Mediagazer: Sky half-year results see 5% revenue rise to £5.6B and operating profits up 16% to £675M (John Plunkett/Guardian)

1:55 PM ET, February 4, 2015

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Tom Wheeler / Wired:

FCC Chairman proposes using Title II authority to implement and enforce open internet protections — FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler: This Is How We Will Ensure Net Neutrality — Federal Communication Commission(FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler waits for a hearing at the FCC December 11, 2014 in Washington, DC.

Discussion: AT&T Public Policy Blog, Variety, Fast Company, The Wrap, Bloomberg Business, CNBC, Home Media Magazine, Associated Press, Gigaom, TechCrunch, Multichannel News, The Wrap, VentureBeat, The Verge, Ars Technica, Broadcasting & Cable, US News, Business Insider, Slate, The Huffington Post, Billboard, New York Times, Hollywood Reporter, National Review, UPI, PC World, CNET, The Hill, ZDNet, Deadline, Computerworld, TIME, BBC, Politico, Washington Post, Android Police, Guardian, Mother Jones, Vox, Reuters, Hit & Run, THE DISTRICT SENTINEL, Wall Street Journal, The Daily Caller, Gizmodo, Electronista, Los Angeles Times, SlashGear, @xor, Ubergizmo, Business Insider, Mashable, Consumerist, The Next Web, @zacminor, @dooraven, @tomwheelerfcc, @tomwheelerfcc, @jeffjarvis, @reckless, NPR, BGR, Engadget, European Commission and The Week

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:

FCC will apply net neutrality to mobile for the first time — The FCC has enforced some net neutrality rules for wireless carriers in the past, but chairman Tom Wheeler today announced that the commission intends implement new rules that will fully enforce its principles on mobile.

Discussion: @elisewho

Andrew Sullivan / The Dish:

The Dish won't continue publishing on Andrew Sullivan's exit — A Note To My Readers, Ctd — It's been a highly emotional and tough week for the Dish team, especially given the outpouring of love from the in-tray. We're so grateful and not a little moved by your insistence that the Dish somehow go on, post-Sully.

Discussion: Poynter, Politico, Capital New York, The Wrap, New York Magazine, Talking Points Memo, @mattdpearce, @antderosa, @jayrosen_nyu and @mathewi

Nicky Woolf / Guardian:

Fox News website embeds unedited Isis video showing brutal murder of Jordanian pilot — Fox News is only US media company to display extremely graphic 22-minute video showing Muadh al-Kasasbeh being set on fire and burning to death in a cage — Fox News has chosen to embed on its website …

Kurt Wagner / Re/code:

Twitter is testing a new landing page featuring curated tweets for people without accounts — Another Twitter Update! This One's a New Homepage, Designed to Lure New Users. — Twitter is showing off yet another new product tweak — a homepage designed for people who visit Twitter but don't have their own account.

Discussion: SocialTimes, @burtherman, @_marieprevost, @1971capital, Marketing Land and Mashable

John Plunkett / Guardian:

Sky half-year results see 5% revenue rise to £5.6B and operating profits up 16% to £675M — Sky profits rise 16% after strong UK and German demand — Pay-TV group beats analysts' forecasts in its first results as a European operation — Strong demand for pay-TV in the UK …

Discussion: International Business Times, Agence France-Presse, Cable UK News, Rapid TV News, The Independent, Financial Times, The Times, campaignlive.co.uk, BBC, Proactiveinvestors …, The Drum and City A.M.

Keira Lu Huang / South China Morning Post:

Dismay as Hong Kong TV dramas fall under China's ‘foreign’ production censorship — Many Chinese fans of television dramas - already displeased after regulators tightened censorship of foreign productions airing on mainland TVs and video portals - are dismayed after discovering popular Hong Kong productions are also subject to...

David Bauder / Associated Press:

John Oliver's satirical Last Week Tonight continues to hire researchers from news backgrounds — Oliver Bulking Up on Staff With News Experience — NEW YORK (AP) — John Oliver says that he's hired three new researchers to help with what has become his HBO show's signature …

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:

Analyst Gordon Borrell sees local digital ads soaring in 2015, but not for newspapers — Gordon Borrell, among the best known of digital advertising analysts, was predicting two years ago that the newspaper business would stabilize, with some companies growing their digital revenues 30 percent a year.

Discussion: @poynter, @poynter and Street Fight

David Bloom / Deadline:

MiTu Online-Video Network Raises $15 Million In Series B Funding — MiTu, the Latino-oriented online-video network, said it has raised 50 percent more than it initially had announced in a Series B round that now totals $15 million. The company also announced the hiring of Martha E. Flores …

Discussion: FierceOnlineVideo News and Hollywood Reporter

Guardian:

Police make 600 applications to trace journalists' sources, watchdog finds — Demands for journalists' telephone and email records were made in 34 inquiries into suspected leaks by public officials, report says — Nineteen police forces have made more than 600 applications …

Joseph Lichterman / Nieman Lab:

BuzzFeed grew its Latino audience the old-fashioned way: with content — BuzzFeed has had a goal for the past year: Grow its Latino audience. Its mix of content did better among young whites than non-whites, and it was showing up in its traffic. The site decided to take action …

Discussion: Poynter, BuzzFeed, @cvvalencia and @itstheannmarie

David French / Reuters:

Saudi's Kingdom Holding sells 5.6 percent stake in News Corp — (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding 4280.SE, the investment firm owned by billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, sold most of its stake in media giant News Corp (NWSA.O) as part of a portfolio review, it said on Wednesday.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Naharnet, StreetInsider.com, Financial Times, Reuters and Hollywood Reporter

David Lieberman / Deadline:

Disney CEO Bob Iger mulling possible direct-to-consumer streaming services for ESPN, Marvel, and Star Wars — Bob Iger Hints At Streaming Service Plans For Marvel And ‘Star Wars’ — The Disney CEO tossed in the possibility of new direct-to-consumer offerings in response to a question …

Discussion: The Wrap, Consumerist, Financial Times and TechCrunch