Mediagazer: Sources: Apple aiming to launch online TV service in September with about 25 channels, anchored by ABC, CBS, Fox (Wall Street Journal)

1:20 PM ET, March 17, 2015

Top News:

Politico Europe to launch April 21, with weekly print edition starting April 23; joint venture with Axel Springer includes main newsroom in Brussels — Staffed-up POLITICO Europe to launch April 21 — POLITICO Europe, the Arlington-based company's foray into the European media market …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Guardian, FishbowlNY, Poynter, @matinastevis, Politico, @mattyglesias, @ahmed, @tarapalmeri, Press Gazette, @ronpatz, @exen, Wall Street Journal and Media Wire Daily

Joseph Lichterman / Nieman Lab:

BuzzFeed UK hit 18.8M unique visitors in February and is expanding editorial staff from 35 to 50 in 2015 — London calling: A look at BuzzFeed's British invasion — LONDON — BuzzFeed is, of course, known for mixing news with lists and quizzes, so it was inevitable that when British Prime …

Discussion: @tomgara, @sarahdrinkwater, @broderick, BuzzFeed, @niemanlab and Financial Times

Peter Kafka / Re/code:
BuzzFeed's New Strategy: Fishing for Eyeballs in Other People's Streams

Discussion: @karaswisher, @richjm, @joshconstine, @jbenton, @mccollumashley, TechCrunch, @rafat and AdAge

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Apple aiming to launch online TV service in September with about 25 channels, anchored by ABC, CBS, Fox — Apple in Talks to Launch Online TV Service — Service would have about 25 channels, anchored by broadcasters such as ABC, CBS and Fox — Shalini Ramachandran and Daisuke Wakabayashi

Discussion: CNNMoney, LostRemote, Home Media Magazine, Forbes, New York Times, 9to5Mac, TechCrunch, /Film, TIME, Reuters, AppleInsider, Business Insider, Broadcasting & Cable, Light Reading, PandoDaily, WebProNews and Awful Announcing

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Trinity Mirror in early stage talks to buy Richard Desmond's Express Newspapers — Mirror owner in talks to buy Richard Desmond's Express — It is not known if negotiations between Trinity Mirror and Express Newspapers include the Sunday Express and Star titles

Discussion: The Times, The Drum, Press Association, Featured Articles, @marksweney and Press Gazette

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Ex-Washington Post columnist Jason Reid has his new ESPN radio show halted after criticizing station owner in a column — ESPN radio suddenly halts ‘The Man Cave’, and some blame NFL's Redskins — Sports columnist Jason Reid said goodbye to his Washington Post colleagues on Wednesday …

Discussion: ProFootballTalk, NBCSports.com, The Big Lead, Deadspin and @sbnlukethomas

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

YouTube To Replace Annotations With Smarter, Mobile-Optimized “Cards” — For years, YouTube has offered annotations as a way for video creators to add clickable text overlays to their videos as a way to boost engagement with viewers, provide more information, or help in navigation.

Discussion: YouTube Creator Blog, YouTube Creator Blog, Fast Company, gHacks Technology News, Digital Trends, TechnoBuffalo, 9to5Google, Tubefilter, Android Authority, AndroidHeadlines.com, SlashGear, The Next Web, Marketing Land, PCMag Australia internet …, VentureBeat, The Verge, Guardian and Engadget

Reuters:

Private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC in advanced talks to buy most of Digital First Media's assets for $400M — Exclusive: Apollo in the lead to buy Digital First Media - sources — (Reuters) - Buyout firm Apollo Global Management LLC is in advanced talks to acquire …

Discussion: Capital New York, Poynter, Salt Lake Tribune, Mercury News, @jimbradysp, @nickwoltman, @dmjreports, @danielpetty, @dbrauer and @gregroumeliotis

John Cook / Gawker Politburo:

Gawker launches Public Pool, a site that collates original White House pool reports; raw copy normally available only to media on WH email distribution list — Here Are All the White House Pool Reports — Much of the mundane, day-to-day media coverage of the president's activities …

Jasper Jackson / Guardian:

BBC Jimmy Savile abuse report to be published in May — Dame Janet Smith's review says it has interviewed 375 witnesses about Savile and more than 100 about Stuart Hall — The judge-led inquiry into sexual abuse at the BBC expects to publish its report in the second half of May …

Discussion: Digital Spy, ITV, BBC, Sky News and The Courier

Janko Roettgers / Medium:

Chromecast can be controlled by select TV remotes, made possible by HDMI-CEC protocol — Chromecast now works with your TV's remote control — One of the most frequent complaints about Chromecast has been that it doesn't come with a remote control, requiring users to fiddle with their phone …

Discussion: @laurahazardowen, @jeffjohnroberts, 9to5Google, The Verge, TechnoBuffalo, SlashGear, TIME, Engadget, Gizmodo and TechCrunch

Chris O'Shea / FishbowlNY:

Vanessa Kingori Named British GQ Publisher — Condé Nast International has named Vanessa Kingori publisher of British GQ. Kingori most recently served as associate publisher, fashion, for British GQ and publisher of GQ Style. She has been with Britsh GQ since 2009.

Discussion: WWD

Eric Blattberg / Digiday:

The Economist Films: The UK magazine launches its first film studio — Nearly 172 years since publishing its first edition, The Economist has arrived at a clear video strategy. — On Monday, The Economist Group announced the launch of Economist Films, which will work with Economist journalists to produce original video content.