Time Warner is reportedly looking to sell off most of its magazines to Meredith, the publisher of titles like Better Homes and Gardens and Ladies’ Home Journal. Read more »
Looking for a job in digital media? Each week we highlight some of the most interesting positions posted to paidContent’s jobs board. Check out the latest gigs at media companies across the country. Read more »
Users of Amazon Prime Instant Video will be able to stream more shows from CBS and Showtime, including past seasons of America’s Next Top Model, Everybody Loves Raymond and The L Word. Read more »
Plympton, the serial fiction startup launched last year by former New York Times reporter Jennifer 8 Lee, is acquiring DailyLit, a site that delivers books in installments by email and RSS. Read more »
Netflix doesn’t release any ratings for its original content – but it’s keeping a very close watch on who is viewing what in order to greenlight and promote shows. Read more »
Chris Hughes is young, wealthy and now owns a venerable but struggling magazine. Does he have a plan to make money from it? Right now, it appears he doesn’t care about the financial side of publishing. Read more »
Google is making big changes to AdWords which is its main money machine and a major engine of online advertising. The company is framing the changes as a benefit — but they may shortchange advertisers and publishers. Read more »
Comcast’s purchase of the 49 percent of NBCUniversal that it didn’t already own was expected to take several years, but the cable provider said Tuesday it has bought the rest of the company for $16.7 billion. Read more »
Most of the startups and networks focused on hyperlocal or community news and information try to be as open as possible, but Nextdoor is taking the exact opposite approach and making the barrier to entry for users as high as it can. Read more at GigaOM »
HBO is bringing its HBO Go service to more screens by adding AirPlay support – but it’s not ready to offer an online-only subscription any time soon. Read more »
The rise of long-form TV dramas is often attributed to networks like HBO and Showtime, but Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton believes it’s a direct result of Netflix and digital video recorders. Read more »
Intel’s TV service is real, and will launch later this year. The service will include live and catch-up TV, but also cable-like bundles. Read more »
The arrival of the iPad was supposed to boost online subscription sales for magazines. It didn’t work out that way. But smaller devices like the iPad Mini and Nook are starting to change that. Read more »
Netflix is partnering with DreamWorks to release its first original children’s show this December. Netflix will also add new DreamWorks films to its streaming lineup. Read more »
A Sonos speaker – for your television: That’s the idea behind the Playbar, the company’s first soundbar. It’s a big step for a company like Sonos, which is about to get a whole lot more competition. Read more »
A good number of companies are trying to create the best social reader for news and information, but no one’s really emerged a clear winner yet. Thirst is moving from a Twitter client to news reader in an attempt to capture part of the market. Read more at GigaOM »
Starting Tuesday, Inkling is making its free digital publishing platform, Habitat, available to everyone. The company is also introducing an enterprise product, with publishers including Pearson and Wolters-Kluwer as launch clients. Read more »
Clay Shirky has said publishing “isn’t an industry any more — it’s a button,” and that truth is impacting everything from books and newspapers to television and music. Stay ahead of the media and content curve at paidContent Live this April in NYC. Read more »
Pay TV providers tend to argue that cord cutting doesn’t exist. Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen doesn’t agree. Read more »
Dish Networks is selling a controversial device called the Hopper that lets viewers skip commercials. Company chairman Charlie Ergen said TV watching is changing and that Dish is not using the Hopper to extract lower fees from broadcasters. Read more »
The New York Times has finally closed a popular loophole that let readers circumvent its paywall by chopping off the end of a story’s website address. Read more »
Digital textbook startup Kno has released Advance, a new platform that it says can help publishers turn flat files into interactive ebooks “in minutes.” Read more »
Microsoft’s Los Angeles studios is working on interactive TV content for the Xbox Live platform. First shows are set to launch before the end of the year. Read more »
Although many traditional media outlets and journalists see reader comments as having little or no value, publishers like Gawker and The Verge see them as a potential source of revenue — and even potential hires. Read more »
What if you could watch a movie before its theatrical release on Hulu? Subscribers of Hulu’s Japanese service will have the chance to do just that next week — but only if they’re quick. Read more »
Macmillan is paying $20 million to settle the class action and states’ lawsuits remaining against it. Read more »
Research by the Pew Center has turned up several examples of newspapers that seem to have reversed the declining revenue most of the industry is suffering from, although the methods they have chosen to do this are very different. Read more »
Sailthru helps sites deliver personalized content or shopping offers to their email subscribers. Now, the company has received a major investment from Benchmark as it expands its “smart data” products. Read more at GigaOM »
New episodes of CBS’s Under the Dome will be available for viewing on Prime Instant Video four days after they’re first broadcast on CBS. It’s the first time that Amazon has offered streaming access to an in-season show. Read more »
Google is partnering with the U.K. satellite-TV box Freesat to offer an HTML5 YouTube channel. Freesat, which is backed by the BBC and ITV, is a set-top satellite TV box that offers 180 channels and doesn’t require a monthly subscriptin. Read more »
Cries for copyright reform have typically come from Silicon Valley liberals. But in recent months, conservatives are adding arguments of their own. This presents the chance to reach a grand bargain on fixing copyright. Read more at GigaOM »
As we continue the transition to digital, media companies will have more precise and powerful tools to measure success. David Justus, of contentcurrents.com, says Cost Per Hour will be a pivotal metric, both for consumers and content producers. Read more at GigaOM »
The first season of House of Cards is full of intrigue and plot twists — but the drama it’s created for the television industry is almost as compelling. Read more »
Want to get emergency storm updates — or just binge out on sports coverage or old David Brooks columns during the storm? Now’s your chance as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal offer free access to their websites. Read more »
Social magazine Flipboard added eight new employees this week, including three former Hulu executives, bringing the company’s total head count to 77. Read more »
Hundreds of traditional publishers have erected paywalls around their content, but there is much to be gained by focusing monetization on individuals rather than an entire newspaper. Here are a few suggestions on how publishers could do this. Read more »
Looking for the turnaround story of 2013? Stop looking at Yahoo — it’s AOL that’s the real deal. The company has quietly put in place a powerful strategy based on media, technology and advertising. And investors like what they see. Read more »
Macmillan, the last remaining publisher holdout in the Department of Justice’s ebook pricing antitrust lawsuit against five publishers and Apple, has decided to settle about ten months after the lawsuit was originally filed. Now Apple is the only remaining party fighting the DOJ lawsuit. Read more »
To the frustration of consumers now used to digital distribution, the TV industry stubbornly refuses to unbundle its expensive channel packages. The CEO of upstart Aereo explains why he is taking them on. Read more at GigaOM »
The New York Times is considering some kind of “entry-level” product aimed at a younger audience. What would this product look like and what should it cost? As a (late) twenty-something, I felt qualified to speculate. Read more »
