Top News:
Roger Yu / USA Today:
Gannett Co. offers to buy Tribune Publishing, owner of LA Times, for $815M, at $12.25 a share, will assume $390M of Tribune's outstanding debt — Gannett offers $815 million to buy Tribune Publishing — Gannett Co., which owns USA TODAY and more than 100 other media properties across the country …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, investor.tribpub.com, Nieman Lab, Re/code, New York Times, Business Insider, @alexburnsnyt, Yahoo! Finance, Hollywood Reporter, @nytimesbusiness, @markrussell44, Fortune, @craignewman, LA Observed, @jonfine, Reuters, Newser, @bobbymacreports, @billmon1, Los Angeles Times, Media Wire Daily, The Atlantic, @mockingthedraft, @evanchill, @moorehn, @seanjwelsh, @jeffjarvis, @bobbymacreports, @bobbymacreports, @jbflint, @bobbymacreports, Business Insider, @rogeryu_, The Wrap and FishbowlNY, Thanks:@ravichandrans25
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Rick Edmonds / Poynter:
Wall Street reaction to Gannett's Tribune bid indicates deal is likely to succeed; spokesman says Gannett would keep Tribune intact — Why Gannett is likely to win its takeover bid for Tribune Publishing — Despite initial resistance from Tribune Publishing's management …
Discussion:
Politico, New York Times, @palewire, Washington Post and On Point with Tom Ashbrook
James Warren / Poynter:
Tribune's management surprised by Gannett bid, had other plans for the company, internal memo reveals; bid could lead to boardroom or courtroom battle — A surprised Tribune hints at a potential battle over Gannett bid — Tribune Publishing was clearly sideswiped.
Discussion:
Poynter, @niemanlab, @jackmirkinson, @jimwarren55 and @benmullin
Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
Gannett says Tribune Publishing rejected its offer but Tribune says it's reviewing offer
Gannett says Tribune Publishing rejected its offer but Tribune says it's reviewing offer
Discussion:
Ad Age, Quartz, The Week, Editor & Publisher, @dylanbyers and @brianstelter
Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
Charter-Time Warner Cable merger and Bright House Networks acquisition get regulatory OK in deals valued at $88B, with terms to protect streaming competition — FCC chairman recommends approval of Charter's takeover of Time Warner Cable — Charter Communications is closer to realizing …
Discussion:
Broadcasting & Cable, U.S. Department of Justice, CNNMoney, New York Times, Broadcasting & Cable, Home Media Magazine, Crain's New York Business, Bloomberg, The Week, Radio & Television …, Wall Street Journal, Consumerist, Reuters, Techdirt, @ddayen, The Wrap, Fortune, New York Magazine, Re/code, ZDNet, Business Insider, @billshaikin, Variety, Consumerist, @emilysteel, SlashGear, The Verge, Business Insider, MediaPost, @shaliniwsj, The Hill, NPR and Engadget
Jeanine Poggi / Ad Age:
Saturday Night Live to reduce ads by 30%, introduces six slots a year for branded content — ‘Saturday Night Live’ Will Cut Ads by 30% Next Season — Also Offers Marketers Limited Branded Content Pods — Marketing Fact Pack — NBC's “Saturday Night Live” is paring down its commercial load …
Discussion:
Forbes, Adweek, Variety, Vanity Fair, /Film, Tubefilter, Engadget, Birth.Movies.Death and Broadcasting & Cable
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Hundreds of Spotify credentials appear online - users report accounts hacked, emails changed — A list containing hundreds of Spotify account credentials - including emails, usernames, passwords, account type and other details - has popped up on the website Pastebin, in what appears to be a possible security breach.
Discussion:
Fast Company, SlashGear, AppAdvice.com Latest, Digital Trends, Ubergizmo, @caseynewton, Windows Central, SiliconANGLE and hypebot
Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
Kelly Ripa gets a personal apology from ABC execs — Top executives at Disney and ABC have personally apologized to Kelly Ripa for last week's bungled announcement about the departure of her co-host Michael Strahan. — The bosses apologized to Strahan too.
Discussion:
Vanity Fair and TVLine
Jeremy Barr / Ad Age:
Vox Media's Circuit Breaker aims to make money with Instant Articles, editorial sponsorships, possible product placement in Facebook Live, and maybe e-commerce — How Vox Media's New Gadget Blog Circuit Breaker Will Earn Revenue — On Monday, Vox Media tech and culture site The Verge announced …
Discussion:
@mathewi, @reckless, @gruber, @davewiner and The Wrap
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John Herrman / New York Times:
Vox Media launches gadget blog Circuit Breaker as a section of The Verge, but with Facebook as its primary distribution platform
Vox Media launches gadget blog Circuit Breaker as a section of The Verge, but with Facebook as its primary distribution platform
Discussion:
Om Malik, The Wrap, Scripting News, @jwherrman, LinkedIn Pulse, Fast Company, The Verge, @eringriffith, Talking New Media, Media Wire Daily, @backlon, @kendallmire and Nieman Lab
Dave McNary / Variety:
Lionsgate to distribute more than 100 films on Steam, including The Hunger Games — Lionsgate Launches Distribution Through Steam, Includes ‘Hunger Games’ … Valve Corp. and Lionsgate have formed a partnership under which Lionsgate will license more than 100 films to Valve's Steam digital …
Discussion:
PR Newswire, TechCrunch, Ubergizmo, Tom's Hardware, Engadget, Digital Trends, SlashGear, Polygon, Wired.co.uk and Home Media Magazine
Robin Wilson / Chronicle of Higher Education:
Melissa Click, Missouri professor fired over confrontation with student reporter, talks about the events of that day, blames her firing on racial politics — Being Melissa Click — Last fall, as Melissa Click yelled and pointed her way into infamy, she quickly became a caricature …
Discussion:
Hit & Run, @robbysoave, The Daily Caller and @aaronblake
John Herrman / New York Times:
Q&A with Harvard economist Andrei Hagiu on distributed readership, platforms, and writer-reader interaction — Online Media Is Tested When Social Platforms Come to Town — Online media companies are, once again, bracing for change. Now, the prospect facing them is audiences …
Discussion:
@sonyaellenmann and @jwherrman
Karl Bode / Techdirt:
Comcast preventing Xfinity customers from using Starz's $9/ month standalone streaming app, and can only offer flimsy reasons why — Comcast Preventing Customers From Accessing Starz Streaming App, Can Only Offer Flimsy Reasons Why — Last year, we noted that Comcast was refusing …