Media Roundup: Newsday.com to Charge for Content, Ads to Appear in Google News, and More

Newsday.com to charge for content — After writing down its $650 million acquisition of Newsday by $402 million, Newsday owner Cablevision announced it will begin charging for online content. Publisher Timothy Knight hinted that access to online news is likely to be bundled with cable subscriptions. The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times have successfully charged for online content for months, while The New York Times ended its pay wall program in 2007. Some critics doubt that Newsday’s change in tactics will be successful, due to the crowded New York media market, while others feel it is a necessary strategy to generate revenue. [Source: CNET]

Ads to appear in Google News — Google News, the service that automatically aggregates headlines from across the Web, will be outfitted with Google’s AdWords program. The move is likely to spark controversy as news companies have sought legal action towards the search giant for profiting off of their content. In the past, those suits were dropped because the site had no obvious revenue stream. [Source: All Things Digital]

Gannett loses Investment grade rating — The nation’s largest newspaper publisher has been downgraded to “junk” status by Moody’s Investors Service. The move leaves The Washington Post Co. is the only newspaper company whose bonds are not rated as “junk.” The downgrade, which was attributed to an advertising slowdown as well as changing media consumption habits, will affect Gannett’s ability to secure future financing. [Source: Editor & Publisher]

Blu-ray patent holders lower fee — As the digital video format struggles to find a mass audience, the 18 patent holders of Blu-ray technology have consolidated to allow device makers to make one payment instead of several.  Previously, any company who wanted to gain licensing rights to include Blu-ray in a device would have to seek approval from three organizations. In many cases, consolidation has cut the fee in half and patent holders hope this will hasten adoption. [Source: VentureBeat]

Hearst to launch e-reader — Hearst, publisher of dozens of newspapers and magazines, has ambitions to launch a Kindle-like e-reader. The company has provided little detail, but the device is said to have a large format screen and will use the same e-ink technology as the Kindle. Users will be able to download their content wirelessly, and there are plans to facilitate video distribution. More than a decade ago, the head of the media interactive group for Hearst led investment in the company that invented e-ink technology. [Source: Fortune]