Thomson Reuters

This is probably not the best time to ask for more credit, but Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ: TRIN) is planning to issue up to $3 billion in debt over the next two years, Reuters reports, citing regulatory filings. The media company says the debt issuance would go towards supporting general business functions.

As CNN prepares to go head-to-head with the Associated Press when it launches its new wire service, the cable news outfit will have to prove to newspaper editors that it can transfer its cable TV credibility to breaking print news. A long piece in the NYT takes a look at the challenges the upstart CNN Wire faces, as well as how its established rival is reacting.

TiVo's $105 million in damages from EchoStar (NSDQ: SATS) after a lengthy court battle get the credit for the DVR company swinging to a profit in Q3, with $100.6 million ($0.98 per share) versus last year's $8.3 million loss.

You may have noticed over the years that a fair amount of our information on fundings comes from PEHub via its access to paper filings from the SEC.

Although financial news providers' audience numbers have shot up markedly since the global economic crisis erupted this fall, that hasn't reversed the downward slide of ad dollars. Now, more financial publishers are looking for a revenue boost to come from subscriptions, while those that already primarily rely on such fees are counting on partnerships to support rising audience demand for more content.

China has settled a dispute that will allow media companies like Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ: TRIN), Bloomberg and Dow Jones to provide financial news and info in the nation on their own terms.

Top headlines of the week from mocoNews.net and paidContentUK:

Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ: TRIN) is beginning to reap the benefits of one of the biggest company mergers of recent years, today reporting eight percent better Q3 revenues of $3.3 billion (£2.2 billion), with operating profit up 17 percent to $676 million (£414 million).

The newly merged Sirius XM satellite radio company took a big swallow of bitter medicine in Q3, reporting a loss of $4.88 billion ($1.93 per share) versus last year's loss of $119.6 million ($0.08 per share) when it was solely Sirius (NSDQ: SIRI). The loss was on an impairment charge to goodwill, mostly related to the drop in the company's share price since the merger agreement between Sirius and XM in Feb. 2007. The two finally merged back in July.

Cable companies are expected to face a double-edged sword as the economy worsens, the thinking goes: consumers will be staying home more, making cable services like VOD more valuable to them, yet at the same time, squeezed wallets might force as many consumers to cut back on additional offerings. In any case, Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) posted a profit of $27.1 million ($0.09 per share) in Q3 compared to last year's $79.3 million net loss.