Mediagazer: Big TV mergers are forcing smaller cable networks like AMC, Starz to consider survival plans (New York Times)

7:10 PM ET, July 21, 2014

Top News:

In the wake of a merger bid between non-print media giants, a meditation on print's inadequacy — Riding the Juggernaut That Left Print Behind — Even if you aren't one of those people worried about media consolidation — there are many in that number — the big bolt of lightning last week …

Henry Blodget / Business Insider:

Time Warner board changes bylaws to block small group of shareholders from forcing Fox takeover vote — TIME WARNER DIGS IN: Board Removes Ability For Shareholders To Force Vote On Fox Offer — Time Warner's board just changed the company's bylaws to prevent a small group of shareholders …

Discussion: New York Times, Deadline.com, Multichannel News, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, @thestalwart, @eriqgardner and Time Warner

Henry Blodget / Business Insider:
Murdoch Not Likely To Raise Time Warner Bid Immediately, Source Says

Discussion: @gjlevett

Bloomberg:
Fox Said to Mull Using Sky Sale to Boost Time Warner Bid

Discussion: TVNewser, Mediaite, @democracyfail, @edmundlee, @pkafka and Business Insider

Lynn Oberlander / First Look Media:

First Look Media launches legal fund to aid press freedom advocates in US and abroad — Promoting and Protecting Free Speech and Free Expression — Lynn Oberlander is First Look Media's General Counsel, Media Operations — Promoting and protecting free speech and free expression are paramount to First Look's mission.

Discussion: Poynter, @the_intercept, @buzzfeedben, @acarvin, @joshuafoust, @trevortimm and @pierre

Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch:

Netflix Passes 50M Subscribers As It Reports Better Than Expected Q2 Revenue Of $1.34B — This afternoon following the closing bell, Netflix announced the financial results of its second quarter, including revenue of $1.34 billion and earnings per share of $1.15.

Discussion: Capital New York, Gigaom, VentureBeat, Forbes, Home Media Magazine, VentureBeat, The Wrap, Variety, BuzzFeed, Talking New Media, Reuters, USA Today, Variety, @tcarmody, @xpangler, Business Insider, MarketWatch, @tcarmody, @jboorstin, @jboorstin and @quantarb

Capital New York:

The story behind The New Yorker's website relaunch, unveiled today — A relaunch for The New Yorker, with high stakes — The New Yorker will debut its long awaited, revamped website today, about which you'll see plenty of commentary and criticism. — But to understand what the imperatives …

Discussion: New Yorker, USA Today, The Next Web, The Awl, @natalieraabe, @jamesgrobinson, Politico, @garrettquinn, FishbowlNY, @cncep, @alexweprin and @dfroms

New York Times:

Big TV mergers are forcing smaller cable networks like AMC, Starz to consider survival plans — Smaller Cable Networks Plan Their Survival Under the Feet of Giants — The flesh-eating zombies in AMC's hit television series “The Walking Dead” are shambling into a land of even bigger monsters.

Discussion: mUmBRELLA, @peterlattman, Los Angeles Times and @emilysteel

Jack Moore / International Business Times:

Gaza Crisis: Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman Will ‘Work to Prevent Al Jazeera’ Operating in Israel — Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has said that Israel will work to prevent Al Jazeera TV from operating in Israel. — “Qatar has turned into a global problem.

Discussion: TVNewser, @barakravid, Mediaite, @ojazeera, @mukhtaryare, @ibtimesuk and New York Times

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Aereo had 77,596 subscribers across 10 cities at the end of 2013 — Here's How Many Subscribers Aereo Had Last Year — Aereo generated lots of attention from the media world in the run-up to its Supreme Court case this spring. — Consumers may have been less interested …

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Reporters bristle as WH derides, then offers, anonymous sources — Complaints from White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Monday about anonymous news sources prompted a testy exchange with reporters who noted that administration officials regularly demand anonymity.

Discussion: Poynter, Business Insider, Politico, BuzzFeed, @tristanlejeune and @davidshepardson

Dave Neal / Inquirer:

BBC websites and iPlayers suffer weekend broadcast outage — TELEVISION ON DEMAND viewers have complained loudly about downtime at the BBC's websites and on-demand offerings over the weekend. — This past weekend auntie Beeb took something of a holiday and prevented people from listening …

Discussion: The Independent, Product Reviews Net, Telecompaper, The Register, TechRadar.com, ITProPortal and Guardian

Capital New York:

The 60-second interview: Taylor Lorenz, head of social media, The Daily Mail/Mail Online — CAPITAL: What are your major responsibilities as social media lead? What is your day-to-day like? — LORENZ: My responsibilities are pretty varied. My No. 1 goal is to promote …

Discussion: @stevekovach, @sfiegerman, @socarolinesays, @mattnavarrauk, @timherrera, @lauraelizdavis, @jaredbkeller, @perlberg and @elanazak

Author Earnings:

Study: 31% of ebooks sold on Amazon are self-published; DRM harms sales at all price levels — July 2014 Author Earnings Report — It has been nearly half a year since we first pulled data for nearly every ranked ebook on Amazon.com's thousands of category bestseller lists.