Mediagazer: Dish, Writers Guild, Glenn Beck's TheBlaze, consumer groups, and more launch Stop Mega Comcast coalition to fight $45B TWC merger (Emily Steel/New York Times)

4:10 AM ET, December 4, 2014

Top News:

Dish, Writers Guild, Glenn Beck's TheBlaze, consumer groups, and more launch Stop Mega Comcast coalition to fight $45B TWC merger — Coalition Opposes Comcast-Time Warner Cable Merger — A group of companies, public interest groups and labor unions have joined forces to urge regulators …

Discussion: Adweek, Consumerist, The Wrap, FierceCable, Multichannel News and Variety

Ted Johnson / Variety:
FCC resumes AT&T/DirecTV and Comcast/TWC merger reviews, establishes new deadlines for comments

Discussion: Comcast Voices, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Reuters, Gigaom, Home Media Magazine and Broadcasting & Cable

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

BuzzFeed expanding San Francisco bureau to 20 staffers, hires Mat Honan from Wired as bureau chief — Wired's Mat Honan Hired to Run New Buzzfeed Silicon Valley Bureau — Matt Honan, the high-profile Wired writer and editor, has been hired by Buzzfeed to be its new Silicon Valley bureau chief.

Discussion: @rafat, @strngwys, @emilydreyfuss, @jguynn, @peretti, @blam, @mat, @reckless, @jessmisener, @karaswisher, @mathewi, @buzzfeedben, @jmbooyah, @fmanjoo, @digiphile, @davidbauer, @antderosa, @mikeisaac, @mattbuchanan, @zpower and @walldo

Jim Romenesko:

TheStreet.com investor urges Jim Cramer to take a 70% pay cut or sell the company — The head of Cannell Capital hedge fund wants Jim Cramer to consider two options: quit CNBC and focus on TheStreet.com at significantly reduced pay; or sell the 18-year-old financial news website. — J. Carlo Cannell writes:

Discussion: @aaronlucchetti, @romenesko and @pkedrosky

New York Times:

Investigation continues into Sony hack, company claims news of North Korea being singled out as culprit is “not accurate” — Sony Pictures and F.B.I. Investigating Attack by Hackers — LOS ANGELES — Sony Pictures Entertainment and the F.B.I. on Wednesday were hunting …

Discussion: The Wrap, BuzzFeed, Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg, Washington Post, The Verge, Associated Press, Fusion, SlashGear, Businessweek, @violetblue, Ars Technica, Wall Street Journal and The Huffington Post

Mike Fleming / Deadline:
In memo to staff, Sony execs Michael Lynton and Amy Pascal confirm confidential data was stolen

Discussion: Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Business Insider, Vulture, The Wrap, Los Angeles Times and Fusion

Mike Shields / Wall Street Journal:

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong Dismisses Yahoo Rumors, Talks Up HuffPo — To hear AOL CEO Tim Armstrong tell it, a merger with Yahoo might slow down his ongoing plans for an AOL turnaround. — Speaking during a keynote interview at Business Insider's Ignition conference in New York …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Capital New York, Mashable and Business Insider

Gustavo Arellano / Navel Gazing:

Layoffs at Freedom's OC Register, Riverside Press-Enterprise, affecting 100, mostly in sales — 100 Layoffs Happening at OC Register, Riverside P-E TODAY: UPDATE — 1ST UPDATE, 11:40 A.M.: Here's a note from new Orange County Register publisher Rich Mirman explaining the layoffs to his crew.

Discussion: Orange County Register, @melendezsports, @gustavoarellano, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, @talkingnewmedia and LA Observed

Alex Weprin / Capital New York:

CNN refocuses on digital: site redesign in January, standalone CNNMoney site, revamped politics coverage — CNN digital's big reboot — For CNN's digital operations, the word of 2014 could be “reboot.” — In June, the company launched CNNMoney.com as a standalone financial news destination.

Discussion: @tvnewslab, @mlcalderone, @alexweprin, @aschweig and FishbowlDC

Courtney Sherwood / Reuters:

U.S. broadcaster intends to test newsgathering drones in Oregon — (Reuters) - A U.S. media company said on Wednesday it wants to be among the first broadcasters to launch news-gathering drones once the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issues new policies governing the unmanned remote-control aircraft …

Discussion: KOIN-TV and AllAccess.com

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Founder and Editor Ann Marie Gardner steps down at Modern Farmer — Ann Marie Gardner steps down at Modern Farmer — Staff and contractors of Modern Farmer have been informed that founder and editor in chief Ann Marie Gardner has stepped down from the celebrated food-culture magazine she founded in 2013 …

Discussion: @thestalwart, @modfarm, New York Times, @joepompeo and @joepompeo

Jeff Elder / Wall Street Journal:

Lawyers say Apple deleted music from rival services on users iPods between 2007-2009 — Apple Deleted Rivals' Songs from Users' iPods — Apple deleted music that some iPod owners had downloaded from competing music services from 2007 to 2009 without telling users, attorneys …

Discussion: Gizmodo, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, The Next Web, MacRumors and App Advice

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Barry Diller's IAC Shuts Down nRelate Content-Recommendation Network — IAC, the digital-media conglomerate headed by Barry Diller, is pulling the plug on nRelate, its native-advertising division that sold content-recommendation ad inventory distributed via thousands of web publishers.

Human Rights Watch:

Iran extends Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian's pretrial detention for two more months — Iran: Journalist's Detention Extended — Washington Post Reporter Held 4 Months, but Not Charged — (Beirut) - Iran's judiciary has extended Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian's pretrial detention for another two months.

Discussion: @kooyjan, @cathtaibi, The Huffington Post and BuzzFeed

Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:

Top Bloomberg Pursuits editors leave abruptly amid shakeup — The two top editors at Bloomberg Pursuits, the luxury personal finance magazine from Bloomberg LP, left the company on Wednesday. — Ted Moncrieff, the editor of Bloomberg Pursuits, had joined the magazine in December 2012.

Discussion: @joepompeo and @aubernalevy