Mediagazer: BBC extends iPlayer catch-up to 30 days, but shelves series stacking (Barry Collins/PC Pro)

7:15 AM ET, April 4, 2014

Top News:

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

David Letterman to Retire From CBS in 2015 — Tells studio audience: 'It's been great ... but I'm retiring' — In a move that will complete the generational transition in latenight, David Letterman is preparing to retire from CBS next year. — Letterman is expected to discuss his plan …

Lacey Rose / Hollywood Reporter:
CBS Approached John Oliver for Late Night Show as Major Shuffle Looms (Exclusive)

Discussion: @thrmattbelloni and @brianstelter

Associated Press:

AP photographer Anja Niedringhaus killed, reporter Kathy Gannon injured in Kabul — AP PHOTOGRAPHER KILLED, REPORTER WOUNDED — You are here — Home » Afghanistan » AP photographer killed, reporter wounded — KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A veteran Associated Press photographer …

Discussion: Poynter, Washington Post, @nycjim, @mlcalderone and National Updates

Barry Collins / PC Pro:

BBC extends iPlayer catch-up to 30 days, but shelves series stacking — The BBC is extending the amount of time shows are available to download from iPlayer from seven to 30 days, but is scrapping the facility to watch all previous episodes of a series. — The changes, which will come …

Discussion: Guardian, Tech Digest, Advanced Television and Radio Times

Isabel Hülsen / Spiegel Online:

WSJ Editor Gerard Baker: ‘Journalism Is Not a Dying Business’ — In an interview, Gerard Baker, the editor in chief of the Wall Street Journal, discusses the wave of billionaires diving head first into the journalism business and his own newspaper's evolution after seven years of ownership by Rupert Murdoch.

Discussion: @tipexxed, JIMROMENESKO.COM and Talking Biz News

Michael Sebastian / AdAge:

Self Magazine Editor and Publisher Both Exit at Conde Nast — Self magazine's Editor-in-Chief Lucy Danzinger and Publisher Laura McEwen are leaving the title, according to parent company Conde Nast, in a shakeup to a title that has shed print ad pages for the last six straight years.

Discussion: WWD Media Headlines, FishbowlNY, Hollywood Reporter and Mediawire Daily

Kim Zetter / Wired:

Barrett Brown Signs Plea Deal in Case Involving Stratfor Hack — Barrett Brown, whose case became a cause célèbre after he was charged with crimes related to the Stratfor hack, has agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors, according to court filings.

Discussion: Free Barrett Brown, Daily Dot, Softpedia News, @douglaslucas, Techdirt, @dellcam, @cassandrarules, Guardian, Gawker, The Verge, @nathantempey, FrontBurner, @onekade and @youranonnews

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Sony's Crackle Inks Exclusive Pact for 140-Plus NBCUniversal Library Films — Sony Pictures Television's Crackle landed a licensing deal with NBCUniversal giving the Internet-video service exclusive ad-supported streaming rights to more than 140 films over the next three years.

Adrianne Jeffries / The Verge:

Leaked NSA documents will be stored in public database — All of the documents detailing the National Security Agency's various surveillance programs released since The Guardian first broke the story back in June are now searchable in a database, the American Civil Liberties Union announced today.

Discussion: @emptywheel, The Daily Caller, ACLU and Engadget

John McDuling / Quartz:

TV industry take note: this is what being disrupted by Amazon looks like — Amazon yesterday thrust itself into the increasingly crowded battle for control of your living room, with the launch of its own streaming device, FireTV. — The online retailer has an uphill battle ahead in streaming video …

Angus Loten / Wall Street Journal:

Yelp Reviews Brew a Fight Over Free Speech vs. Fairness — Many Businesses Say Anonymity of Comments Is Unfair, Sue to Unmask Users — A closely watched Internet free-speech case is headed to the Virginia Supreme Court this month, with many businesses that live and die by online reviews rooting …

Jonathan Wilner / Wired:

Bundled Cable Channels Are Here to Stay — And That's a Good Thing — These days, barely a week passes in the U.S. entertainment industry without litigation, legislation, or argumentation over bundling-the practice of offering a “package” of channels instead of the option to buy a la carte.

Bloomberg:

NuvoTV, backed by Jennifer Lopez, to buy Fuse TV for more than $200M, sources say — Jennifer Lopez-Backed NuvoTV Said in Deal to Buy Fuse TV — A cable channel backed by Jennifer Lopez, the pop star and entrepreneur, has reached an agreement to buy Madison Square Garden Co.'s Fuse TV …

Discussion: @unclegrambo

Kevin Davis / NetNewsCheck Latest:

CEO of Investigative News Network defends nonprofit news from accusations of funder influence — Greater Scrutiny For Nonprofit News? — In this time of vast upheaval in the form and function of journalism, nonprofit newsrooms now find themselves being held to a higher level of scrutiny …

Discussion: @aschweig, @kljdavis and WisconsinWatch.org

Committee to Protect Journalists:

CPJ condemns attacks, harassment of Mexican daily — The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns an attack early today on Adrián López Ortiz, general director of the Grupo Noroeste, a media group that owns the daily Noroeste, in the state of Sinaloa.

Discussion: Fox News

Andrea Seikaly / Variety:

Fusion Taps Ryan Nerz as TV's First Chief Cannabis Correspondent — At first blush it sounds like something out of a Cheech & Chong movie, but in fact it's a serious effort. Fusion, the startup cabler run by ABC News and Univision, has named journalist Ryan Nerz as its chief cannabis correspondent.

Discussion: Poynter, Fusion, TVNewser, FishbowlNY and The Wrap

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Gawker bans ‘Internet slang’ — “We want to sound like regular adult human beings, not Buzzfeed writers or Reddit commenters,” new Gawker Editor Max Read says in a memo to the publication's writers. Words like “epic,” “pwn” and “derp” are no longer welcome on the site.

Jesse Holcomb / Pew Research Center:

News revenue declines despite growth from new sources — Total revenues supporting American journalism has declined by one-third since 2006, according to a new analysis by Pew Research Center. The sources of the estimated $63-$65 billion dollars supporting print, online and broadcast news has also shifted …

Discussion: Jack Shafer, @themediaisdying, PandoDaily, Poynter, @sarakgoo, @facttank, @pewjournalism, @newswhip, @charlesapple, @pewresearch, @christophclarey, @jesseholcomb and @mathewi

Ryan Chittum / Columbia Journalism Review:

Native ads: Advertorial for the digital age — Talking Points Memo, Andrew Sullivan, and advertising as a necessary evil — The native-ad wars have flared up again, this time over Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo, the longtime standard bearer for serious, digital-first, for-profit news.

Discussion: The Dish and Forbes

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Tribune Buys TV Research Site TV by the Numbers, and Relaunches a TV Portal — Do we need more websites about TV shows? We're getting one anyway — or, at least, a revamped one: Tribune Co. is buying TV ratings site TV By the Numbers, and is using it to relaunch Zap2it.com …