Mediagazer: Firm That Helps Authors Buy Their Way Onto Bestseller Lists Goes Into Stealth Mode (Jeff Bercovici/Forbes)

6:10 AM ET, April 21, 2014

Top News:

Aereo Case Will Shape TV's Future — Throughout America's business history, the victories and spoils went to the visionaries who made all manner of things — actual things like cars, pharmaceuticals and entertainment. — But more and more, many of the splashy business victories …

Discussion: @brianstelter, @carr2n, @jonathanwald and SCOTUSblog

Ted Johnson / Variety:

Concept for Live TV On-the-Go Was Around Long Before Aereo — Aereo markets itself with the simple motto, “Watch Live TV Online.” — The technology is new; the concept, not so much. — The mantra for the digital age has been to give consumers what they want, anywhere and anytime they want it.

Discussion: SCOTUSblog and TheHill

Jeff John Roberts / Gigaom:

Aereo's CEO on the future of Netflix, TV sports and the public airwaves — In 2012, Chet Kanojia set out to take on TV's goliaths with a slingshot full of tiny antennas, but he never imagined things would go so far so fast. Aereo, the start-up he created, is going before the Supreme Court …

Discussion: Dwight Silverman's TechBlog, Consumerist, Quartz, Los Angeles Times and The Wrap

Amy Schatz / Re/code:
Regulators Propose Limited Set-Aside of TV Airwaves for Unlicensed Use

Discussion: FCC.gov, Ars Technica, Adweek, multichannel.com, Broadcasting & Cable, Deadline.com and Engadget

Hussain Al-Qatari / Associated Press:

Kuwait court shuts 2 newspapers over coup articles — You are here — Home » Kuwait » Kuwait court shuts 2 newspapers over coup articles — KUWAIT CITY (AP) — A Kuwaiti court has temporarily suspended the publication of two independent newspapers over articles about a secret probe …

Discussion: Reuters and BBC

Alexis Sobel Fitts / Columbia Journalism Review:

Early reception of Showtime documentary demonstrates difficulty of covering climate change — Walking the public opinion tightrope — Early reception of a celebrity-packed Showtime documentary demonstrates the difficulty of engaging audiences on climate change

Discussion: bookforum.com

David Barboza / New York Times:

Lucrative Stardom in China, Using a Webcam and a Voice — ZIGONG, China — Dolled up with makeup and a blond wig, the pretty young Chinese woman sat at home in her bedroom on a quiet Sunday evening and began singing karaoke. — A large microphone and three webcams clipped to a desktop monitor streamed …

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Firm That Helps Authors Buy Their Way Onto Bestseller Lists Goes Into Stealth Mode — For years, it was an open secret in the book publishing industry that any author willing to spend enough money could nab a spot on the major bestseller lists by engaging the services of a company called Result Source Inc …

Ken Doctor / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Kyiv Post delivers English language news from embattled Ukraine with budget of $60k a month — The newsonomics of the Kyiv Post's embattled work — It was the night of January 22. Kyiv Post editor Christopher J. Miller was out on the Maidan, Kiev's main square and its center of protest.

Discussion: @nycjim and @niemanlab

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:

Newspaper industry narrowed revenue loss in 2013 as paywall plans increased — The newspaper industry narrowed its total revenue loss in 2013 to 2.6 percent, the best performance since the mid-2000s, according to figures released today by the Newspaper Association of America.

Discussion: WWD Media Headlines, @jacquiemcnish, Mashable, Associated Press and Media & Entertainment

Alan D. Mutter / Reflections of a Newsosaur:
Print ads fell 8.6% at papers in 2013: NAA

Discussion: Newspaper Association …

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Beats Bites the Bullet, and Starts Selling Subscriptions From Apple's App — Apple has a crazily powerful digital store, used by hundreds of millions of customers. But if you want to sell something there it will cost you: In almost every case, Apple keeps 30 percent of the purchase price on whatever its users buy.

Discussion: VatorNews, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider and Engadget

Tom Cheredar / VentureBeat:

Comcast: Binge watching actually helps live TV ratings (exclusive) — The best way to hook someone into an existing series of stories is to make sure they can start from the beginning. The same is also true of TV shows, and Comcast has the data to back it up.

Tom Cheredar / VentureBeat:

Comcast and Time Warner may sell 3-5M subscribers for up to $20B to Charter before merger — Ahead of its TWC merger, Comcast may sell 5M subscribers to Charter — Comcast and Time Warner Cable are in discussions with smaller cable provider Charter to sell up to $20 billion worth of assets, according to a Financial Times report.

Financial Times:
Comcast and Time Warner in talks to sell subscribers to Charter

Discussion: 24/7 Wall St., @danprimack, The Verge and @zseward

Capital New York:

The 60-second interview: Tom Goldstein, SCOTUSblog publisher — CAPITAL: SCOTUSblog is now more than 12 years old, and was the first blog to ever be awarded a Peabody, yet the Senate Press Gallery declined to renew reporter Lyle Denniston's press credential last week.

Discussion: Globe and Mail, @capitalnewyork and @niemanlab