozov

Guardian:

Jimmy Savile: Panorama to conduct investigation into sex abuse allegations — The BBC's Panorama is preparing an investigation into Jimmy Savile, as the broadcaster deals with the fallout around its controversial decision to drop an earlier Newsnight report on the late Jim'll Fix It star.

Discussion: Guardian

Michael Holden / Reuters: BBC star may have abused girls over four decades

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:
Jimmy Savile: Lord Patten says behaviour can not be excused

Discussion: @lucymanning, @timescrime and Guardian

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

Jim Romenesko:

‘The anger is getting worse’ at New York Times — New York Times science correspondent Donald G. McNeil Jr. tells Romenesko readers that between 375 and 400 Times staffers participated in today's walkout. “Plus there were 23 out at the Washington bureau,” he writes.

Discussion: LA Observed, Capital New York, Media Decoder, The Huffington Post, The Newspaper Guild, Chickaboomer and Guardian

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Founder Tim Westergren Says Some Musicians Earn Up To $3 Million A Year From Pandora — Pandora founder Tim Westergren denied claims that musicians earn peanuts from streaming services and said today at SF MusicTech that lower royalty rates would bolster innovation.

Discussion: GigaOM, Pandora, CNET, Business Insider, The Next Web and SocialTimes

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Jack Welch Quits Columnist Gigs Over Tweet Blowback. Too Bad He Wasn't Fired. — In the end, Fortune and Reuters didn't have to grapple with whether to fire Jack Welch for spreading conspiracy theories on Twitter. Welch did them a favor and fired himself.

Discussion: Fortune, AdAge, Mediaite, 9to5Mac, FishbowlNY, Reuters, The Huffington Post, Poynter and Media Decoder

Ambarish Kenghe / The Official Google TV Blog:

Google Play Movies, TV shows, and Music now on Google TV — Starting today more of the Google Play experience will come to your Google TV. Google Play Movies, TV shows, and Music will be rolling out to your Google TV over the next few weeks. You'll be able to buy or rent content directly through …

Discussion: Engadget, WebProNews, CNET and TechCrunch

Hunter Walker / The New York Observer:

Is The Daily Beast Becoming a Halfway House For Wayward Hacks? — Newsbeast editor in chief Tina Brown seems to have developed a redemptive streak, at least when it comes to the bad boys and girls of the media world. Her website has recently published several pieces by otherwise disgraced journalists.

Alex Weprin / TVNewser:

NBC News Shakes Up Management Team, New EP at ‘Rock Center’ — NBC News has shaken up its leadership team, promoting DC bureau chief Antoine Sanfuentes (left) to senior VP of NBC News, promoting David Verdi to senior VP of newsgathering, upping Ken Strickland to DC bureau chief and naming Alex Wallace (center) EP of “Rock Center.”

Discussion: Media Decoder, Broadcasting & Cable and TVSpy

Paul Bradshaw / Online Journalism Blog:

Stop attacking ‘web-first’ as if the world is going to stand still — This week feels very much like 2009. That year I published a post titled ‘How the web changed the economics of news’, a brief overview of some of the economic factors impacting on publishing which has recently experienced …

Discussion: GigaOM, Editor & Publisher ®, nujnewmedia.org.uk, @johncthompson, @jeffjarvis and @jayrosen_nyu

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:

Hulu, Viacom Expand Content Partnership; SpongeBob (And Nickelodeon Friends) Join Hulu Plus — In a bid to beef up the kid-friendly credentials of its Hulu Plus online video streaming service, Nickelodeon programming is being added to the service for the first time.