Items tagged with News Corp
It’s the war of the open letters. Last week, the CEO of News Corp took a shot at Google in a letter to the European Commissioner for Competition, claiming that “Google has been remarkably successful in its ability to monetize users, but has not shown the willingness, even though it clearly has the ability, to respect fundamental property rights.” Google explains its copyright policies with a (somewhat) entertaining video. Image credits: Google Google has responded with a letter of its own, in which SVP of Global Communications Rachel Whetstone defended Google’s record of fighting piracy. The letter highlights several claims made in News Corp’s letter and addresses...
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Hulu, which is on the verge of posting record first-quarter revenue and subscriber additions, is reportedly reaching out to buyers to see if there's any interest in an acquisition. As the story goes, Hulu's board hasn't decided if a buyout is in the company's best interest, but it's certainly an option that's on the table and currently being explored. According to Reuters, which reported hearing about the potential buyout from "three sources close to the company," no formal offers have yet been made to owners News Corp and Walt Disney. Another option being explored is that one of the owners will buy out the other and take full control of Hulu. The challenge News Corp and Walt Disney face in finding...
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In early 2011, Robert Murdoch's News Corp took the wraps off The Daily, a new, iPad-centric newspaper that was supposed to revolutionize the digital news business. Murdoch himself described the paper as "unique mix of text, photography, audio, video, information graphics, touch interactivity and real-time data and social feeds provides its editors with the ability to decide not only which stories are most important." It was also the first app to use Apple's in-app subscription system, which allowed charges to be billed directly to your iTunes account without needing to open another window or register a separate billing service. Now, the company is said to be on the virtual chopping block, with...
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After years of attempting to variously reinvent, reorganize, and recapture the market space it's been losing to Facebook, MySpace is out the door. This isn't a surprise—News Corp declared it was ready to sell the segment last February. Now the social networking site is actually on the chopping block. News Corp is quite profitable, but the changes facing certain markets, particularly print, has likely contributed to the MySpace spinoff. Several venture capital firms are expected to bid on the company, including Redscout Ventures, Thomas H. Lee Partners, and Criterion Capital Partners LLC. News Corp reportedly wants at least $100 million for it, having paid $580 million for the website in...
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One of the most significant impacts of the iPad (and of tablets more generally) has been the devices' perceived ability to alleviate the crushing financial woes currently afflicting most major newspapers and magazines. The general theory is that customers, who are used to reading web content for free, will pay a monthly charge for the privilege of reading content through an application. The New York Times has been working on its own paywall and has released some preliminary information on what the various services will cost. For now, at least, free service isn't going away. The Gray Lady will allow occasional readers to view a certain number of pages per month and has vowed that readers arriving...
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