Mediagazer: Video Networks Alloy Digital, Break Media to Merge Into Defy Media (Tim Peterson/AdAge)

12:10 AM ET, October 9, 2013

Top News:

Alex Kantrowitz / AdAge:

Flipboard Hits 90 Million Users, Nearly Doubles Since April — Just two weeks after announcing a $50 million dollar round of funding, mobile news reader Flipboard revealed growth numbers that may explain investors' eagerness to get behind it. — The company now claims 90 million users …

Discussion: Fast Company, @themediaisdying and GigaOM

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
Are Flipboard and Currents marketing partners or scams that take advantage of publishers?

Discussion: @jeffdebalko

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Flipboard, Currents are “scams against publishers”

Discussion: @ia, @bmorrissey, @jakerome, @vb2b and @michaelroston

Press Gazette:

Government presses on with Parliament-backed press regulation plan - but offers compromise on libel arbitration — The Government has rejected a press regulation plan put forward by newspaper and magazine publishers and is instead press ahead with the ratification of a Royal Charter …

Discussion: Guardian and Guardian

Hugh Grant / Guardian:
Ignore the press barons: a royal charter is not ‘state regulation’

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, @hackedoffhugh, Media Law Prof Blog and CNN

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:
Government gives press three days to get behind regulation plans

Discussion: BBC, @lisaocarroll, @dbanksy and @michaelwolffnyc

Fraser Nelson / Spectator:
Sorry, Maria Miller. We still won't sign

Discussion: @misterjorgensen, @alexmassie, @douglascarswell, @leshinton, @drwollastonmp and @make_trouble

Tim Peterson / AdAge:

Video Networks Alloy Digital, Break Media to Merge Into Defy Media — Combined Company Projected to Rake in $100 Million in Revenue — In the latest sign of consolidation in online video, two major online video networks and production companies, Alloy Digital and Break Media will merge to form Defy Media …

Discussion: VentureBeat and AllThingsD

Leslie Kaufman / New York Times:

2 Companies in Web Video Are Expected to Merge — In another sign that the world of digital video production may be entering an era of consolidation, two significant participants in the market, Alloy Digital and Break Media, are expected to announce on Tuesday that they will merge.

Discussion: VideoInk, New York Business Journal and Media & Entertainment

Sara Morrison / The Wrap:

President Obama Shuns TV Reporters During Shutdown Press Conference — President Barack Obama blamed Republicans in Congress for putting the country on the brink of financial disaster in a Tuesday press conference about the government shutdown that clocked more than an hour …

Discussion: Erik Wemple and Politico

Politico:

No healthcare questions at Obama presser — President Barack Obama sustained an hour-long press conference today without a single question about his signature healthcare law and the glitches that continue to plague the insurance exchanges — a point that frustrated several conservatives.

Discussion: TVNewser, @whpresscorps, @tommyxtopher, @allahpundit, @ethanklapper, @tommyxtopher, @tommyxtopher, Talking Points Memo, @ethanklapper, @tvnewser, The Huffington Post, @ethanklapper and @ethanklapper

Lucia Moses / Adweek:

Sports Illustrated Is Testing a New Type of Paywall — Sports Illustrated is testing a paywall that lets readers access its print articles early if they watch a 30-second video ad first. — The provider is Selectable Media, which has been testing consumers' willingness to watch video ads for free WiFi, music and games.

Discussion: FishbowlNY, @larsalbright, Top Digital Journal News and Kirk LaPointe's …

Elizabeth Jensen / New York Times:

‘PBS NewsHour’ Looks to Change Ownership — WASHINGTON — MacNeil-Lehrer Productions will give up its ownership of the “The PBS NewsHour,” which has struggled financially in recent years, its two longtime co-anchors told the staff on Tuesday. — In an internal memo, the two co-anchors …

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

The Week Gets Its Third Publisher in Three Years — The Week, the offline/online news aggregator, has a new publisher. — Tim Koorbusch, who had been running U.S. sales for Say Media for the last year, has replaced Michael Wolfe, who joined the company at the beginning of 2012.

Ellen McGirt / Fast Company:

Twitter Defines Itself By What Facebook Isn't — Ask Twitter CEO Dick Costolo or any of his lieutenants what makes Twitter special and the answer is the same: “It's public, it's real time, it's conversational, and it's widely distributed.” It took Twitter a long time to find a message and get everyone on the same page.

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

BBC Launches Playlister, A Social Music Service With Spotify, YouTube And Deezer To Tag Tracks Heard On BBC — On the heels of the BBC ramping up its iPlayer on-demand video and music player as the go-to place for all its digital assets, the UK's public broadcaster is also gearing up to take its music service up another notch.

Discussion: bbc.co.uk, Home Media Magazine, Pocket-lint, Digital Spy, Engadget, The Next Web, Softpedia News and blogs.ft.com

Mark Sweney / Guardian:
Tony Hall: BBC should give public access to shows online before broadcast

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Trust.org, Pocket-lint, TheMediaBriefing.com, Charlie Beckett and Spectator

Lauren Kirchner / Columbia Journalism Review:

Why journalists can still trust Tor — Despite the Silk Road bust, the Freedom Hosting attack, and even the latest Snowden scoop, it's still one of the most reliable tools for anonymity online — I'm not going to bury the lede. Yes, Tor is still the recommended method for journalists …

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Hearst UK reports tripled profits — Hearst UK, the British arm of the US company that publishes magazines such as Harper's Bazaar, Esquire and Good Housekeeping, has tripled its pre-tax profits to £17.4m, reports The Independent. — And it attributes part of that rise to digital sales …

Discussion: The Independent

Laura Hazard Owen / GigaOM:

More gadgets, more reading: Survey suggests e-reader and tablet owners read more books — A new survey from USA Today and book discovery website Bookish finds that U.S. adults who own a tablet or e-reader read more books than the device-less. The survey also found differences …

Discussion: Melville House Books and vook.com