Mediagazer: News publisher Circa announces Circa 360, a new project that will produce two weekly ad-supported VR pieces with production company MomentumXR (Lauren Johnson/Adweek)

4:55 PM ET, September 29, 2016

Top News:

Bryan West / KPNX:

Arizona Republic says it has gotten death threats and canceled subs over its endorsement of Clinton, the first time it's ever supported a Dem for president — The decision, impact and reasons for endorsing Hillary Clinton. … PHOENIX - The Arizona Republic says it has received death threats …

Edmund Lee / Recode:

Sources: a Viacom-CBS merger could require that Shari Redstone vote her shares however CBS head Les Moonves prefers, so he can shore up a struggling Viacom — Les Moonves, the head of CBS, would need assurances on how owner Shari Redstone would vote her shares.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Home Media Magazine, @benfoxrubin, Variety, @asharma, Forbes, @pkafka, @wsj, Adweek, @edmundlee, @recode, @edmundlee, Broadcasting & Cable and Reuters

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
National Amusements, controlling shareholder of CBS and Viacom, publishes letter asking the boards of each company to consider a merger

Discussion: The Wrap, @thr, Bloomberg, Seeking Alpha, The Wrap, Reuters and @thr

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Time Warner Inc. and Viacom Inc. bidding to acquire Argentine TV broadcaster Telefe in deal valued at up to $400M

Discussion: Variety

David Bond / Financial Times:

Daily Mail owner DMGT says print advertising down 12%, digital up 17%, as it more than triples cost cutting from £15M to £50M amid challenging market conditions — Daily Mail and General Trust will make deeper cuts in staff and other operating costs as part of a strategic review …

Discussion: Guardian, @dickwinchester, @marksweney, The Independent, Editor & Publisher, @martinbarrow, @jonathanhaynes, @charliebeckett, @bethrigby, DMGT, RTTNews, Author stories and campaignlive.co.uk

Press Gazette:
DMGT to cut 400 jobs, close offices in London, New York amid pressure on print advertising

Discussion: Business Insider and @pressgazette

Joseph Lichterman / Nieman Lab:

INMA survey of 37 news executives from Europe and the US finds that Facebook accounts for about 30% of total visits to their websites on average — For publishers, Facebook is the proverbial 800-pound gorilla in the room: They know they have to deal with it, but they aren't always sure of the best strategy for approach.

Discussion: INMA, @niemanlab, @lauraelizdavis, @noahchestnut, @shansquared, @inmaeurope, @earljwilkinson, @bubbaatkinson and @earljwilkinson

Hadas Gold / Politico:

CNN's Corey Lewandowski no longer receiving severance payments from the Trump campaign; a source says the remainder of his contract was paid off in one lump sum — Former Donald Trump campaign manager and now CNN contributor Corey Lewandowski is no longer receiving severance payments from the campaign.

Discussion: Washington Post, Mediaite, @hadas_gold, The Huffington Post, Media Matters for America, @kenvogel, @marceelias, @politico, @crampell, @nickconfessore, The Week, @hadas_gold, @reedfrich, @elizacollins1, @politico_media, @brianstelter, @hadas_gold and @kelseymsutton

Yuji Nakamura / Bloomberg:

Spotify launches in Japan with free ad-supported tier and an ad-free version at $9.70/month — Company will offer free service supported by advertising — Spotify has more than 40 million paying customers globally — Spotify Ltd. is bringing its popular online music service to Japan …

Discussion: MacRumors, @vilavbhatt, @stanyee, @crtrud, Engadget and TechCrunch

Peter Kafka / Recode:

Spotify-SoundCloud deal makes sense because it would build Spotify's user base and give SoundCloud investors a return, but sources say deal might not happen — A tech/media deal that doesn't make you scratch your head. — Some theoretical tech + media tie-ups don't make sense. But not all of them.

Discussion: @robgreenlee, @aaronmotsinger, @joaocvpinheiro, TIME, The Next Web and Music Industry Blog

Financial Times:
Sources: Spotify is in advanced talks to acquire SoundCloud after its two earlier attempts proved unsuccessful

Discussion: RAIN News, Softpedia News, MobileSyrup.com, Vanity Fair, VentureBeat, HYPEBEAST, Business Insider, 9to5Mac, Daring Fireball, Business Insider, Variety, Engadget, The Next Web, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, @kerrymflynn, @lexnfx, The Next Web, VentureBeat, Forbes and Fortune

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Trade organization NCTA cancels its annual trade show after 65 year run as industry consolidates and its relevance declines — The National Cable & Telecommunications Association, the trade group representing major cable operators and programmers, announced that it will no longer hold an annual convention.

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:

Russian hackers harassed Bellingcat journalists who were investigating Malaysia Airlines crash — Russian government hackers began targeting a British citizen journalist in February 2015, eight months after he began posting evidence documenting alleged Russian government involvement …

Discussion: @danlamothe, @nakashimae, @eliothiggins and Instapundit

Sami Main / Adweek:

Video Advertising Bureau report: 87% of streaming is done by only 6% of the US population — Hulu and Netflix have become the cereal aisle of streaming services. There are thousands of options for thousands of different tastes. And with the influx of original content available …

Discussion: @zimbalist and @mathewi

Lauren Johnson / Adweek:

News publisher Circa announces Circa 360, a new project that will produce two weekly ad-supported VR pieces with production company MomentumXR — As more money flows to advertising startups chasing virtual reality and brands start creating custom content, publishers want in on the VR craze, too.

Joseph Lichterman / Nieman Lab:

The Times of London retiring Times Weekly, its $3.99/month app launched in January to reach international readers; last edition will be published on October 31 — The Times of London on Thursday said it was shutting down its Times Weekly app, a subscription app that the British paper launched …