Mediagazer: As China Cracks Down on Illegal Videos, Lovers of Foreign TV Mourn (Lilian Lin/Wall Street Journal)

8:55 AM ET, November 26, 2014

Top News:

First Look Media ends ‘Racket’ project, fires staff — First Look Media has decided to pull the plug on “Racket,” its would-be digital magazine, and to fire the staff that had been hired for the project. — “Racket,” which was to train a humorous eye on political and corporate corruption, never got off the ground.

Discussion: @mtaibbi, JIMROMENESKO.COM, @felixsalmon, bookforum.com, @amzam, @lauraolin, @steveahorn, @riceid, @elongreen and Washington Post

First Look Media:
The team Matt Taibbi hired at First Look Media is being let go

Discussion: In These Times, @nickbaumann, Politico, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Huffington Post, FishbowlNY, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, @invstg8net, The New York Observer, @drgrist, @ericlach, @daveweigel, @mlcalderone and @mattbuchanan

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

UK recording industry seeks review of law allowing fans to copy music — Copyright legislation permits people who have legally purchased music to make duplicates, prompting legal action from industry bodies — The UK music industry is seeking a judicial review of new legislation allowing music fans …

Discussion: Press Association

Lilian Lin / Wall Street Journal:

As China Cracks Down on Illegal Videos, Lovers of Foreign TV Mourn … Chinese film and TV show buffs who love foreign flicks mourned this week after the launch of a new anti-piracy crackdown. — Shooter.cn, a local site that offers Chinese and English subtitles for pirated overseas online content, was shut down over the weekend.

Discussion: Foreign Policy, South China Morning Post, globaltimes.cn, Tech in Asia, Engadget, Reuters and TechCrunch

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Slingbox Melds YouTube with Pay-TV Services — Sling Media has upgraded the guide for its high-end SlingTV and Slingbox 500 place-shifting devices to bring YouTube videos — in resolution up to 1080p HD — delivered in an integrated way alongside live cable or satellite TV channels.

Discussion: Multichannel News

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Mail Online revenues grow 41% to £62m in 2014 — Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday's continuing decline in advertising and sales offset by digital platform's increases — Mail Online has grew revenues by more than 40% to £62m in 2014, almost completely offsetting the advertising …

Discussion: Press Gazette, Life Style Extra, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal and City A.M.

Alex Weprin / Capital New York:

BuzzFeed passes $100M in revenue for 2014, promises staff Apple Watches if traffic goals hit — Buzzfeed passes $100 M. in revenue for 2014 — Buzzfeed hit $100 million in revenue for 2014 “earlier this year,” according to an email sent by C.E.O. Jonah Peretti to staff at the company.

Discussion: @stevekovach, Business Insider, @chrisjortiz, @jackshafer, @markgurman, @juddlegum, @elanazak, @theferocity, @mattbellassai and @bcappelbaum

Danny Hakim / New York Times:

European MP urging breakup of Google counsels law firm that represented German Magazine Publishers association, earns $15-75K annually from it — European Legislator Urging the Breakup of Google Has Ties to a Law Firm — Andreas Schwab, a German member of the European Parliament …

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Sun+ reports 225K readers pay for its digital bundle, almost double the 117K reported Dec. 2013 — Sun+ signs up 225,000 paying subscribers — News UK title near doubles number paying for access from last year, with majority taking up £7.99 per month package

Discussion: TheMediaBriefing, Press Gazette, Financial Times, Reuters, Journalism.co.uk, The Drum and Business Insider

Hollywood Reporter:

Vimeo earned more in 2 days for High Maintenance than potentially 2 years of YouTube ad sales — Vimeo Charging $8 for Six Episodes of ‘High Maintenance’ — The company is continuing to test the pay model with the project it picked up from FX — A version of this story first appeared …

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

NYT editor Dean Baquet's newsroom memo on the hiring of Kinsey Wilson — Times firms up digital leadership with Kinsey Wilson — The New York Times has scooped up an NPR refugee to lead digital transformation in its newsroom. — Kinsey Wilson, the chief content officer ousted from NPR last month …

Discussion: Media News International, FishbowlDC, FishbowlNY, New York Times and NetNewsCheck Latest

New York Times Company:
New York Times names former senior NPR exec Kinsey Wilson as editor, innovation and strategy

Discussion: New York Times, @vivian, @vivian, @kinseywilson, @jimbradysp, @amyoleary, @jeffjarvis, @davidfolkenflik, @davidfolkenflik, @davidfolkenflik, @davidfolkenflik, Politico, NPR, @jcstearns, @sfiegerman and @digiphile

Stuart Dredge / Guardian:

Spotify's 2013 revenues were €746.9M, 91% of revenue coming from subscriptions — Spotify revenues grew sharply in 2013, but operating losses also rose — Streaming music service's turnover up 74% to €746.9m, with 91% coming from its paying subscribers rather than ads

Discussion: Re/code, New York Times, Complete Music Update, Wall Street Journal, RAIN News, The Verge, Guardian, Music Ally, Gigaom, Myce.com and mUmBRELLA

Mark Wilson / BetaNews:

GreatFire.org and BBC punch uncensored news through the Great Firewall of China — The Great Firewall of China is renowned for the restrictions it places on what Chinese citizens can access online. Free speech advocates have long called for the Chinese government to allow access to the wider web …

Discussion: Slate

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

Mobile phone records of 1,700 News UK staff supplied to Met Police after Vodafone blunder — The Metropolitan Police has been supplied with the phone records of some 1,700 News UK employees after a mistake by Vodafone. — Staff have been told that the records relate to staff using company mobile phones between 2005 and 2007.