Mediagazer: Netflix now has more subscription revenue than HBO (Zachary M. Seward/Quartz)

12:40 PM ET, August 7, 2014

Top News:

Alexandra Alter / New York Times:

Google partners with Barnes & Noble for same-day book deliveries from stores in West LA, SF Bay Area, and Manhattan — Google and Barnes & Noble Unite to Take On Amazon — Google and Barnes & Noble are joining forces to tackle their mutual rival Amazon, zeroing in on a service …

Discussion: VentureBeat, Publishers Weekly, TechCrunch, GalleyCat, Gigaom, TIME, @levie, The Verge, Engadget, @robneyer, GeekWire, Bookseller news, The Next Web and Re/code

Zachary M. Seward / Quartz:

Netflix now has more subscription revenue than HBO — Netflix CEO Reed Hastings humble-bragged on Facebook today: + Reed Hastings on Facebook He's right. (About the financials, at least—Silicon Valley, an HBO sitcom about tech startups, was really bad.) Here's how HBO's subscription revenue compares …

Discussion: Adweek, Business Insider and Reed Hastings

Adam Epstein / Quartz:
HBO Go is poised to become more like Netflix

Discussion: Deadline.com, @qz and @zseward

Lucia Moses / Digiday:

The New York Times explores cheaper digital subscriptions — The New York Times is considering a cheaper version of its digital subscription as it continues to look for ways to get more revenue out of consumers. — According to a survey sent to readers this week, the new offering …

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Bloomberg to cancel ‘Political Capital with Al Hunt,’ lay off TV and print staff — Bloomberg Media has decided to cancel its weekly political talk show, “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” and will lay off several television and print employees in its Washington, D.C., bureau, POLITICO has learned.

Discussion: New York Times, FishbowlDC, @alexweprin, @alexweprin and @dylanbyers

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Crowdfunding bid to acquire Rupert Murdoch's Times and Sunday Times — Idealists of the world unite! An organisation calling itself Let's Own The News has launched a crowdfunding campaign with the aim of acquiring the Times and Sunday Times. — It believes £100m would do the job …

Discussion: Let's Own The News and Press Gazette

John Plunkett / Guardian:

Ex-BBC Chief Technology Officer John Linwood wins unfair dismissal case against corporation — Sacked BBC technology chief wins unfair dismissal case — John Linwood claimed he was made the ‘fall guy’ for the £100m Digital Media Initiative fiasco — The BBC's former chief …

Discussion: BBC and The Courier

Ricardo Bilton / Digiday:

Longform templates for web content are outdated, yet publishers still opt for oversized photos — Why article pages are going big on photos — There's a paradox in digital media: Users are bouncing around from site to site, faster than ever, but more publishers are choosing …

Discussion: @palewire, @dskok, @mthomps and @mthomps

Corey Hutchins / Columbia Journalism Review:

Gannett's changes bring excitement, some pain, and a full-time beer beat — A conversation with Joshua Awtry, the chain's top editor in the Carolinas — Yesterday was a busy one for Joshua Awtry. He was one of a handful of editors at Gannett-owned papers around the country who spent …

Discussion: @jimclarkeap, @ldncalling, @1brianmagee, @brianstelter, Greenville News and app.com

David Uberti / Columbia Journalism Review:

How a new Washington stifles a new political press — As political PR machines become more sophisticated and aggressive, journalists need to rethink how they cover government — The video featured all the trappings of a heartwarming human interest piece: uplifting piano music, a hometown angle, and a main character named Earnest.

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Viacom Q3 Profit Falls 5% Due to Film Revenue Declines — Viacom said third-quarter net income fell just over 5% due to revenue shortfalls at its filmed-entertainment business and a gain of just 1% in revenue at its cable-network portfolio. — The owner of the Paramount movie studio …

Michael McWhertor / Polygon:

Twitch implements YouTube-like system for blocking copyrighted audio — Twitch users now need to be more vigilant about the music they play while making gameplay videos. Starting today, Twitch is now scanning videos for unauthorized third-party audio — in-game and ambient music — and automatically muting that content.

Discussion: The Official Twitch Blog, Forbes, The Official Twitch Blog, Plagiarism Today, hypebot, Mashable, Wall Street Journal, Techdirt, Softpedia News, @chicago_lollie, GameSpot, Ars Technica, Boing Boing, The Next Web and Re/code

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

Maker Studios Claims Former CEO Owes $325K as Result of Disney Merger (Exclusive) — After a judge refuses the digital video company's bid to kill Danny Zappin's claims, the new Disney subsidiary files a cross-complaint. — Since former Maker Studios CEO Danny Zappin filed a lawsuit alleging …

Todd Spangler / Variety:

NFL Launches ‘NFL Now’ Internet-Video Service on Apple TV, Xbox, Roku and Other Devices — The National Football League has taken to the digital field with the kickoff of NFL Now, an Internet-video service offering gridiron fans hundreds of hours of free content and a $1.99-per-month premium package with access to even more.

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, USA Today, CNET, Engadget, Gigaom and The Next Web

Steven Waldman / Columbia Journalism Review:

Why the ad technology revolution that was supposed to help publishers actually devastated so many of them — Why the ad technology revolution that was supposed to help publishers actually devastated so many of them — Back in antiquity (five years ago), when I ran a popular Web 1. content …