Top News:
John Koblin / New York Times:
‘Serial’ Podcast, Needing More Reporting Time, Goes Biweekly — At the beginning of every episode of “Serial,” the host, Sarah Koenig, opens with these words: “From This American Life and WBEZ Chicago, it's ‘Serial,’ one story told week by week.” — Well, make that every other week.
Discussion:
Serial, FishbowlNY, TIME, The A.V. Club, Engadget, Inverse, EW.com, The Federalist, Antiwar.com Original, @marisa_carroll, Daily Express, Flavorwire, Silicon Republic, PBS NewsHour, NBC News, The Verge, ABC News and Mashable
New York Post:
Bewkes nixes HBO spinoff but open to Time Warner sale — Time Warner boss Jeff Bewkes told investors in a series of closed-door meetings Monday that he's against a sale or a spinoff of HBO but hinted he would entertain a sale of the New York media giant, The Post has learned.
Discussion:
New York Post, Fortune, Fast Company, Bloomberg Business, @pkafka, Variety, USA Today, Engadget, Business Insider, AppleInsider, Reuters, 9to5Mac, Ubergizmo, MacRumors, @jyarow, @richbtig, App Advice, Media Wire Daily, Reuters, The Wrap, @alexweprin, Benzinga, Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg Business and CNBC
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Facebook and Google Move Execs to Work On Virtual Reality — In a sign of the growing importance of virtual reality (VR) for tech companies, both Google and Facebook have tasked seasoned executives to work with their respective VR divisions. — Google's VP of product management Clay Bavor …
Discussion:
Re/code, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, 9to5Google, The Verge, USA Today, Computerworld, Mashable, NBC News, SiliconANGLE, The Drum, Peter X. Deng, Beyond Search, UploadVR, Reuters, VentureBeat, Forbes, The Next Web, Pocket-lint, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, 9to5Google, Fortune, TechCrunch, VatorNews, @willoremus, @marshallk, SlashGear and Engadget
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
HBO Takes On Netflix With A New Kids Section Featuring “Sesame Street” And More — HBO's quest to more directly compete with streaming service rivals like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu is kicking off this week, with the company's launch of a new “Kids” section in its mobile application and the rollout …
Discussion:
New York Times, App Advice, Variety, Washington Post, Gizmodo, Vulture, CityLab and Bloomberg Business
Ben Sisario / New York Times:
SoundCloud and Universal Music Agree to Licensing Deal — SoundCloud, a streaming music site that has clashed with the music industry as it grows more popular, has struck a long-awaited licensing deal with the Universal Music Group, the giant record company whose roster of hit acts includes the Weeknd, Sam Smith and U2.
Discussion:
Fast Company, RAIN News, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, The Wrap, Wall Street Journal, Variety, International Business Times, Music Ally, Magnetic Magazine, Music Times, HotNewHipHop.com, The 405, Stereogum, Ubergizmo, Engadget, Financial Times, New York Post, Music Business Worldwide, @pkafka, The FADER, AllAccess.com, @alexanderljung, The Verge, Music Week, hypebot and FACT Magazine
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Spotify partners with Genius to show backstory and commentary annotations for selected songs, only on iPhone for now — Spotify And Genius Team To Stream The Backstory On Music Tracks — Spotify, the popular music streaming app with 75 million users, wants to ramp up its profile as a platform for more than just music listening.
Discussion:
news.spotify.com, Mashable, Billboard, Racked, The Independent, Complete Music Update, Co.Create, Digital Spy, Ubergizmo, Complex UK, Fortune, The Next Web, SocialTimes, VentureBeat, The Verge, PC Magazine, App Advice and NBC News
Jim Brady / Billy Penn:
Billy Penn, PolitiFact partnering to fact check Pennsylvania — Billy Penn is expanding ... sort of. No, we're not announcing a slew of new hires, or launching in another city. At least not yet. But, beginning in February, we will be able cast our gaze a bit wider …
Kelsey Sutton / Politico:
At least five ex-staffers of Grantland land at MTV News, where Grantland's founding Editorial Director Dan Fierman moved in October — Grantland redux, at MTV — Less than three months after ESPN shut down Grantland for good, another TV channel has been filling its ranks with the sports …
Discussion:
Deadline, FishbowlNY, @alexweprin, @runofplay, Brian Phillips and Variety
Natalie Jarvey / Hollywood Reporter:
PewDiePie Launches Creator Network With Maker Studios — Revelmode will feature videos, games, philanthropic initiatives, merchandise and more. — YouTube star Felix Kjellberg, who is known by the username PewDiePie, has launched a new online network in collaboration with Disney's Maker Studios.
Canadian Press:
Shaw to sell Global TV, specialty channels to Corus for $2.65 billion — Shaw, Corus controlled by Shaw family through its multiple-voting shares; deal will help fund Wind Mobile purchase — Shaw Communications is selling its media division, which includes Global TV, to Corus Entertainment.
John Glenday / The Drum:
Daily Mail chief executive Martin Morgan to retire at the end of 2016 — Daily Mail and General Trust has announced that chief executive Martin Morgan is to retire at the end of 2016, allowing time for a successor to be found for the role. — Morgan joined DMGT in 1989, rising to the post of chief executive in 2008.
Discussion:
Express & Star, Reuters, Life Style Extra, RTTNews, campaignlive.co.uk, MarketWatch and Guardian
BBC:
European Union opens inquiry into whether new Polish media laws break democracy rules — EU launches probe into new Polish laws — The European Commission has launched an unprecedented investigation into whether new Polish laws break EU democracy rules.
Discussion:
The Irish Times, Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Chicago Tribune, DW.COM, Newsweek, Reuters, New York Times, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, The Malta Independent, DW.COM, The Straits Times, Reuters, Reuters, Financial Times, Guardian, @henryjfoy, Sputnik International, Europe : NPR, Reuters and Al Jazeera English
Jeff Gammage / Philly.com:
Gerry Lenfest, sole owner of Philadelphia Media Network, contributes newspapers, website to nonprofit institute — Lenfest donates newspapers, website to new media institute — The owner of The Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com has donated the news organizations …
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