Top News:
Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Axel Springer's $343M purchase of Business Insider sets new high mark in digital publisher sales, beating AOL's 2011 purchase of Huffington Post for $315M — Sold! Axel Springer Bets Big on Digital, Buys Business Insider. — Earlier this year, German publisher Axel Springer tried and failed to buy the Financial Times.
Discussion:
Bloomberg View, Gawker, Adweek, Fortune, The Wrap, New York Times, @hblodget, mUmBRELLA, @danprimack, @om, The Awl, @rosslevinsohn, Guardian, @pkafka, Fusion, Press Gazette, @pmarca, Folio, The Wrap, @waltmossberg, The Atlantic, Poynter, @m_d_4, AdExchanger, FishbowlNY, @anildash, @ritholtz, @morningmoneyben, @lock, @felixsalmon, @digitalshields, @sirsteven, @mathewi, @rafat, @socarolinesays, @brianstelter and @ivanthek
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Kenneth Wong / Bloomberg Business:
Axel Springer Buys 88% of Business Insider for $343 Million — German media company Axel Springer SE agreed to buy an 88 percent stake in Business Insider Inc. for $343 million. — Axel Springer already owns a 9 percent stake in New York-based Business Insider, which runs …
Re/code:
Sources: Twitter building new product to let users share tweets longer than 140 characters, enabling publication of long-form content on the platform — Twitter Plans to Go Beyond Its 140-Character Limit — Twitter is building a new product that will allow users to share tweets that are longer …
Discussion:
Forbes, TechCrunch, WIVB-TV, SFist, The Information, Adweek, Net Worked, Slate, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, @peter_tl, Telegraph, GeekWire, US News, mUmBRELLA, Variety, @dangillmor, The Next Web, Daily Mail, ABC, Consumerist, Engadget, @mims, Fortune, VatorNews, Guardian, @lexalexander, @the_author_, VentureBeat, Mashable, MacRumors, The Verge, App Advice, KRON4.com, The Week, New York Times, Digital Spy and BuzzFeed
John Cassidy / New Yorker:
Financial Times CEO John Ridding on the paper's acquisition by Nikkei and how journalism shot itself in the foot by going for mass-reach, low quality — The Financial Times and the Future of Journalism — In a generally depressing decade for newspapers, the Financial Times …
Discussion:
Beyond Search, Financial Times and FishbowlNY
Apple:
Apple Music, iTunes Movies, and iBooks now available in China, music free for three months then 10 RMB/month, movies start at 5 RMB, iBooks from 0.5 RMB — Apple Brings Apple Music, iTunes Movies & iBooks to Customers in China Starting Today — Apple® today announced that Apple Music™ …
Allison Schiff / AdExchanger:
IAB is forming Ad Blocking Working Group and plans to distribute code that detects ad blockers — Ad Blocking - Unlike Fraud - Comes At The User's Behest — If ad blocking is war, long-tail publishers will likely be its earliest casualties. — “Ad blocking is a threat to the whole industry …
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Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Netflix and Virgin America to offer free in-flight WiFi for movies and shows on select flights through March 2, 2016 — Netflix partners with Virgin America to offer free in-flight Wi-Fi for movies and TV shows — With more and more video-streaming companies offering downloads for offline access …
Discussion:
Forbes, Mashable, Variety, The Verge, Business Insider, UPROXX and The Next Web
Mike Shields / Wall Street Journal:
Facebook's Head of News Partnerships, Liz Heron, joins The Huffington Post as Executive Editor, will jointly steer site alongside Arianna Huffington — Huffington Post Names Liz Heron Executive Editor — Ms. Heron was Facebook's head of news partnerships
Discussion:
Poynter, CNNMoney, @huffingtonpost, @mitrakalita, @marklittlenews, @lheron, Liz Heron, @jimbrady, @digitalshields and @sarahmarshall
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Comcast launches web video service Watchable with 30 partners including Vice, Vox, and Buzzfeed — Comcast Launches Watchable: Can Web Video Help Save Cable TV? — Cable giant debuts service with 30 content partners, available on set-tops, apps and online
Discussion:
Comcast, Home Media Magazine, Ad Age, CNNMoney, LostRemote, Adweek, FishbowlNY, The Wrap and NetNewsCheck Latest
Rhiannon Williams / Telegraph:
Zane Lowe: 'I'm not sure that Apple Music needs Beats 1' — The Beats 1 and former BBC DJ said he is uncertain as to why Apple's streaming service Apple Music needs his station Beats 1 — DJ Zane Lowe has admitted he's unsure if Apple Music needs the digital radio station Beats 1 …
Discussion:
The Next Web and Digital Spy
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
YouTube announces Shopping ads, which overlay the video player, with testing this fall — YouTube Introduces Shopping Ads — YouTube videos are going to get more shoppable, with the company announcing a new ad unit today called Shopping ads. — The Google-owned video site has been moving …
Discussion:
Globe and Mail, New York Times, Inside AdWords, Engadget, Variety, Adweek, Business Insider, 9to5Google and Re/code
Shannon Bond / Financial Times:
Activist opposes Media General's planned acquisition of Meredith — Media General, the US television station owner, is facing pressure from an activist shareholder to call off its proposed $3.1bn deal to buy Meredith and instead sell itself to Nexstar Broadcasting Group.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, TVNewsCheck.com, Broadcasting & Cable and Variety
Wall Street Journal:
Digital measurement firm ComScore to acquire TV measurement firm Rentrak in all-stock deal — Measurement Firm ComScore to Acquire Rentrak — Merger could create more formidable rival to No. 1 player Nielsen — Measurement firm comScore Inc. on Tuesday said it agreed to acquire rival Rentrak Corp …
Discussion:
Variety, USA Today, The Wrap, New York Times and FierceOnlineVideo News