Top News:
Comcast Corporation:
Comcast terminates $45B Time Warner Cable merger agreement — Comcast / Time Warner Cable / Charter Transactions Terminated — Comcast Corporation announced this morning that its merger agreement with Time Warner Cable and its transactions agreement with Charter Communications, Inc. have been terminated.
Discussion:
NetNewsCheck Latest, @robpegoraro, Re/code, Reuters, The Huffington Post and Variety
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Erin Griffith / Fortune:
Comcast held acquisition talks with Vox Media, but deal fizzled within the last month — Will Comcast go on a post-Time Warner Cable buying spree? — Comcast recently held acquisition talks with digital publisher Vox Media, Fortune has learned. The potential deal fizzled out within the last month.
Discussion:
Capital New York, @blakehounshell, @reckless, @dangillmor, @jayrosen_nyu, @rafat, @zseward and @matthewmspace
Jonathan Mahler / New York Times:
Comcast's TWC bid and FCC's stance on net neutrality were separate yet intertwined issues — Once Comcast's Deal Shifted to a Focus on Broadband, Its Ambitions Were Sunk — When it was announced a little more than a year ago, it felt to many like a sure thing.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, @richbtig and Bloomberg Business
Emily Steel / New York Times:
Comcast and TWC combined would have controlled 57% of national broadband market, too high a threshold for FCC and DoJ — Comcast Confirms End of Deal With Time Warner Cable — Comcast confirmed Friday that it had called off its $45 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable …
Discussion:
CNNMoney, Wall Street Journal and CNBC
Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
Analysts predict Charter Communications will renew attempts to buy Time Warner Cable — It's Official: Comcast Drops Time Warner Cable Deal — Comcast made it official on Friday morning, formally withdrawing its plans to acquire Time Warner Cable in a $45 billion deal.
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Slate Group chairman should have disclosed ties to Sony boss in piece denouncing publishing of hacked emails — Slate Group chairman should have included disclosure in Sony piece — On Dec. 15, Jacob Weisberg, chairman and editor-in-chief of the Slate Group, wrote a strong opinion piece on his flagship site.
Discussion:
@felixgillette, @erikwemple and @jacobwe
Jim Tankersley / Washington Post:
Why the PR industry is sucking up Pulitzer winners — The number of news reporters in the Washington, D.C., area nearly doubled over the last decade, from 1,450 to 2,760. In Los Angeles it grew by 20 percent. In New York City, it basically stayed flat. Outside of those cities …
Discussion:
Reynolds Center, Poynter, @tinyrevolution and The Local News Lab
Kim Willsher / Guardian:
Le Monde editorial director pick Jérôme Fenoglio beat out three public candidates to the surprise of staff and needs 60% vote for approval — Le Monde's surprise decision for editorial director awaits staff approval — Jérôme Fenoglio handpicked by French newspapers owners …
Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:
Six US press organizations warn that anti-paparazzi laws may be used to harass journalists — Media Groups Stand Up for Justin Bieber Chaser With Nod to Ferguson — An appeals court is warned that a California law could be used as a “tool” by police to harass journalists.
Discussion:
@eriqgardner
Robert Mackey / New York Times:
College student in Turkey gets one-year suspended sentence for tweeting satirical news story — Turkish College Student Convicted for Tweeting Satirical News Story — A provincial court in Turkey sentenced a college student to one year in prison on Thursday for the offense of …
Discussion:
Hurriyet Daily News and @digiphile
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Cablevision Debuts “Cord Cutter” Packages Combining Broadband, Free Antennas, And Optional HBO NOW — Cablevision made headlines as the first pay-TV provider to offer HBO's new standalone service HBO NOW to its broadband customers, and today the cable company is again targeting cord cutters …
Discussion:
Multichannel News, Wall Street Journal, Tom's Guide, Washington Post, FierceCable, Engadget and Variety
Greg Bensinger / Wall Street Journal:
Amazon revenue up 15% YoY to $22.72B, posts net loss of $57M after $108M profit a year ago — Amazon Swings to Loss Despite Jump in Sales — E-commerce firm's cloud computing business posts revenue of $1.57 billion — Amazon.com Inc. finally revealed financial details …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Forbes, Forbes, VentureBeat, BBC, Reuters, CNBC, Tech Trader Daily, ZDNet and Business Insider