Mediagazer: Alibaba to Pay $1.2 Billion For Stake in Chinese Video Leader Youku-Tudou (Patrick Frater/Variety)

12:00 PM ET, April 28, 2014

Top News:

Cable providers cling to bundled TV channels as viewing habits evolve — New Challenges Chip Away at Cable's Pillar of Profit — For decades, cable television has been an almost magical source of profits, in large part because of the bundle, the packaging of channels that compels subscribers …

Discussion: @laurengoode, @ennisnyt, @jayrosen_nyu, @antderosa, @monkbent, @peterlattman, @pkafka, @laurengoode, @hunterwalk, @pmarca, @buzzfeedben, @pkafka and @pkafka

The Atlantic Online:

Net Neutrality: A Guide to (and History of) a Contested Idea — This week, news broke that the Federal Communications Commission is considering new rules for how the Internet works. — In short: the FCC would allow network owners (your Verizons, Comcasts, etc.) to create Internet …

Discussion: Center for Internet …, @tonyromm, VICE, @kwerb, 24/7 Wall St., Re/code, Hit & Run, On the Media, Columbia Journalism Review, Vox, Computerworld, NYU Local, Gawker and Network World

John Eggerton / Multichannel News:

Diller: 50/50 Odds On Aereo Win — Says IAC Investment Financially Meaningless; Decision Could Have Profound Tech Effect — IAC chairman Barry Diller said Sunday that he left the oral arguments at the Supreme Court last week more hopeful that Aereo would win, but conceded he really didn't know.

Discussion: TVNewser and TIME

Sarah Lyall / New York Times:

Raleigh News & Observer reporter's investigations of scandals at UNC spark reform and outrage — University of North Carolina Is at Odds With a Raleigh Newspaper — RALEIGH, N.C. — There have been violent threats, angry screeds, Twitter flame campaigns and an entire website predicated …

Discussion: @bryanalexander, @nytsports, @rick_bonnell, @coreyhutchins, @sarahlyall, @johnrobinson, @sipetethamel and @davidfolkenflik

Michael Cavna / Washington Post:

41 years later, The Post publishes spiked ‘Doonesbury’ Watergate comic for the first time. Here's why... THIS WEEK, The Washington Post ran, for the first time, a comics-page strip in which a character declared former Nixon attorney general John Mitchell guilty for Watergate crimes.

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:

Microsoft goes Hollywood as it unveils Xbox Originals television programs for Xbox Live — After a lot of anticipation and some major investments in Hollywood, Microsoft is unveiling its original television shows, dubbed Xbox Originals, for its Xbox Live online entertainment network.

Discussion: Capital New York, Xbox Wire, The Wrap, TechCrunch, Softpedia News, Variety and Re/code

Joshua Benton / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Vox is publishing some of its stories and the interviews behind them in parallel — It's a small thing, but worth noting: For stories that are built around a single interview, Vox is now publishing both the story and the interview transcript in parallel. Take this Thomas Piketty piece by Matt Yglesias …

Discussion: @jbenton, @justinglow, @yurivictor and @scottkellum

Economist:

In Pakistan, being a journalist becomes increasingly lethal — Journalism in Pakistan: The silencing of the liberals — THERE was a time when Hamid Mir, Pakistan's most famous journalist, had little reason to fear his work might put his life in danger. In a country where his trade …

Discussion: Poynter, New York Times, @dhume, @benazir_shah, @razarumi and Columbia Journalism Review

Chris O'Shea / FishbowlNY:

Anna Jones Named CEO of Hearst Magazines UK — Hearst has named Anna Jones the new CEO of Hearst Magazines UK. Jones most recently served as Hearst Magazine UK's chief operating officer, a role she held since 2011. Prior to joining Hearst, Jones served as digital and strategy director at Hachette Filipacchi UK.

Discussion: MediaWire Daily

Jeanine Poggi / AdAge:

Ad Buyers Slowly Taking Digital NewFronts More Seriously — Agencies Bring Digital Players in For Early Development Meetings, Just Like TV — Creativity Top 5 — Digital platforms are aggressively seeking TV dollars again in this year's NewFronts presentations, which kick off on Monday.

Patrick Frater / Variety:

Alibaba to Pay $1.2 Billion For Stake in Chinese Video Leader Youku-Tudou — UDINE, Italy — Alibaba, China's massive home shopping group, is further ramping up its interest in media with the purchase of a $1.22 billion stake in China's online video market leader Youku Tudou.

Discussion: Forbes, Forbes, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, Softpedia News, Hollywood Reporter, Channel NewsAsia, Associated Press, Bloomberg, Reuters, New York Times and Tech in Asia

Noah Rothman / Mediaite:

Vice Reporter Simon Ostrovsky Reveals Brutal Details of Captivity in Ukraine — Simon Ostrovsky, a reporter with Vice who was recently held captive for three days by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine, spoke out about his ordeal in an interview with NBC's Savannah Guthrie.

Discussion: Globe and Mail