Mediagazer: Johnston Press plans £360m refinancing as Sky takes stake in ad deal (Mark Sweney/Guardian)

8:05 AM ET, May 9, 2014

Top News:

Claire Atkinson / New York Post:

Beats' CEO Jimmy Iovine in talks to join Apple as Cook's “special adviser” on creative matters — Beats Electronics boss Jimmy Iovine is in talks to join Apple — Beats Electronics boss and veteran music industry executive Jimmy Iovine is in talks to join Apple as a …

Discussion: Business Insider, @jyarow, AppleInsider, App Advice and MacRumors

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Why Apple Is Betting Big on Beats: Hardware for Now, Streaming for Later — Apple is set to make the biggest purchase in its history: A $3 billion-plus deal for Beats, the company that sells high-end headphones and recently launched a streaming music service.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, @pkafka, @samgustin, Daring Fireball, @pkafka, @antderosa, @obrien, @eghosao, @benedictevans, @pkafka, @hilaryr, @chris_ciaccia, App Advice and The Verge

David Gelles / New York Times:

Apple Said to Be in Talks to Buy Rising Music Brand for $3.2 Billion — Apple is in discussions to buy Beats Electronics, the company behind the popular Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, for $3.2 billion, according to people briefed on the talks, in what would be the biggest acquisition in Apple's history.

Discussion: Financial Times, Financial Times, TechCrunch, Om Malik, The Next Web, Bloomberg, Forbes, AppleInsider, Re/code, Engadget, Washington Post, hypebot, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, Business Insider, VentureBeat, Mashable, @questlove, @ayahbdeir, @bobgendron25, Gigaom, Quartz, New York Times, Variety and iMore

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

U.S. Journalist Adam Baron Deported From Yemen — NEW YORK — Adam Baron, a freelance journalist reporting from Yemen the past three years, has been deported from the country. — Baron regularly writes for the McClatchy newspaper chain and the Christian Science Monitor.

Discussion: @ionacraig, @adammbaron, @adammbaron, McClatchy Washington Bureau, @adammbaron, BuzzFeed and Yemen Post Newpaper online

David Gelles / New York Times:

Omnicon-Publicis $35B mega-merger called off due to internal differences and regulatory issues — Ad Agency Giants Said to Call Off $35 Billion Merger — Omnicom Group and Publicis have called off their $35 billion merger, bringing a premature end to a deal that would have created …

Discussion: Media & Entertainment, Financial Times, Talking Biz News, Wall Street Journal, @mildenhall, @moorehn, @omnicom, CNNMoney.com, @ia, Re/code and Wall Street Journal

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Will Lewis named Dow Jones C.E.O. — Will Lewis' role as C.E.O. of Dow Jones is no longer “interim.” — Parent-company News Corp. announced this afternoon that Lewis has been appointed C.E.O. on a permanent basis. He had been serving as interim C.E.O. since his predecessor, Lex Fenwick, was ousted in January.

Discussion: Media & Entertainment, Guardian, Variety, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, Bloomberg, mUmBRELLA and The Wrap

Anna Prior / Wall Street Journal:
News Corp reports $2.08B in quarterly revenue, down 5% vs. last year, net income of $48M

Discussion: @kosakunarioka and Wall Street Journal

Sam Biddle / Valleywag:

Goodbye to Katie Cotton, the Queen of Evil Tech PR — After 18 years of spin, Katie Cotton, Apple's magnetically ruthless vice president of worldwide corporate communications, has left her job, and tributes from the tech press are pouring in. What no one will admit is that we were all afraid of her.

Discussion: Daring Fireball, @longzheng, @kobunheat, @dangillmor and Fortune

Dan Lyons / Inbound Hub:
Three Lessons from Katie Cotton, Apple's Departing PR Boss

Discussion: @tcarmody

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

The late Michael Hastings' last book is his debut novel — Advance copies of Michael Hastings' last, posthumous book are beginning to land in newsrooms. — The novel, titled The Last Magazine and based on Hastings' experiences as a young magazine journalist in the mid-aughts …

Discussion: Pressing Issues

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Yahoo, News Distribution Network deal stalled, next video target could be YouTube network Fullscreen — Yahoo Deal to Buy NDN Video Service Stalls — So What's Its Next Video Target? — According to sources close to the situation, the $350 million deal for Yahoo to buy online-video service News Distribution Network has stalled.

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Johnston Press plans £360m refinancing as Sky takes stake in ad deal — BSkyB to supply AdSmart product while investing £5m in publishing company, giving broadcaster 1.6% stake in it — Johnston Press has unveiled plans for a £360m refinancing package that will slash its huge debt burden by more than a third.

Discussion: Scotsman, Press Gazette, Life Style Extra, Life Style Extra, Reuters, Reuters, London News, RTTNews, twst.com, Broadband TV News and BBC

Amir Efrati / The Information:

Comcast Plots Big Push in Web Video Ads — As debate over Comcast's control of Internet and TV in American households plays out in front of regulators reviewing its bid for Time Warner Cable, the cable industry leader is quietly planning a major foray into the Web advertising business.

Ryan Nakashima / Associated Press:

Dish aims to launch Web TV service by year's end — LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dish says it plans to launch its Internet-delivered TV service by year's end on mobile devices, game consoles and smart TVs for about $20 to $30 a month. It will contain live sports, entertainment and children's programming.

Discussion: Forbes and Hollywood Reporter

John McDermott / Digiday:

Why media buyers are still wary of Tumblr ads — It's been nearly a year since Yahoo acquired Tumblr for $1.1 billion, and slightly longer since Tumblr first rolled out its version of native ads. And yet despite the headlines roused by that deal and the platform's continued growth …

Discussion: @karenmcgrane

Paul Bonanos / Billboard:

Spotify Removed from Shazam by Deezer in the UK, Germany, Mexico and Brazil — Music-identification app Shazam has added on-demand streaming service Deezer as a partner, enabling Deezer account holders in four countries to listen to full-length songs immediately upon identifying them with Shazam's mobile app.

Discussion: Pocket-lint, Complete Music Update, whatmobile.net, Music Week, The Next Web and thedrum.com

Nat Ives / AdAge:

Time Inc. Will Spin off From Time Warner in 15 Days — Publishing Unit Will Pay Time Warner $800 Million for U.K. Publisher IPC Media — Time Warner has set a date for the spin-off of its Time Inc. publishing unit: May 23. — The date came in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission …

Discussion: Folio, Capital New York, WWD Media Headlines, New York Times, Hollywood Reporter and Deadline.com

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

New US policy bans national-security employees from citing news reports based on leaks — Obama Policy Bans Employee Use of Leaked Material — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is clamping down on a technique that government officials have long used to join in public discussions …

Discussion: Secrecy News, @thomas_drake1, @charlesornstein, @jesselynradack, @akiperitz, @antderosa, @joshuafoust, @kia_mak, @joshuafoust, @feardept, @wayale, @conor64 and @noahshachtman

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

New York Times completes ‘innovation report’ led by Sulzberger scion — Back in July, New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson announced that Arthur Gregg Sulzberger, a metro reporter and the son of Times chairman and publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr., would “take a leave from metro …

Discussion: @mathewi and @justinnxt

Chris Hall / Pocket-lint:

Sony Reader Store to close on 16 June, Kobo to supply Reader and Xperia device content — Kobo has confirmed that it will be supplying the content for Sony Reader and some Sony Xperia devices following the closure of the Sony Reader Store on 16 June. — Access to Kobo's platform will be enabled …

Discussion: Expert Reviews, Engadget and Melville House Books

Todd Spangler / Variety:

YouTube Global Creator-Development Lead Bing Chen Resigns — Exec's departure for stealth startup comes after appointment of new YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki — Bing Chen, YouTube's global creator development and management lead, is leaving the Google-owned video powerhouse for an unidentified stealth startup.

Discussion: BING CHEN

Matthew Moskovciak / CNET:

NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts channel coming to Roku later this month — The new channel is NPR's first dedicated app on Roku, offering up nearly 300 short performances from the offices of “All Songs Considered.” — Sarah Tew/CNET — NPR is ready to make its first official entrance on Roku.

Joseph Checkler / Wall Street Journal:

Judge Says LightSquared Restructuring Plan Unfair to Ergen — Nearly $1 Billion of Charlie Ergen's Claims Will be Subordinated Below Those of Other Creditors — A judge on Thursday said some of Dish Network Corp. Chairman Charlie Ergen's nearly $1 billion in claims in the wireless venture's bankruptcy case …

Discussion: New York Times, Bloomberg and Reuters

Stuart Elliott / New York Times:

For Online Video Publishers, a New Tack on Luring Ad Dollars — AS a well-received annual presentation of new digital offerings to Madison Avenue ends, publishers are seeking to keep the momentum going by making it easier for marketers and agencies to spend advertising dollars on online video …

Discussion: @iab

Associated Press:

CBS Q1: $468M net earnings, 6% higher on license fees; ad revenue falls 12% without SuperBowl — CBS 1Q EARNINGS RISE DESPITE LOWER AD SALES — NEW YORK (AP) — CBS's first-quarter earnings rose 6 percent as higher licensing fees from the company's Showtime network helped overcome …

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, The Wrap and CBS Corporation

Ben Sisario / New York Times:

Muve Music Service Is Said to Be Up for Sale by AT&T — One of the most successful music subscription services in the United States may be up for grabs. — Muve Music, which is connected to Cricket Wireless, a prepaid wireless phone carrier, will be discontinued by AT&T …

Discussion: Gigaom, Digital Media Wire, Billboard, Light Reading and hypebot

Adam Lashinsky / Fortune:

Reporter offered pre-IPO shares by Arista Networks, considers it another sign of a tech bubble — Yes, we're in a tech bubble. Here's how I know it — When tech startups are willing to offer almost anyone — even a journalist — shares ahead of an I.P.O., a burst isn't terribly far behind.