Top News:
Joe Pompeo / Politico:
Al Jazeera America to shut down by April 30, 2.5 years after launch, because the cable channel's business model is “no longer sustainable” — Al Jazeera America shutting down — Al Jazeera, which made a massive investment in covering the United States less than three years ago …
Discussion:
New York Times, CNNMoney, The Intercept, Al Jazeera English, @brianstelter, TVNewser, Forbes, @ajplus, Fast Company, Mediaite, Mashable, @alexjamesfitz, Multichannel News, Hollywood Reporter, The New York Observer, The Wrap, Radio & Television …, The Atlantic, USA Today, Financial Times, Broadcasting & Cable, Media & Entertainment, Mediaite, @paulxharris, Agence France-Presse, Ad Age, Variety, FishbowlNY, The Huffington Post, @justinpeligri, ProFootballTalk, @indiabtl, @rosental, Top Digital Journal News, @charlesarthur, @petersterne, Fortune, @emilybell, @saramorrison, The Daily Caller, The Verge, RT, @kbsmoke, @hale_a, @tomgara, @chrislhayes, @jaspar, @robertrayajam, @wajahatali, NPR, @wyoumans, @jasonleopold, @tomkutsch, Bleacher Report, Talking Points Memo, @mathewi, @hadas_gold, @janearraf, @petersterne, @eriks, @jaredbkeller, @gmpaiella, @jaredbkeller, @jyuanathan, @azmatzahra, @felixsalmon, @mims, @brianstelter, @reddy, @brianstelter, @hadas_gold, @brianstelter, @ggreenwald, @ggreenwald, @hadas_gold, Washington Times, Rehak/Stuebing Mostly Media, The Week and The Stranger …
RELATED:
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Reporters who investigated doping in baseball and football will not be affected by Al Jazeera America shutdown — Al Jazeera unit that did doping documentary unaffected by Al Jazeera America shutdown — Just after Christmas, a U.S. media outlet made big waves with a well-hyped investigation …
Discussion:
Al Jazeera America and @chuckmodi1
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:
Vulture, New York Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Current.org, Fortune, @nytimes, Gizmodo, App Advice, Variety and CityLab
John Paczkowski / BuzzFeed:
Sources: Apple phasing out in-house iAd sales team as it updates platform to be more automated — Apple Steps Back From Its iAd Advertising Business — Six years after launching its advertising platform, Apple is moving to phase out its in-house iAd sales team in favor of a new publisher-driven system.
Discussion:
AppleInsider, Fortune, The Verge, MacRumors, The Next Web, Business Insider, 9to5Mac, Engadget and App Advice
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, Mashable, Flavorwire, The A.V. Club, TIME, The Federalist, Engadget, NBC News, @marisa_carroll, The Verge, Daily Express, Antiwar.com Original, Inverse, Silicon Republic, EW.com, PBS NewsHour, FishbowlNY and ABC News
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:
Genius, news.spotify.com, Mashable, Billboard, Vibe, The Verge, Complete Music Update, Co.Create, Digital Spy, Racked, The Independent, Ubergizmo, Complex UK, Fortune, SocialTimes, VentureBeat, The Next Web, PC Magazine, App Advice, TIME and NBC News
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:
TechCrunch, Fast Company, Wall Street Journal, RAIN News, VentureBeat, @xopodcast, Plagiarism Today, App Advice, Variety, International Business Times, Music Ally, @pkafka, Music Times, Magnetic Magazine, Stereogum, HotNewHipHop.com, Engadget, Ubergizmo, @alexanderljung, The 405, New York Post, The FADER, Music Business Worldwide, Music Week, The Verge, Financial Times, hypebot, The Wrap, AllAccess.com and FACT Magazine
Noah Kulwin / Re/code:
Sources: The Verge's co-founding editor Joshua Topolsky is raising $5M-$10M for ad-supported digital media project, covering politics, culture, and business — The Verge Co-Founder Josh Topolsky Is Raising Money to Launch a Media Startup — Joshua Topolsky, co-founding editor …
Discussion:
@m_delamerced
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, Computerworld, UploadVR, Mashable, TechCrunch, The Verge, VentureBeat, 9to5Google, Beyond Search, Reuters, Tubefilter, NBC News, Computerworld, Peter X. Deng, USA Today, Forbes, The Drum, Pocket-lint, VentureBeat, SiliconANGLE, VatorNews, Wall Street Journal, 9to5Google, Business Insider, TechCrunch, Fortune, The Next Web, @marshallk, SlashGear and @willoremus
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 …
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, @pkafka, Fast Company, Daily Mail, Bloomberg Business, C21MediaC21Media, Variety, 9to5Mac, Business Insider, Engadget, Ubergizmo, MacRumors, AppleInsider, @richbtig, App Advice, @jyarow, USA Today, Reuters, Media Wire Daily, Reuters, The Wrap and Benzinga
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.