Mediagazer: For Comcast, Daring Deals to Expand Its Reach Across Industries (DealBook)

11:55 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, Mashable, @ericklinenberg, The Lead with Jake Tapper, Los Angeles Times, CNBC, Broadcasting & Cable, cnbc.com, Variety and Re/code

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: Gigaom, @cjr, @mparekh, @edwardericsonjr, The Newspaper Guild and Boing Boing

Alex Weprin / Capital New York:

Comcast deal could put NY1 in FiOS homes — Comcast's acquisition of Time Warner Cable could be a boon for NY1, TWC's beloved local cable news channel. — According to an open letter from Comcast executive V.P. David L. Cohen, cable channels owned by Time Warner Cable would be subject …

Discussion: Gigaom, @jkealing, @joshrobin, New York Magazine, PandoDaily, CNET, Home Media Magazine and Gothamist

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: @waltmossberg and Deadline.com

DealBook:

For Comcast, Daring Deals to Expand Its Reach Across Industries — Three weeks ago, Comcast unveiled plans to build an addition to its headquarters, a gleaming steel-and-glass tower designed by the renowned architect Norman Foster that will cast a shadow over downtown Philadelphia.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Variety, BuzzFeed and Mediawire Daily

Jeanine Poggi / AdAge:
What Comcast-Time Warner Cable Means for Advertising

Discussion: Variety, Capital New York, The New Yorker Blog, Business Insider and NY Daily News

Dana Mattioli / Wall Street Journal:
Charter Likely to Pursue Other Acquisitions

Discussion: MoneyBeat and Law Blog

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

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

Lee Fang / Republic Report:
Revolving Door: Top Obama Admin Antitrust Officials Tied To Comcast

Discussion: The Switch, Politico, @lhfang, AdExchanger, Fortune, Gigaom and Ars Technica

Susan Crawford / Bloomberg:
Comcast's Time Warner Deal Is Bad for America

Discussion: Slate, Digiday, Mediaite, TVNewser, DealBook, ReadWrite, @dankennedy_nu, @stevenlevy, @stevenlevy, Guardian, @scottros, @themightychris, Wired, Mashable, @harvard_law, The New York Observer, BuzzFeed, @froomkin, Consumerist, @agolis, @kpkelleher and Gigaom

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Piers Morgan was questioned by Scotland Yard's hacking squad — Former Daily Mirror editor confirms he was interviewed by officers from Operation Weeting in December — Piers Morgan, the CNN presenter who used to edit the Daily Mirror, has been interviewed under caution by Scotland Yard detectives investigating phone-hacking.

Lucia Moses / Adweek:

The Guardian's Unusual Take on Native Ads — The Guardian is jumping on the native ad trend—but, in character for the British newspaper, it's doing so in its own way. Today it announced the first client, Unilever, of Guardian Labs, its in-house branded content unit.

Discussion: GNM press office, MediaPost, @noahchestnut, @niemanlab, Flashes & Flames, InPublishing, thedrum.com, The Dish and Press Gazette

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Guardian Media Group takes 15% stake in digital training company — Decoded, based in London's Silicon Roundabout, has trained more than 7,000 people to ‘Code in a Day’ — The parent company of the Guardian has taken a minority stake in Decoded, the London-based digital training company …

Eric J. Smith / NetNewsCheck:

McClatchy Print Slide Offset By Digital Gains — While ad revenue continued to slide during McClatchy Co.'s fourth quarter, the company said its print declines were partially offset by 2.2% growth in direct marketing and total digital advertising. — The McClatchy Co. today reported total …

Discussion: Poynter, MediaPost, bizjournals, PR Newswire, The State, Merced Sun-Star & …, RTTNews and Talking New Media

Peter Travers / Rolling Stone:

De La Soul to Make Entire Catalog Available for Free — Pioneering hip-hop group also releasing flood of new music — In honor of next month's 25th anniversary of their debut album 3 Feet High and Rising, De La Soul are making their entire catalog available for free download for 25 hours on the group's website.

Discussion: Gawker, BetaNews, Gigaom, hypebot, Mashable, The Verge, Pocket-lint, The Next Web, Gizmodo, All, Engadget and NME

Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:

Maxim owners grow desperate as latest deal collapses — The troubled auction to sell Maxim is back on. — The owners of Alpha Media and Maxim magazine had already dropped Darden Media Group as a potential buyer even before the arrest Wednesday of convicted stock swindler Calvin Darden Jr …

Discussion: Mediawire Daily, FishbowlNY and Fox Business

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: @romustgo, The Next Web, Softpedia News, Committee to Protect … 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: NetNewsCheck Latest, @wsjpersonaltech, @zeynep, @wsjd, @a_grossman, @cschweitz, @reformedbroker and @peteskomoroch

Jessica Misener / BuzzFeed:

This American Life and Google team up for a podcast-style Valentine's Day doodle — The Story Behind Today's Super Romantic Google Doodle — This American Life's Ira Glass tells BuzzFeed about the radio-inspired stories gracing today's Google homepage, as well as why social media unnerves him, and his own Valentine's Day plans.

Discussion: ZDNet, Mashable, @jessmisener, @jaredbkeller and CNET

Trent Wolbe / The Verge:

Can we save AM radio? — Keeping amplitude modulation out of the dustbin of history — Before Facebook, before the internet, before cellphones and TV and even FM radio, there was AM radio. Entire families would gather around elaborate refrigerator-sized receivers and bask in the warm glow …

Eric Deggans / NPR:

Redefining Hollywood: ‘Diversity Makes More Money’ — If you spend much time talking about diversity in Hollywood, it's an argument you'll hear often: that ethnic and gender diversity is nice, but it doesn't make a movie profitable or bring ratings to a TV show.

Anna Prior / Wall Street Journal:

Liberty Global's Loss Narrows — Revenue Up on Gains From Virgin Media Acquisition — Liberty Global PLC's fourth-quarter loss narrowed as revenue improved amid gains from its Virgin Media acquisition. — Liberty Global, led by media mogul John Malone, has pursued an aggressive global expansion, focusing on Europe.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Business Wire, Hollywood Reporter and Digital TV Europe