No deal terms were announced. It’s understood Data Explorers owner Bowmark Capital had been looking to sell the firm for the last year.

The company claims to track more than 85 percent of global securities transactions.

Markit wants to inject Data Explorers’ services in to its own, including adding new services for exchange securities, dividend forecasting and quantitative research.

London-based Data Explorers says it quadrupled revenue and tripled profitability over the last four years with global expansion.

Market also acquired Wall Street On Demand, which provides visualisations for financial data, in 2010.

In the 2011 Bertelsmann annual report released this week, Random House said it has nearly 40,000 titles available as e-books worldwide, and while revenues were down for the year, “operating EBIT was higher year on year, especially in the United States. This rise was helped by continued cost-cutting measures and lower return rates in North America and the United Kingdom due to increased e-book sales.”

Similarly, Pearson’s 2011 annual report shows that Penguin’s sales are roughly flat, while adjusted operating profit rose by 5 percent, again due in part to e-book sales. “Penguin saw e-book revenues in 2011 double on the previous year,” the report says. “In 2011 they accounted for 12% of Penguin revenues worldwide and more than 20% in the US. Since 2008, digital downloads of apps and ebooks across Penguin have totalled approximately 50 million.”

And CBS’s most recent earnings report shows Simon & Schuster (NYSE: CBS) revenues down by 1 percent for full-year 2011, while “publishing adjusted OIBDA for 2011 rose 28% to $92 million from $72 million for the prior year, reflecting lower direct operating costs” due in part to “the decline in expenses resulting from an increase in more profitable digital sales as a percentage of total revenues.”

In other words, e-books are generally more profitable than print books for publishers. In 2012, I hope to see that reflected in higher e-book royalties for authors.

Our updated Publishers’ Digital Revenue chart is below.

The $3 (£1.9) million round comes led by Antrack Capital and previous backer Anthemis Group but includes former Thomson Reuters CEO Tom Glocer, former Activebuddy CEO Stephen Klein, Restoration Partners’ Ken Olisa and angel investor Sherry Coutu.

Founder Azeem Azhar says he is taking the money to build a “commercial model”, an audience for its PeerPerks method of connecting brands to Twitter users and generally to build up its ranking algorithm.

Like Klout, PeerIndex assigns a score to Twitter users based on how and who they influence, and understands users in order to segment the product. It has struck media partnerships over the last year to showcase how it can elucidate “top tweeters” in various verticals.

Azhar was formerly Reuters’ innovation head and has himself been an investor.

The theory goes, some companies out there want to know who the top tweeters are in their field in order to reach influencers with their messaging.

PeerIndex‘s PeerPerks adjunct gives free trials from participating brands to Twitter users who choose to connect with the company.

Deal terms were not announced (release).

Fotolia lets photographers sell royalty-free photos to re-users and currently counts almost 16.5 million images.

France-based Wilogo says it has sold 2,006 designs and paid designers £943,985 since founding in 2006. Customers pay £295 to post design specifications for logos, print work, stationery or other items.

Both companies’ boards have approved the deal. But the interesting part is: why does News Corp. (NSDQ: NWS) which co-owns NDS together with Permira, want rid of the software which powers its BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) and DirecTV (NYSE: DTV) PVR boxes, as well as Canal Plus’?

$5 billion in cash may be one reason, something which could provide a welcome dividend to worried News Corp shareholders.

But a big shift is also about to happen in TV distribution and reception, and it means less of a role for old-line set-top boxes and the satellite and cable infrastructure above and behind them.

BSkyB will this summer unbundle its own-brand pay-TV channels from satellite, offering them to direct subscribers via connected TVs, game consoles, tablets and other devices, all through landline internet. It has also acquired an out-of-home WiFi network so subscribers can watch mobile TV in cafes. And it recently invested in Zeebox, a social TV app startup that can change TV channels from iOS.

Much of this would radically change the importance of the conventional box under the TV, even if the market is nevertheless currently replete with dedicated internet TV boxes vying for market share, before the majority of TVs sold have such features integrated.

In emerging markets, where Cisco wants to take NDS, broadband networks are less established. And the change won’t happen overnight in the west either. Cisco says many NDS clients have five-year contracts. Cisco’s announcement does not say whether DirecTV and BSkyB have committed to renew with NDS.

In 2008, a California judge dismissed a claim from rival Echostar (NSDQ: SATS) that NDS hired computer hackers to crack its TV access card’s encryption. Last September, the claims resurfaced in a case filed by disgruntled News Corp shareholders, who claimed the company had sat on information about the EchoStar case.

NDS’ main assets are its VideoGuard DRM software and MediaHighway, middleware used to deliver EPG and PVR on set-top boxes. The company also has its own over-the-top TV product called Infinite TV.

Cisco wants to ally NDS with its Videoscape multi-screen viewing platform, though the company will remain independent. CEO John Chambers (via release): “Our strategy has always been driven by customer need and on capturing market transitions. Our acquisition of NDS fits squarely into this strategy, enabling content and service providers to deliver new video solutions that leverage the cloud and drive new monetisation opportunities and service differentiation.”

Cisco has previously snapped up the Tandberg TV distribution provider.

Youku has proposed buying all Tudou’s stock in a deal valuing it at more than $1 billion. The transaction, if approved by shareholders, would create a combined company, “Youku Tudou Inc”, but Tudou will retain its brand.

The motivation is saving on the escalating cost of securing broadband infrastructure to deliver video to audiences.

“This transaction would also lead to improvement in the industry structure and the underlying economics of the online video sector in China,” Youku CEO Victor Koo says (via announcement).

“We expect to see significant synergies across a number of areas including leveraging licensed content over a larger user base and realizing efficiencies in bandwidth management and other common expenses.”

Chinese online video revenue grew 48 percent through Q4 alone, to 1.48 billion RMB ($234 million), and was up 139 percent over the year, according to Enfodesk, Analysys International. As broadband adoption grows there, the online video opportunity becomes greater.

This isn’t just a significant deal in China. Both Tudou and Youku went public in New York in 2010 and 2011, raising a combined $375 million.

Youku has 25.3 percent of the segment’s revenue, Tudou 14.5 percent. They operate much like YouTube (NSDQ: GOOG), majoring on user-uploaded videos but doing an increasing number of deals with domestic TV show makers and global movie companies to host ad-supported and premium videos. Competitors have been building and buying to stay in touch.

The big Sina (NSDQ: SINA) portal had targeted video as its main investment area. It had bought up stakes in Tudou. Now it will end up without influence in Tudou and struggling to build its own capability.

Salmon reported late Sunday that CNN is buying Mashable, the consumer social media news site that has been branching out into other verticals, for more than $200 million with an announcement due Tuesday. Turner has been shopping for good digital fits with CNN, which acquired personalized aggregater Zite last August, and has had talks with Mashable, among others.

But a source familiar with the situation describes the report of a deal as a rumor and tells paidContent no announcement is scheduled.

Mashable, founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005 as a 19-year-old blogger, and CNN, already one of its partners, could be a good fit in a number of ways. In addition to more than 15 million monthly visitors, Mashable has more than four million social media followers across Twitter, Facebook, Google+ et al and a high profile with consumers. It’s held conferences at Disney (NYSE: DIS) World and on a cruise ship, while its SXSW party draws more attendance than several tech brands combined.

The report and particularly the valuation captured instant interest and some skepticism. While I wouldn’t be surprised to see CNN wind up with Mashable, I don’t see Turner paying $200 million — or even coming close — for it.

Update: A couple of notes in the light of day: Mashable could get close to $200 million if the valuation is at the highest range times earnings. Would it come as a flat payout? An earnout based on post-deal performance might make the most sense for Turner. Also this morning, Brian Stelter reports that talks are ongoing, which tracks with what I’ve been hearing. Will a deal actually come of it? As I know all too well there are moments when deals can look very close — and when they might not be as close as they seem. Felix may turn out to be right on everything but the scheduled announcement. The numbers may vary. Or it may not happen at all.

Just to lay it all out there, TechCrunch offers a second or third hand report that (I’m not sure) Pete Cashmore is telling Mashable senior staffers the acquisition rumor isn’t true. Which, of course, doesn’t mean an acquisition isn’t happening.

Wouldn’t be surprised if CNN did buy Mashable. But for $200 million? Wow. I want that valuation! So say we all bit.ly/zhEKov

— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) March 12, 2012

Jeez, who is surprised? They’ve practically been in bed for last 2-3 years. Price is fantastical. CNN buying Mashable? reut.rs/zNnmWx

— Rafat Ali (@rafat) March 12, 2012

For $12 a month, Aereo is promising New Yorkers access to a remote dime-sized antenna that will stream broadcast networks live over broadband across devices, along with storage space on a cloud-based DVR. The company is housing thousands of the HD-quality antennas in data centers. The company has raised $20.5 million and is slated to launch as an invitation-only service in New York March 14. Fox (NSDQ: NWS), Univision and PBS are already suing to stop it.

Diller is a summa-cum-laude graduate of the old school who in another life might well have been one of the execs lining up against the idea of a service that bypasses cable and satellite to deliver broadcast networks to consumers. Now he’s the one claiming broadcasters “forgot a longtime ago” how they got a free broadcast license in the first place. “They have the right to say where and when they want programming they own to be displayed,” he admits. But the man who created Fox contends they don’t have the right to insist on intermediaries they approve as the conduit to consumers. “I don’t think it’s on the side of settled law or on the side of the angels.”

When they ask for retransmission fees to allow Aereo to operate, Diller says he tells them, “When you get Radio Shack to pay you a slice of profit for selling an aerial, we’ll pay you.”

Diller argues that Aereo avoids legal issues others have faced by leasing the antenna to consumers, who then “control” it via devices they already own. A win in court — not the most likely of outcomes given how the courts have reacted so far to efforts to stream networks without agreements — doesn’t guarantee a business win. During the on-stage interview with CNN’s Ali Velshi, Diller enthused about the idea but added, “We don’t know yet. We don’t know anybody’s going to want to do this.”

(To which I’d add, even if enough people in NYC, where broadcast signals can be impossible to receive without third parties, pay to make it work financially in that market, there’s no guarantee it would be viable in other major cities. Those most likely to pay $12 a month for Aereo or something like it are already paying for cable or satellite and think they could save money by mixing broadband broadcast delivery with other offerings like Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX), Hulu Plus or ad-supported options.)

This is what Diller calls the essence of the internet: “Push a button and you publish to the world. so long as you have an idea, nothing between you and the consumer. That is a profound change of how media has been for the last 100 years.”

But he doesn’t use his own “button” — ie a Twitter feed. Diller says he regrets not starting with Twitter early on but thinks it’s too late now. That doesn’t stop him from being “very admiring” of Rupert Murdoch, who he sees using Twitter during a difficult time to get away from having his message managed and make his own voice heard.

It is aiming to raise up to $50 million by this summer to go to the UK, France, Germany and the Far East – more than the $32.5 million it had raised to date since 2008, the firm tells Reuters.

Roku already brought its HD box, which takes online video services to TVs via WiFi or Ethernet, to the UK and Ireland in January, via Amazon.co.uk at £99.99, while its cheaper, £49.99 SD box is “coming soon”.

Just like Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX), which expects to make losses while investing in international roll-out, Roku’s is likely to be costly, majoring on content acquisition and marketing. The box is a relative unknown outside the U.S..

It is competing with Boxee, which began European availability a year ago; with the Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) TV box, which lags behind upstarts because it has no broadcaster content deals; and with game consoles, which increasingly offer similar services.

But each of the box candidates is vying with a growing plethora of others, including YouView, a UK IPTV VOD venture which will become powerful in time because it is jointly broadcasters themselves. Connected TVs are already shipping with similar content line-ups to all of the above, minus the box.

Connected TVs are so far not widely adopted. That gives Roku and its peers a possible window of opportunity. Naturally, Roku is courting pay-TV providr BSkyB (NYSE: BSY), which will this summer launch its channels over IPTV without satellite subscription and with flexible payment options. Such boxes could be carriers for that offering as well as others.

But all the competition makes such a large investment a risky one. The rewards may be large, if internet TV box services can crowbar themselves a space in to market that is dominated by broadcasters, pay-TV operators and television manufacturers.

“We want to make sure we win because there’s not going to be a lot of winners,” CEO Anthony Wood tells Reuters.

Investors, who see social media and micropayments rocketing the tech sector to new riches, are naturally excited, but many agree much of the value is merely potential until Facebook can solidify its direction…

“We’re just at the beginning of the Facebook era,” said Neil Rimer, a founding partner of Index Ventures, which, he revealed, has a small stake in the site.

“Facebook hasn’t really exposed a lot of the opportunities it has to monetise. It hasn’t decided which portions of its universe it wants to own versus a platform for all-comers. We’re small shareholders in Facebook, so we ask themselves this question regularly.”

Rimer was speaking at the FT Digital Media Conference, where Balderton Capital partner Dharmash Mistry concurred…

“If you look two years forward, you can see them generating $5 billion or $6 billion earnings, so a $100 billion valuation doesn’t seem that crazy. But sustainability is key.”

And Leonid Boguslavsky of the ru-Net Holdings investment firm said it can be worth ignoring naysayers…

“When we invested in Yandex, it had zero revenue and was not even the number one for search in Russian,” Boguslavsky said.

“We talked to two famous funds about our portfolio. They said Yandex is worth nothing. They were smart people with a lot of experience.” ru-Net pressed ahead, investing $10 million and helping Yandex corner the fast-growing Russian web market.

“Facebook is the same thing. It’s just to what extent you believe Facebook will grab the space. I believe Facebook will be large. But the question is, how far they could go?”

Such is the hubris of an investor able to take bets on a big pay day. But not everyone is so bullish. Forrester analyst Josh Bernoff, author of the book Groundswell about social technologies, grumbled that Facebook may piss off its biggest revenue givers, advertisers, by constantly tinkering its advertising technology in search of the holy grail…

“A few months later, they just blew away a whole bunch of what had been in marketers’ toolboxes and said ‘Now we’ve got something better for you!’. Don’t be surprised if, nine months from now, it’s ‘And now we’ve got a new and better way for you to interact!’.

“Just because Facebook has 800 million users, doesn’t mean it will be the dominant company five years from now.”

By that time, of course, investors will already have made their killing. Index’s Rimer told the FT Digital Media Conference he’s sticking with Facebook for now – but he also genuinely believes the hype about the site owning search as well as social…

“There were opportunities for us to sell (our stake) before the company goes public.

“Is it conceivable that Facebook could be more valuable than Google? My sense is that’s a distinct possibility long-term.

“So we’re still holding shares – we think that, with the amount of information people are contributing to Facebook on an hourly basis, Facebook itself could provide pretty incredible search results. You could imagine a world in which you couldn’t live without Facebook but you could live without Google.”