Mediagazer: Deezer partners with Vodacom in South Africa: one-month free Premium+ service, bundled billing (memeburn)

3:45 PM ET, October 9, 2014

Top News:

Claire Suddath / Businessweek:

The Weather Channel's Secret: Less Weather, More Clickbait — The writers and editors at the Weather Channel's weather.com don't often talk about the weather. They're not meteorologists. They don't mention the forecast or debate whether New York's overcast sky means it's going to rain.

Discussion: TVNewser, @ryanchittum, @jyarow, @tyrangiel and The Huffington Post

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

At National Press Club, the press is shut out — I'd like to tell you what Robert Ford, former U.S. ambassador to Syria, said at the National Press Club on Wednesday about recent developments in the war against the Islamic State. The diplomat, who resigned in protest earlier this year because he found it …

Discussion: Politico, @miriamelder, @vipalmonga, @peterwsinger and @mlcalderone

James Poniewozik / TIME:

Could Jon Stewart Have Put Sunday Morning Shows Out of Their Misery? — He reportedly turned down an offer to host Meet the Press. If so, too bad for NBC—but probably best for him — According to New York Magazine, before NBC hired Chuck Todd to take over Meet the Press …

Discussion: New York Magazine, @antderosa, @jayrosen_nyu and The Week

Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:
NBC Wanted to Hire Jon Stewart As Host of Meet the Press

Nicole Levy / Capital New York:

At Condé Nast Entertainment, marketing digital video costs as much as making it — Every fall, when broadcast and cable networks premiere a new lineup of television shows, they aren't just investing in the production of pilot episodes—they're also spending millions to market …

memeburn:

Deezer partners with Vodacom in South Africa: one-month free Premium+ service, bundled billing — Vodacom, Deezer tie the music-streaming knot for South Africans — In March this year we reported that South African telecom giant Vodacom is looking to introduce a new music streaming service, Spotify.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Billboard and TechCentral

Ben Sisario / New York Times:

Music Industry Pushes for New York Tax Credits Like Film Industry's — Can a tax subsidy revive New York's music business? — A group of music industry figures, worried about the flight of music production and related jobs from New York to states like Texas and Tennessee …

Discussion: Billboard, FDRMX and NCPR Daily News

Sumit Galhotra / Committee to Protect Journalists:

Big businesses attempt to muzzle critical reporting in India — This month Keya Acharya responded to a nine-page legal notice demanding she pay 1 billion rupees ($16.3 million) over her article on India's rose industry. Her legal troubles are a window on to a pattern of how big businesses …

Discussion: @mahazm and @joelcpj

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Amazon Studios Wants Big Comedies, Ready to Pay $4 Million for Pilots: Sources — Amazon Studios, its appetite whetted for half-hour comedies, is now looking to fund a big-budget, high-profile laffer to anchor its next wave of original series — and rival Netflix for attention-grabbing properties.

Discussion: Digital Spy

Kristen Hare / Poynter:

Christian Science Monitor plans Passcode, a cybersecurity vertical — Coming soon (-ish, by January of next year at the latest) The Christian Science Monitor will launch its first vertical, Passcode a “modern field guide to security and privacy.” — “The Monitor saw a real opportunity …

Brady Dale / Technically Brooklyn:

Alex Blumberg's podcast network just raised $675K — American Podcasting Corp has raised $675,000 on an offered $1.5 million debt-only round, according to an SEC filing. — Its cofounders, Alex Blumberg and Matt Lieber are documenting the building of their company on the StartUp Podcast.

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Hispanic Digital-Media Company ‘Latin Everywhere’ Formed via GoTV, Latin Anywhere Merger — GoTV, the Spanish-language digital entertainment company headed by Jorge Granier, has merged with Rich Hull's Latin Anywhere to form Latin Everywhere, which brings together digital rights …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter and ScreenDaily

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Twitter News Head Vivian Schiller Out in Media Unit Consolidation — Vivian Schiller, the high-profile NBC and NPR exec who Twitter hired to run its news unit, is leaving the company as part of a consolidation. Adam Sharp will now be in charge of both news and politics at the social messaging company .

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Ex-News Corp lobbyist Frédéric Michel to work for Sky Italia — Lobbyist's close relationship with culture secretary Jeremy Hunt and his special adviser sparked controversy at Leveson inquiry — Frédéric Michel, the former News Corporation lobbyist whose emails …

Discussion: Poynter