Mediagazer: The Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger is not a marriage made to last (Heidi Moore/Guardian)

6:50 AM ET, February 14, 2014

Top News:

Edward Wyatt / DealBook:

Industry Shifts May Aid Comcast in Takeover Bid — On the face of it, the merger of the country's two largest cable companies would seem like a nonstarter, given its steep regulatory hurdles and skepticism from consumer watchdogs. — But Comcast's proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable comes …

Discussion: DealBook, Los Angeles Times, Reuters and DealBook

Michael J. Copps / Columbia Journalism Review:

Journalists need to generate a national discussion on the future of the internet — Journalists need to generate a national discussion on the future of the internet — Dear Journalists: — You may wonder why a long-time regulator like me is writing to you.

Discussion: @edwardericsonjr, @cjr, @mparekh and Boing Boing

Amy Schatz / Re/code:

Peering could replace net neutrality as one of the key issues in Comcast-Time Warner review — Sleeper Issue Peers Around the Corner of Comcast-Time Warner Deal — Comcast executives scored big points three years ago with the Federal Communications Commission by volunteering to abide …

Discussion: Deadline.com

Susan Crawford / Bloomberg:

Comcast's Time Warner Deal Is Bad for America — David Cohen, Comcast Corp.'s executive vice president and the mastermind behind its deal to buy Time Warner Cable Inc., sounded pugnacious and confident on a recent conference call with investors. Regulatory and antitrust approval of the deal …

Heidi Moore / Guardian:

The Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger is not a marriage made to last — Two troubled giants, loathed by the public and facing plummeting profits, are heralding a brighter future. Don't believe the hype — In mergers, as in marriage, the couple may be running toward each other - or away from something else.

Discussion: Corporate Intelligence, Fortune, @moorehn, @rwc356, Business Wire, @moorehn, AlterNet.org, MoneyBeat, Digits and Variety

Dana Mattioli / Wall Street Journal:

Charter Likely to Pursue Other Acquisitions — Cable Operator Unlikely to Counterbid for Time Warner Cable After Comcast's Offer — With cable's top two operators hooking up, rival Charter Communications Inc. is likely to look at other suitors, said people familiar with the company's thinking.

Discussion: MoneyBeat and Law Blog

Lee Fang / Republic Report:

Revolving Door: Top Obama Admin Antitrust Officials Tied To Comcast — The news that cable and news giant Comcast has struck a deal to purchase Time Warner, another large cable business, has raised concerns over market concentration. Observers note that the combined company …

Discussion: The Switch, Washington Post, @lhfang, Politico, AdExchanger and Gigaom

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:
Local stations ‘have reason to sweat’ over Comcast-Time Warner deal

Discussion: Latest News & Headlines, USA Today, bizjournals, Businessweek, BusinessJournalism.org …, PC Magazine and The Newspaper Guild

Lance Ulanoff / Mashable: The National Domination of Comcast and Time Warner in 1 Map

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
Comcast lists all the ways a merger with Time Warner is “pro-consumer”

Discussion: Comcast Voices Blog and Fast Company

Katy Bachman / Adweek:
FCC Backs Off Study of Newsroom Editorial Practices

Discussion: NationalJournal.com and Wall Street Journal

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:

Twitter Photos Blocked In Venezuela, Users Say — A social media crackdown as protests threaten the government. — WASHINGTON — Twitter photos and videos appear to be blocked in Venezuela as the government there attempts to reassert control amid widespread public protests.

Discussion: Softpedia News, Committee to Protect …, The Next Web, @romustgo and BBC

Elizabeth Dwoskin / Wall Street Journal:

Pandora to let advertisers target listeners based on its sense of their political leanings — Internet Radio Service Builds Profiles of Its Audience — Pandora Hopes to Build Ad Revenue by Pinpointing Likely Voting Preferences — Next time you listen to a Bob Marley channel on Pandora Media Inc. …

Discussion: @wsjpersonaltech, @zeynep, @peteskomoroch, @a_grossman and @cschweitz

Anupreeta Das / MoneyBeat:

Buffett's exit from Graham Holdings more closely resembles a friendly restructuring — Buffett to Graham: Parting Like Friends, With Benefits? … Warren Buffett's more-than-40-year business relationship with the Graham family could be coming to an end. But it's not clear what assets …

Bloomberg:
Buffett in Talks to Exit Stake in Graham Holdings

Discussion: Associated Press, Bloomberg, Reuters, @raju, Fortune, Slate and @bbgbillionaires

Matt Sheehan / The Huffington Post:

The Chinese Press Battles For Hearts And Minds Abroad — SAN FRANCISCO — At 9:25 p.m. on New Year's Day, Feng Yan parked his minivan outside the Chinese consulate here, doused the front door of the building with gasoline, and lit the place on fire. The blaze engulfed the front entrance …

Alan Jacobs / Text Patterns:

Today's email newsletters follow Grimm's precedent, who aimed for a “fit audience, though few” — Grimm's heirs — The last year or so has seen an intriguing renewal of a genre from the early years of the internet: the email newsletter. A couple of months ago Alexis Madrigal described …

Discussion: American Press Institute

India & World:

Columbia University students launch website on India's elections — New York: A group of Indian students at Columbia University here has launched a website focused exclusively on India's upcoming general elections, promising to provide a comprehensive and “no high-brow and jargon-led” reportage of the event.

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Josh Ong / The Next Web:

Editorially to shut down its collaborative writing service on May 30 — editorially 220x56 Editorially to shut down its collaborative writing service on May 30Editorially has announced plans to close its Web-based collaborative document product after failing to gain enough traction for it.

Discussion: STET

Zachary M. Seward / Quartz:

Ready to break the internet? Netflix's “House of Cards” premiere is a big test of how video gets to you — “My wife and I like to lay in bed and watch Netflix,” Tom Wheeler, chairman of the US Federal Communications Commission, said the other day. But when their internet connection slows down …

Discussion: Techdirt, @jmcduling, @pkafka, Digits and Engadget

Lee Siegel / New Yorker:

Is the News Replacing Literature? — In the postwar period, a generation of critics, inspired by Lionel Trilling, encapsulated the difference between high art and popular art in a single word: “complexity.” “Literature,” Trilling wrote, “is the human activity that takes the fullest …

Discussion: @ceodonovan, Kirk LaPointe's …, @raju and @culturedesk

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Reporters condemn Senate for silent vote — The Capitol Hill press corps is strongly condemning how the Senate handled a critical roll call vote on raising the debt ceiling Wednesday. — During a highly dramatic vote, the Senate clerk remained silent as senators submitted their votes …

Discussion: Roll Call, @apandrewtaylor and @feliciasonmez

Alastair Reid / Journalism.co.uk:

How digital weighs up against print for UK magazine circulations — New data from the Audit Bureau of Circulation reports combined digital and print sales for the first time with print still dominating, for now — The Audit Bureau for Circulation (ABC) has released the first ever combined print …

Discussion: WWD Media Headlines, mUmBRELLA and Guardian

Adam Samson / Fox Business:

Man Charged in Scheme to Fraudulently Buy Maxim Magazine — Calvin Darden, Jr. was charged by federal prosecutors Thursday for allegedly crafting an intricate scheme to defraud banks and impersonate his prominent father in an attempt to buy men's magazine Maxim.