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, Al Jazeera English, The Intercept, Al Jazeera America, Mashable, @alexjamesfitz, Multichannel News, The New York Observer, The Wrap, USA Today, TVNewser, FishbowlNY, Mediaite, The Atlantic, Broadcasting & Cable, @paulxharris, Ad Age, The Huffington Post, @hadas_gold, RT, Talking Points Memo, Hollywood Reporter, @ajplus, @kbsmoke, @hale_a, @tomgara, @chrislhayes, @jaspar, @robertrayajam, @wajahatali, @wyoumans, @jasonleopold, @tomkutsch, @mathewi, @janearraf, @petersterne, @eriks, @jaredbkeller, @gmpaiella, @jaredbkeller, @petersterne, @jyuanathan, @azmatzahra, @brianstelter, @ggreenwald, @mims, @brianstelter, @felixsalmon, @reddy, @ggreenwald, @hadas_gold, @hadas_gold, @brianstelter, The Verge and Washington Times
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, Washington Post, Current.org, Fortune, @nytimes, Gizmodo, App Advice, Variety, CityLab and Bloomberg Business
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, TIME, Flavorwire, The A.V. Club, Engadget, The Federalist, @marisa_carroll, Daily Express, Antiwar.com Original, Inverse, Silicon Republic, EW.com, PBS NewsHour, NBC News, The Verge, 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, Vibe, Billboard, The Verge, The Independent, Complete Music Update, Co.Create, Digital Spy, Racked, Ubergizmo, Complex UK, Fortune, SocialTimes, VentureBeat, The Next Web, PC Magazine, App Advice and TIME
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, Magnetic Magazine, Music Times, HotNewHipHop.com, The 405, Stereogum, Ubergizmo, The Wrap, New York Post, Financial Times, Music Business Worldwide, @pkafka, The FADER, AllAccess.com, Music Week, Engadget, @alexanderljung, The Verge, hypebot and FACT Magazine
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, @pkafka, Bloomberg Business, C21MediaC21Media, Variety, USA Today, Engadget, AppleInsider, Business Insider, 9to5Mac, Ubergizmo, MacRumors, @jyarow, @richbtig, App Advice, Reuters, Media Wire Daily, Reuters, The Wrap, Benzinga, @alexweprin, Bloomberg Business, Hollywood Reporter 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, Tubefilter, NBC News, Mashable, Computerworld, Reuters, Beyond Search, Peter X. Deng, UploadVR, The Drum, SiliconANGLE, Forbes, VentureBeat, Pocket-lint, The Next Web, Wall Street Journal, 9to5Google, Business Insider, TechCrunch, Fortune, VatorNews, @marshallk, SlashGear, @willoremus and Engadget
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 …
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:
@alexweprin, @runofplay, Deadline, FishbowlNY, Brian Phillips and Variety
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.
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 …
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.
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 …
Discussion:
Reynolds Center, Nonprofit Quarterly, Politico, Philly.com, USA Today, The Wrap, Columbia Journalism Review and @ckrewson
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