Mediagazer: Acquisition of BMG, merger of Random House with Penguin, and takeover of publishing group Gruner + Jar leads Bertelsmann to Q3 $14.7B revenue (Scott Roxborough/Hollywood Reporter)

8:45 AM ET, November 13, 2014

Top News:

NYT responds to Chinese President Xi: The Times won't alter its coverage to meet the demands of any government — In China, Blunt Talk to Reporters on Access — For years, Western news organizations had tried to interpret the Chinese government's position toward critical press coverage …

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
NYT correspondents overextending time in China over fears their colleagues won't get new visas

Discussion: New York Times, Poynter, @prchovanec, @panphil, @comradewong and Fox News

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
At press conference with Obama, China leader lectures U.S. media

Discussion: Committee to Protect …, The Hill, NY Daily News, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, Mediaite, ABC News, @dloesch, @mikiebarb and New York Times

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

BSkyB to be rebranded as Sky after takeover of European sister companies — New company, which drops words ‘British’ and ‘Broadcasting’ from name, has £11bn in revenues and 20 million customers — BSkyB is to scrap the word “British” from its branding after almost 25 years …

Discussion: Variety, Advanced Television, @benfenton and Life Style Extra

Kate Holton / Reuters:

BSkyB's price tag for Europe deal rises to 6.9 billion pounds — (Reuters) - BSkyB (BSY.L) said on Wednesday the price for acquiring Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland (SKYDn.DE) had risen to 6.9 billion pounds after a greater number of investors signed up for the German offer than expected.

Discussion: London Evening Standard, Sky News, RTÉ, NASDAQ.com, The Next Web, The Wrap, The Drum, Hollywood Reporter and Reuters

Emily Steel / New York Times:

Sony launches PlayStation Vue web-based TV service with all major broadcast and some cable networks, testing in NYC with broad rollout in Q1 2015 — Sony to Introduce Web-Based TV Service — Sony is pressing play on a new web-based television service that represents an attempt to transform …

Discussion: Businessweek, PR Newswire, VentureBeat, Polygon, IGN, Reuters, USA Today, VG247, The Next Web, Pocket-lint, The Verge, Engadget, The Verge, Wall Street Journal, Eurogamer.net, Capital Wired, Gizmodo and TechCrunch

Capital New York:

Q&A with Chorie Sicha on The Awl's redesign, paying writers, and banner ads — The 60-second interview: Choire Sicha, co-founder, The Awl network — CAPITAL: The Awl's website relaunched yesterday. How long has this redesign been in the works? Why was this a good time for the site to be upgraded?

Discussion: @haleymlotek, @jakeswearingen and @choire

The Huffington Post:

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler Tells Silicon Valley He's Open To Obama Net Neutrality Plan — WASHINGTON - On Monday, President Barack Obama went public with his support of an aggressive approach to protecting net neutrality. Shortly after that, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler told …

Discussion: TechCrunch, @gigibsohnfcc, @jamieson, @reedfrich, @amy_schatz, @gigibsohnfcc, @froomkin, Variety, @mmasnick, Broadcasting & Cable, Mother Jones, Engadget, The Hill, Techdirt, The Verge, Washington Post, @benpopper, @mikeisaac and @cristianafarias

Amy Schatz / Re/code:
No Net Neutrality Rules Until 2015 as Disagreements About Plan Continue

Discussion: USA Today, Reuters and Electronista

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Henry Blodget Interview About Jeff Bezos Business Insider Investment — Back in the first tech bubble, Henry Blodget became famous by betting big on Jeff Bezos. Now Bezos has bet on Blodget, by putting his own money — twice — into Blodget's Business Insider site. — How'd that happen?

David Lieberman / Deadline:

DreamWorks Animation & Hasbro In Merger Talks; Deal With Hearst Looming — EXCLUSIVE: DreamWorks Animation is deeply engaged in two potentially game changing negotiations that could transform the company — including one with Hasbro to forge a family entertainment powerhouse to be called DreamWorks-Hasbro.

Discussion: Bloomberg, New York Times, @lucas_shaw, Business Insider, @rwmead, @vfxsoldier and CNBC

Today's Zaman:

Turkish journalist Mehmet Baransu faces sentence of 2 to 7 years on charges of insulting President Erdogan on Twitter — Journalist Baransu faces 7 years for insulting Erdogan on Twitter — A prosecutor from the Anatolia Courthouse has opened a criminal case against well-known Turkish …

Discussion: @wexler

Ece Toksabay / Reuters:
Turkish state TV fined for favoring Erdogan in election coverage

Discussion: Today's Zaman …

Jack Dickey / TIME:

Taylor Swift's label says she earned less than $500K for domestic streaming the past 12 months; Spotify says it paid her $2M for global streaming in that period — Taylor Swift's Spotify Paycheck Mystery — Spotify and Swift's record label provide new figures to defend themselves …

Discussion: Business Insider, Engadget, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Page Six, The Verge, CNET, Associated Press, @cullend, @brianstelter, CNNMoney.com, Variety and Rolling Stone

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

Former Live Nation chairman and founder of Global Music Rights Irving Azoff threatens to remove 20K copyrighted works from YouTube — Irving Azoff Threatens to Yank 20,000 Songs from YouTube (Exclusive) — The industry heavyweight, representing Pharrell Williams and others …

Casey Newton / The Verge:
YouTube announces YouTube Music Key subscription service; free invite-only beta starts Monday, will cost $7.99/month after 6 months

Discussion: YouTube Blog, New York Times, TechCrunch, Re/code, ReadWrite, VatorNews, Gigaom, Electronista, CNBC, @guythompson, TIME, The Next Web, VentureBeat, BBC, ABC News, Billboard, Los Angeles Times, Guardian, Wall Street Journal, TechRadar.com, @reckless, Variety and hypebot

Bill Adair / Poynter:

Ben Smith, @crushingbort and @blippoblappo talk about plagiarism — I teach a journalism ethics class at Duke University that focuses on issues of trust. I spend about half the semester exploring the pros and cons of anonymous sourcing, the other half on plagiarism and fabrication.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Gawker, @elongreen and Our Bad Media

Scott Roxborough / Hollywood Reporter:

Acquisition of BMG, merger of Random House with Penguin, and takeover of publishing group Gruner + Jar leads Bertelsmann to Q3 $14.7B revenue — Bertelsmann Shopping Spree Boosts Revenue, Profit Drops — Over the past year and a half, the German media giant has taken control of music label BMG …

Discussion: Reuters, GlobalPost, RTTNews, Wall Street Journal and Reuters

Andy Fixmer / Mashable:

FCC to release Comcast and AT&T programming documents for review at its Washington HQ, and other secure sites, on Nov. 17, will not allow remote access — How much does MTV really cost? We're about to find out — The Federal Communications Commission plans to lift the veil …

Discussion: Bloomberg

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

ITV chief admits ratings slump but advertising revenue is up 6% — Adam Crozier trumpets broadcaster's best performance for five years while acknowledging viewers have turned off — ITV's chief executive has admitted the broadcaster must address a slump in ratings, after revealing …

Discussion: Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, Financial Times, This is Money, RTTNews, Telecompaper, The Drum and broadcastnow.co.uk

Juro Osawa / Wall Street Journal:

Warner Music, Tencent in China Distribution Deal — HONG KONG—In its first major alliance with a Chinese Internet firm, Warner Music Group signed a deal with Tencent Holdings Ltd. to expand its online music distribution in China. — The deal will allow the U.S. music conglomerate …

Discussion: TechCrunch and Reuters

Ashby Jones / Wall Street Journal:

Appeals Court to Take Another Look at ‘Innocence of Muslims’ Copyright Ruling — A federal appeals court is revisiting an earlier decision to order Google Inc. to take down a controversial YouTube video in which an actress was unwittingly portrayed making anti-Muslim statements.

Discussion: Ars Technica, Los Angeles Times, Variety and Hollywood Reporter

Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:

Chicago Tribune managing editor leaves to pursue personal interests — Jane Hirt, who helped lead the Chicago Tribune newsroom through the dark days of bankruptcy and into an unfolding digital future, is stepping down as managing editor to pursue personal interests, the Tribune announced Wednesday.