Mediagazer: All Eyes on NBCU News Chairman (Wall Street Journal)

10:40 AM ET, November 16, 2012

Top News:

Matthew Purdy / New York Times:

Letter Raises Questions About When BBC Ex-Chief Learned of Abuse Cases — A legal letter sent on behalf of Mark Thompson, the former director general of the BBC, raises questions about his assertions that he learned of accusations of sexual abuse against its longtime host Jimmy Savile only after leaving the corporation's top job.

Discussion: Media Decoder, FishbowlNY, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Deadline.com, The Huffington Post, @edmundlee and New York Magazine

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Mark Thompson says he didn't see letter about BBC allegations sent on his behalf — Mark Thompson says he was not aware of the details in a letter he authorized threatening London paper The Sunday Times with “defamation proceedings” over an article it was preparing about BBC program “Newsnight” …

Robert Andrews / paidContent:

HuffPo is not for sale, except maybe at the right price — Within months of AOL acquiring Arianna Huffington's blog and news network in 2011, reports surfaced claiming it could quickly off-load the property. — Speaking to me at Monaco Media Forum, AOL Huffington Post Media Group international SVP Jimmy Maymann said:

Clay Shirky:

Napster, Udacity, and the Academy — Fifteen years ago, a research group called The Fraunhofer Institute announced a new digital format for compressing movie files. This wasn't a terribly momentous invention, but it did have one interesting side effect: Fraunhofer also had to figure out how to compress the soundtrack.

Keach Hagey / Digits:

Esquire To Make Print Magazine Interactive Through Netpage App — Magazines' future might be digital, but — Newsweek-style forced marches aside — that future is also years away. In the interim, magazines must figure out how to exist as print objects in an increasingly digital world.

Discussion: Publishing Executive …

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

Viacom CEO Signals No Interest in Acquisition of Major Studio — Asked if the company could bid if a studio like Sony Pictures became available, Philippe Dauman said “I continue to not see any large-scale acquisition.” — Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman said Thursday that he continues to expect …

Discussion: The Wrap

Amy Chozick / Media Decoder:
Viacom Profit Increases, but Movie Division Hurts Revenues

Discussion: Home Media Magazine and Radio & Television …

Jennifer Saba / Reuters: Viacom posts higher profit; CEO says MTV is not broken

Chris Ariens / TVNewser:

Roger Ailes on Election Night: ‘Rove was wrong. He backed down. Our guys were right.’ — On election night, Fox News co-founder and chairman Roger Ailes watched election coverage in the News Corp. Sports Suite, down the hall from his second floor office.

Discussion: ABCNEWS

Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:

Mark Shapiro is candidate for top job at CNN — Former Dick Clark Productions Chief Executive Mark Shapiro has emerged as a candidate for the top job at the cable news channel CNN, according to people familiar with the matter. — Shapiro, who prior to running Dick Clark Productions …

Discussion: TVNewser

Chris Ariens / TVNewser:

Virginia Moseley Leaves ABC After 18 Years, Joins CNN as VP/Deputy Bureau Chief in Washington — Veteran ABC News producer Virginia Moseley is jumping to CNN, TVNewser has learned. Moseley will be VP and Deputy Bureau Chief of the DC bureau, reporting to Sam Feist.

Discussion: Politico and FishbowlNY

Wall Street Journal:

All Eyes on NBCU News Chairman — Fili-Krushel Makes Presence Known With Recent Shake-Up at ‘Today’ Show — When NBCUniversal chief Steve Burke named Pat Fili-Krushel to oversee the company's news operations in July, the appointment caught many by surprise.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times

Ben Fritz / Los Angeles Times:

Variety lays off staff, plans to reduce frequency of publication — Variety has laid off nearly 20 staffers and will cut back on its print frequency. (Variety) — The new owner of Variety is laying off nearly 20 employees at the Hollywood trade paper while preparing to cut back on the number of times it prints each week.

Discussion: Deadline.com and LA Observed

Wall Street Journal:

Google, Dish Held Talks to Launch Wireless Service — Google Inc. has held talks with satellite-TV provider Dish Network Corp. in recent weeks to partner on a new wireless service that would rival the networks of wireless carriers such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Discussion: iDownloadBlog.com, Deadline.com and Engadget

Jessica Roy / Betabeat:

Social Media Companies Have Absolutely No Idea How to Handle the Gaza Conflict — After announcing their intention to attack Hamas on Twitter, the Israeli Defense Force began military operations in Gaza yesterday. The Alqassam Brigades, Hamas's military arm, also has a Twitter account …

Discussion: Gawker, Fast Company, Guardian, Wired, Media News, ReadWrite, Red Alert Politics, WorldViews, Daily Dot, Mother Jones, BAGnewsNotes, AllThingsD, Poynter and Forbes

Andy Greenberg / Forbes:
Anonymous Hackers Hit Israeli Sites In Retaliation For Gaza Attacks

Discussion: The Daily Beast, NYT Bits, Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day and Daily Download

Daniel Terdiman / CNET:

Hollywood bigwig Peter Chernin joins Twitter's board — The former News Corp. executive, who also helped launch Hulu, has become the eighth member of Twitter's board of directors. … Twitter said this afternoon that former News Corp. executive Peter Chernin has become the newest member of its board of directors.

Discussion: GigaOM, @twitter, Media Week, AllThingsD, The Next Web and Lost Remote

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Laughable Daily Mail ‘investigation’ smears Leveson inquiry assessor — I have been worried about the Daily Mail's editor, Paul Dacre, for some time. After seeing today's issue of his paper, I really think it's time for the men in white coats to visit its Kensington offices as soon as possible.

Discussion: Guardian, Daily Mail, Daily Mail, Daily Mail, theweek.co.uk and TheAustralian

Jim Romenesko:

How Elizabeth Spiers got Mediabistro noticed - then failed to profit from its sale — When Mediabistro was sold in 2007, I told some people that I thought Elizabeth Spiers deserved at least a few of the millions that Laurel Touby took to the bank. — Touby (left) and Spiers

Discussion: The Awl and New York Times

Penelope Green / New York Times:
The Loft That Mediabistro Built

Discussion: @laureltouby, Gawker, @laureltouby and @real_kaplan

Tara Conlan / Guardian:

BBC rules out costly search for George Entwistle replacement — BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten and trustees will not follow lengthy search and interview process for next director general — Lord Patten, the BBC Trust chairman, and fellow trustees have ruled out another lengthy and costly search …