Gannett

News Byte

Gannett Buying Belo in $2.2 Billion Deal

Peter Kafka in Media on June 13, 2013 at 4:58 am PT

Gannett, best known as the newspaper publisher behind USA Today, is making a big bet on TV: It is paying $1.5 billion, and taking on $715 million in debt, to acquire local station owner Belo Corp. If the deal gets regulatory approval, Gannett will nearly double its portfolio of TV stations from 23 to 43.

Voices

AOL, Vringo Settle Part of Patent Dispute

Ben Fox Rubin, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on August 6, 2012 at 9:58 am PT

AOL Inc. agreed to settle part of a patent dispute brought by video-ringtone company Vringo Inc., giving the start-up another potential win in its ongoing lawsuit against some of the biggest names in the technology sector.

A Sports Aggregator Finds a Home: Gannett Buys Quickish

Peter Kafka in Media on June 11, 2012 at 5:00 am PT

The people who bring you USA Today also want to be known for online sports. Here’s another move in that direction.

News Byte

Paid Newspaper Aggregator Ongo Shuts Down

Peter Kafka in Media on May 8, 2012 at 1:12 pm PT

Ongo, a newspaper-backed startup that tried to sell digital subscriptions to a variety of publications, is shuttering after less than two years. The New York Times, the Washington Post and Gannett each put a reported $4 million into the company, but it never got traction with subscribers. Nieman Journalism Lab has a good exit interview with CEO Dan Haarmann, who blames Apple’s subscription policy, among other factors, for the company’s failure.

Gannett Buys Big Lead Sports Owner Fantasy Sports Ventures

Peter Kafka in Media on January 24, 2012 at 6:13 am PT

Gannett has bought Fantasy Sports Ventures, a Web sports network best known for its Big Lead Sports site. Gannett invested in Fantasy Sports back in 2008.

Going Against the FLO, MetroPCS to Support Mobile Broadcast TV

Ina Fried in Mobile on January 4, 2012 at 2:05 pm PT

MetroPCS says it will be the first to offer phones supporting the Dyle Mobile TV Service, which will feature content from NBC and Fox along with a number of major local TV station operators.

Exclusive: Longtime Yahoo Front Page Editor Liz Lufkin Out

Kara Swisher in Media on September 6, 2011 at 8:37 am PT

Another ones bites the dust: According to sources close to the situation, longtime Yahoo Front Page chief Liz Lufkin has parted ways with the company.

News Byte

Chris Saridakis to Head GSI Commerce Once eBay Acquisition Closes

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on June 14, 2011 at 3:10 pm PT

Once eBay officially closes its acquisition of GSI Commerce, Chris Saridakis will lead the newly acquired unit, according to a document filed with the SEC today. Currently, Saridakis is the CEO of GSI’s Global Marketing Services division. He joined GSI in May 2010 from Gannett, where he served as SVP and chief digital officer of Gannett Marketing Services. GSI’s founder and CEO Michael Rubin will operate a newly formed company, partially owned by eBay, which includes Rue La La and ShopRunner among other properties.

When Media Giants Attack! Cease-and-Desist Letter to News Reader Zite Claims All Kinds of Copyright Damage

Kara Swisher in News on March 30, 2011 at 3:24 pm PT

A panoply of big media giants sent a cease-and-desist letter today to Zite, the Apple iPad news reader app. The Washington Post, AP, Gannett, Getty, Time, Dow Jones and many other media organizations were part of the copyright violations action, which you can read all about after the jump.

Sulia Helps Twitter Sort the Tweet From the Chaff

Peter Kafka in Media on March 24, 2011 at 5:30 am PT

There’s a lot of great stuff on Twitter. And there’s a lot more lousy stuff. Twitter thinks curation is really important, but isn’t doing it itself–yet. So it’s asking outsiders for help.