The Guardian has a new chief digital officer
GNM is beefing up its digital and commercial leadership with US-style C-level appointments, including a new role for digital development director Tanya Cordrey. Read more »
TV sees itself in a ‘second screen’ primed for popularity
photo: AP Images
Consumers’ use of mobile devices whilst watching TV is becoming popular. But, with another viewing companion app due to launch next week, some in the industry are still debating the potential and the pay-back. Read more »
Research: Social now sucking eyeballs from search
photo: Flickr / CJ Sorg
Search engines are losing share of users’ clicks. Analysts say they are going to Facebook and Twitter. What does that mean for the future of search? Read more »
New BBC chief vows to re-invent content, not just re-purpose it
In a bold first-day speech, the BBC’s new boss says the corporation must stop thinking that online innovation means repurposing broadcast content and instead ‘create genuinely digital content for the first time’. Read more »
Rdio, Vdio tag-team for Skype founders’ music, movie combo
With Janus Friis’ online video start-up still in stealth, Vdio is getting a leg up to launch by merging many staff with music service Rdio, paidContent learns. Read more »
Piracy may be commonplace, but music’s outlook is improving
photo: Jordache/Shutterstock
Research claims three billion songs were illegally downloaded via torrent between January and June. The problem may remain large, but it is likely shrinking. Read more »
Deutsche Telekom, Bertelsmann invest in a German content factory
Publishers increasingly want to know exactly what readers are looking for. Now investment is being given to a start-up that purports not just to tell them – but also to write the content for them. Read more »
FT tech chief will re-build BBC’s digital content shop
Financial Times CTO Michael Fleshman will join the BBC’s commercial wing, as it vies to take iPlayer global, develop electronic-sell-through for TV shows and reach readers through lifestyle portals. Read more »
Apple can pick its moment to re-invent music again
photo: Tim Bradshaw (Twitter)
Any subscription music service from Apple could fundamentally alter the entertainment business. But it may come only when iTunes’ current gas runs out, and we’re not quite there yet. Read more »
Streaming media could have larger carbon footprint than plastic discs
photo: Shutterstock / Sponner / olly http://shutr.bz/QFEc8l http://shutr.bz/QFEc8l
Streaming media is hot – maybe too hot. music streaming could be more energy-intensive than CD production and distribution, while YouTube could soon guzzle one percent of global electricity, says a report calling for solutions. Read more »
Spotify for TV – could it finally be true?
photo: Spotify
A Danish report says Spotify may offer HBO TV shows in Scandinavia. We have seen that kind of speculation in the past. But there may be valid reasons why the music service could branch out. Read more »
Web adds a fifth to UK newspaper readership, print still dominates
photo: Shutterstock / Jaime Duplass
First combined print and online readership data shows some titles still see more usage on paper than by pixels, while others are finding booming audience growth online. Read more »
News Corp picks Cheesbrough to lead technology strategy
About to split itself in two whilst still pursuing digital product development, News Corp is adding News International CIO Paul Cheesbrough as its chief technology officer, replacing John McKinley. Read more »
Ivi.ru is Hollywood’s route to Russian VOD
Russian video aggregator ivi.ru is raising $40 million more. The money will be used to license TV and movie content, as investors hope decreasing piracy and willingness to pay for content can make for success. Read more »
Music service Omnifone on acquisition trail as it moves to profit
The company which powers mobile music for Sony and RIM says it is buying a Swedish indie and will acquire further, after it turned a pre-tax profit last year. Read more »
iTunes Store may launch in Russia, cheaper than U.S.
Russia’s lacklustre music market desperately needs strong legal digital services. Now Apple may be about to play that role, finally launching in the country, according to reports. Read more »
Open-access research ‘catastrophic’ for Reed Elsevier
Government plans to make publicly-funded research available for free online will be great for citizens but terrible news for journal publishers. One could lose up to 60 percent of its profits, an analyst warns. Read more »
Research: Kids reading fewer websites, more ebooks
photo: Shutterstock / olly
A new survey points to falling levels of reading every medium bar SMS in the last seven years. Campaigners are worried, but schoolchildren say they enjoy reading as much as ever. Read more »
China’s largest e-tailer agrees to stop movie pirates
photo: Robert S. Donovan
Legal online movie services offered by sites like Youku and Tudou may benefit after e-commerce platform Taobao consents to Hollywood’s pleas that it stop selling counterfeit movie discs. Read more »
Mobile carriers and consumers are all pirates in South Africa
South Africa’s government has been urged to get tough with ISPs that refuse to pay royalties and to introduce graduated-response piracy measures against freeloaders, by a report that decries a dysfunctional digital content market. Read more »
Arqiva buys Connect TV to inject IPTV in to Freeview
“Freeview is shaking off the limitations of its spectrum,” is the declaration of a company that has been acquired by the UK’s big television infrastructure firm to inject internet content in to terrestrial broadcasts. Read more »
Perform’s online sports roll-up continues with Sportal acquisition
photo: Perform Group
Bosses of fast-growing online sports broadcaster Perform Group earned millions last week when they cashed out some shares. But their company remains focused on building up by bolting on global sports sites. Read more »
Finnish publisher Sanoma cutting and charging to adapt for future
photo: Flickr/Alex Barth
The Nordics are not immune to the changes buffeting the media industries. Finnish publisher Sanoma is embarking on a restructure involving 880 staff, as it tries to right itself for new realities. Read more »
Mail.ru Group sees user payments boost as it turns down advertising
Should websites charge users or advertisers? Russia’s number-two operator does both, but has this year seen payments from its user base quickly become its top revenue line, in a positive sign for Russian content payments. Read more »
French publishers unite real-time ad buying efforts
Real-time bidding is gaining traction with publishers keen to wring more out of their online inventory. Now rival French publishers are joining forces for a united pitch to advertisers. Read more »
Tesco fills the e-books piece of its digital puzzle by buying Mobcast
Facing off against Sainsbury’s with a string of digital content vendor acquisitions, Tesco is now buying e-book store maker Mobcast for £4.5 million to translate its success in the aisles to the net. Read more »
Majorca’s Playspace takes Miami money to build social games
Another European startup is trying to be a Zynga or a Playfish in its local language. Spain’s Playfish is raising money for the effort, seven months after formation. Read more »
iTunes Store may finally open in South Africa
iTunes Store may be huge, but it still isn’t truly global. After recent Latin America expansion, Apple’s service could be ready for a South Africa launch, an industry source says. Read more »
Interview: Sony keeps iOS close as it waits for Apple TV
Sony VP Michael Aragon is trying to realise the corporation’s dream of uniting home electronics hardware and digital content. But, to do it, he will need to rely on rivals’ gadgets, as well as its own. Read more »
Out of frying pan, HMV’s Fox picked to stoke Trinity Mirror’s fire
Simon Fox may be exiting a traditional company plagued by declining analogue content, but that will remain his top challenge, after news publisher Trinity Mirror named him its new CEO. Read more »
Spotify gets a leg-up in Germany from Deutsche Telekom bundling
photo: Spotify
Carrier bundling will help grow music subscription income by 46 percent a year, one analyst forecasts. Spotify continues on that road by allying with Deutsche Telekom in Germany. Read more »
Chart: How World Of Warcraft subscribers are leaving Azeroth
photo: CalvinB
Can Call Of Duty’s realist shooting make up for World Of Warcraft’s diminishing fantasy fan base? Vivendi’s Activision-Blizzard is battling to hold on to its sought-after subscription success. Read more »
Interview: TuneIn CEO plans radio ad pre-rolls, personalization
Internet radio stream aggregator TuneIn took $16 million investment this summer. Why does it need the money? To improve discovery and build out an ad-supported Netflix of radio, CEO John Donham tells paidContent. Read more »
Three billion flips later, Flipboard turns to video
The app start-up has made waves by aggregating text web articles as though they were magazine pages. Now it wants to do the same for video. Read more »
Doctor Who goes back in time to beat TV pirates
Australian broadcaster ABC is sending Doctor Who back in time. It is putting episodes online just after they premiere in the UK, hoping viewers will turn away from pirated copies. Read more »
Chart: What next for Spotify, as expansion losses mount?
photo: Spotify
The trailblazing firm may need more VC cash to cover its losses as it builds a global streaming behemoth, a disclosure reveals. So who gets what value from Spotify, and how could that change after another investment? Read more »
Nook’s UK odyssey starts at John Lewis, ink only
photo: Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble’s first overseas retailer for its Nook e-reader will be the respected UK department store John Lewis. But shoppers won’t find Nook Color nor Nook Tablet on British shelves yet. Read more »
YouTube scores more soccer, but still misses EPL goal
photo: Shutterstock / creativedoxfoto
Google is offering viewers more and more sports content, seemingly without having to shell out money on direct licenses. Now it has highlights from seven more tournaments, but is still lacking the world’s most-watched club soccer contest. Read more »
Deezer is going slow against Spotify
France-based unlimited-music service Deezer is fast expanding in to new global markets. But the expansion doesn’t yet appear to have upgraded its subscriber count. Read more »
More social marketing consolidation as Beyond buys Content & Motion
photo: Shutterstock / Cienpies Design
Data-driven social public relations are the order of the day for a San Francisco marketer, as it acquires a UK social marketing agency. Read more »
