Mediagazer: Yahoo's Tumblr First TV Ad Deal Is with Viacom (Todd Spangler/Variety)

4:15 PM ET, March 20, 2014

Top News:

Bloomberg Should Have Rethought Articles on China, Chairman Says — HONG KONG — The chairman of Bloomberg L.P. said in a speech here on Thursday that the company should have reconsidered articles that deviated from its core business-news coverage in light of the huge potential for its products in the Chinese market.

Discussion: @powellnyt, @mattdpearce, Kirk LaPointe's …, @antderosa, @limlouisa, @alifitzg, @eisingerj, @kenli729, @johngapper, @comradewong, @jeffbercovici, @felixsalmon, @dangillmor and @erikvance

Jessica Lessin / Guardian:

The future of news: know thy audience — As news businesses continue to redefine themselves for the digital age, knowing their audience is essential — When we launched The Information last December, many thought we were crazy. How could a $399-a-year technology news publication compete …

Discussion: @raju, @wajahatali, @theinformation, @newswhip, @mattrosoff and @rafat

Abigail Edge / Journalism.co.uk: Why The Information chose to follow a paywall model

Michael Learmonth / AdAge:

Tribune Company Built a Robot That Reads You The News — Shashi Seth Unveils First Product As Head of Tribune Digital Ventures — Krux — Shashi Seth loves NPR. But he would like it a lot more if he could skip stories. — That was the kernel of the idea behind Newsbeat …

Discussion: Poynter, Los Angeles Times, 10,000 Words, Variety, Pocket-lint, Re/code, Chicago Tribune, Tech Deals, TIME, TechCrunch, Digital Journal, Engadget and VentureBeat

Edmund Lee / Bloomberg:

TV Subscriptions Fall for First Time as Viewers Cut the Cord — The U.S. pay-television market is passing its prime. — The number of Americans who pay for TV through cable, satellite or fiber services fell by more than a quarter of a million in 2013, the first full-year decline, according to research firm SNL Kagan.

Discussion: Home Media Magazine, Satnews Publishers, Variety, MediaPost, Hollywood Reporter and USA Today

John Reynolds / Guardian:

Huffington Post may charge for some content, says chief executive — As HuffPo UK is set to move into profit, Jimmy Maymann said the website would consider charging within five years — The Huffington Post's chief executive, Jimmy Maymann, believes in paid-for journalism and is open …

Discussion: FishbowlNY, @newswhip, The Drum and mUmBRELLA

Vindu Goel / New York Times:

Twitter's new video hosting platform lets mobile users play clips with a single tap — Twitter Rolls Out Easier, Faster Video Playback — Over the past year, Twitter has worked closely with television networks and other professional video creators to upload and promote thousands …

Discussion: The Next Web, ReadWrite, @twitterads, Marketing Pilgrim and @vivian

Amol Sharma / Wall Street Journal:

Sony to Add Original TV Shows for PlayStation — Move Is Part of Effort to Broaden Console's Appeal Beyond Videogames — Sony Corp. is venturing into original TV programming for its PlayStation as part of an ambitious effort to make the device a home for TV and not just videogames.

Discussion: Deadline.com, Variety, computerandvideogames.com, Engadget, @zseward, Comic Book Resources, TechCrunch, Forbes, Los Angeles Times, CNNMoney.com, SlashGear, Mashable, CNET, The Verge and VG247

Edmund Lee / Bloomberg:

Time Warner Cable CEO Due $80 Million as Deal Ends Short Tenure — Just months into his job as head of Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC), Rob Marcus is set to receive a severance payment of $79.9 million in cash, equity and benefits because he's selling the company to Comcast Corp. (CMCSA)

Discussion: Media & Entertainment, New York Times, BuzzFeed, Toronto Star, The Huffington Post, Deadline.com, BGR, @edmundlee, @davidfolkenflik, The Slant, @edmundlee and @bobbymacreports

Stephen Gandel / Fortune:

At financial news sites, stock promoters make inroads — Several finance websites — including Forbes.com and Seeking Alpha — have published articles by guest contributors who were allegedly paid to promote the stocks they were writing about, raising ethical concerns.

Discussion: @glenncnyb, @edmundlee, @stephengandel, @money, @prashanth_krish, @cnnmoney and Talking Biz News

Lloyd Grove / The Daily Beast:

‘Is It Really News?’: Cable Journos Squirm Over Flight 370 Overload — The disappearance of MA Flight 370 has proved a ratings bonanza, particularly for CNN. But with no new developments, and wild conjecture filling the void, even CNN's own journalists are questioning its coverage.

Discussion: AdAge, Mediaite, Capital New York and Inside Cable News

Johana Bhuiyan / Capital New York:

The New Republic to launch public policy vertical led by Jonathan Cohn — T.N.R. to go deep on policy — The New Republic will be rolling out a new public policy vertical led by senior editor Jonathan Cohn, T.N.R. editorial director Michael Schaffer told Capital.

Discussion: @ncaplanbricker, @petersuderman and The New York Observer

Daniel Holloway / Broadcasting & Cable:

Next TV: Viacom Settlement Illustrates Media Acceptance for YouTube — Entertainment chief Lee says YouTube ‘learned a lot’ from push into original content — New York—The settlement between Google and Viacom that ended a seven-year legal battle over the appearance of copyrighted video …

Priya Ganapati / Wall Street Journal:

Time to Move on: Sony Shuts Down E-Reader Book Store … Sony is turning off the lights on its e-reader book store. The company will shut down its online store for its Reader devices at 6 p.m. ET Thursday. — Sony Reader store customers will have to transfer their library to Kobo …

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

MP3Tunes Founder Michael Robertson Found Liable for Copyright Infringement — A jury finds that the once-popular website willfully blinded itself to thousands of songs being stolen. — On Wednesday, a jury in a New York federal courtroom found MP3Tunes founder Michael Robertson liable …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Ars Technica, Plagiarism Today, Softpedia News and Techdirt

J-Source:

Memo: Editor-in-chief Steve Meurice leaves National Post — National Post editor Steve Meurice is leaving the company, effective today. With his departure, we have lost a terrific editor, friend and colleague. — In his 17 years here, Steve has provided superior editorial leadership …

Discussion: @ivisonj, @evalois and @thehartley

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Yahoo's Tumblr First TV Ad Deal Is with Viacom — Tumblr, the blogging site Yahoo bought last year for $1.1 billion, has secured an advertising deal with Viacom, which plans to pitch cobranded campaigns on the site to marketers tied to TV programming for networks including MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central.

Discussion: MediaPost, MediaPost, VentureBeat, Wall Street Journal, CNET and The Next Web

Jason Miller / Federal News Radio:

Agency FOIA officers discontent with House reform bill — Krista Boyd, the counsel for the minority on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said one of the major changes to the FOIA Act over the last year came from last year's American University Washington College of Law event.

Discussion: Freedom of the Press …

David Smith / Guardian:

Rwanda criticised over media harassment after hostile tweets exposed — Press freedom group condemns government after US journalist who linked Twitter bullying to president's office is deported — Rwanda has been accused of “unacceptable acts of harassment and intimidation” …

Discussion: Reporters Without Borders

Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:

Watch out, business publishers — Bloomberg Media CEO Justin Smith says he is coming for you — Justin Smith — who helped turn around the fortunes of the ailing Atlantic Media empire, in part by expanding the 150-year-old magazine's digital reach — has laid out a manifesto about how he wants …

Discussion: @krmaher and @thestalwart