Mediagazer: Yahoo bidders include Verizon, TPG, and Bain Capital paired with Vista Equity Partners, which involves multiple former Yahoo execs including Ross Levinsohn (Kara Swisher/Re/code)

5:10 PM ET, April 19, 2016

Top News:

Newsletter theSkimm introduces new subscription service, Skimm Ahead, an iPhone app that costs $2.99 a month, adds event reminders to your calendar — Email Newsletter Startup theSkimm Rolls Out Paid Subscription Product — New iPhone app will automatically place big news and cultural events on people's digital calendars

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @s_m_i, TechCrunch, Mashable, Business Insider, Vogue, App Store, FishbowlNY, @theskimm and @alexandernl

New York Times:

How media and entertainment companies are expanding into VR, through investment in VR startups and VR-based news projects — Virtual Reality Lures Media Companies to a New Frontier — Media and entertainment companies want to help shape the next entertainment platform: virtual reality.

Discussion: The Wrap and The Verge

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

HBO, Discovery invest in VR startup OTOY to produce original holographic content, terms not disclosed — HBO gets into VR with investment in OTOY — HBO is getting into virtual reality, too. Amid the ongoing craze for VR videos, which has seen streaming rivals like Netflix and Hulu rolling …

Discussion: OTOY, Home Media Magazine and Engadget

Joshua David Stein / Guardian:

New York Observer's food critic Joshua David Stein resigns, following its endorsement of Trump — When the New York Observer endorsed Donald Trump, I had to resign — I was the restaurant critic. I could have carried on writing about crudités and borscht.

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu, @brianstelter, @moorehn, @mlcalderone, @jayrayner1, Jezebel, @peterfeld, Mediaite, FishbowlNY and Politico

Debra Birnbaum / Variety:

NPR, This American Life, and HBO among Peabody Award winners — ‘Real Sports,’ ‘This American Life’ Among Peabody Awards Winners … “This American Life's” exploration of desegregation and HBO's “Real Sports with Bryan Gumbel's” investigation of the ivory trade are among the winners …

Discussion: FishbowlDC, The Peabody Awards, The Wrap, NPR, TVSpy, @gwenifill, Broadcasting & Cable, @markmemmottnpr and Current

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:

Trump Campaign Paid A Breitbart Editor For Consulting Work — Donald Trump's campaign paid the site's national security editor, Sebastian Gorka, $8,000 for “policy consulting” last year. — WASHINGTON — Donald Trump's campaign paid Breitbart News national security editor Sebastian Gorka $8,000 for …

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, @michaelroston, @hadas_gold, @redsteeze, @mckaycoppins, @rosiegray and @baseballcrank

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Yahoo bidders include Verizon, TPG, and Bain Capital paired with Vista Equity Partners, which involves multiple former Yahoo execs including Ross Levinsohn — Yahoo bidders are few and far between, but include Verizon, TPG and a gang of exes — As Yahoo prepares to release what is widely expected …

Discussion: Forbes, The Wrap, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, New York Times, Re/code, Tech Trader Daily, Bloomberg, Re/code, CNBC, ZDNet, Business Insider, AdExchanger, @danprimack, Mashable, Fortune and DSLreports

Alex Sherman / Bloomberg:
Sources: YP Holdings, once called YellowPages.com, plans first-round Yahoo bid as it works with Goldman Sachs on strategic options

Discussion: Variety, Fortune, Street Fight, Quartz, Reuters and Business Insider

Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:

Netflix promises 100 hours of HDR programming by August, more by 2017 — Netflix just announced plans to introduce more high dynamic range (HDR)-quality videos to its library this year. — Though we already knew Netflix had big plans on the HDR front and that it had recently upgraded the first season of …

Discussion: Home Media Magazine, Netflix Media Center, Forbes, Variety and The Verge

David Pierce / Wired:

Google launches podcast section in Google Play Music for US users on Android and the web — Google Play Will Now Soundtrack Your Life With Podcasts — A decade after their inception, podcasts are hitting the mainstream. You can argue about why (everyone does), but the numbers don't lie.

Discussion: SocialTimes, Official Android Blog, Computerworld, @jrraphael, @pierce, Billboard, RAIN News, The Verge, TechCrunch, 9to5Google, GeekWire, Ars Technica UK, VentureBeat and ZDNet

Kristen Hare / Poynter:

The founder of a small Florida newspaper died days before its first Pulitzer win — There were no big celebrations today in the Charlotte Sun's newsroom, no champagne, no live-tweeting. — Today marked the first Pulitzer win for the Florida newspaper and for Editor John Hackworth.

Discussion: The Rural Blog, @msf_sea, @emilynussbaum, New York Times, Business Insider, Washington Post, Bwog, @photojournalism and @peterbakernyt

Nicole LaPorte / Fast Company:

Sources: Apple held secret talks with A-listers at Sundance and in Los Angeles, plans to move into original content alongside Facebook, YouTube, and Alibaba — Apple, Facebook, Google, and Alibaba Take Hollywood — Since Netflix and Amazon proved that outsiders can thrive in entertainment …

Discussion: Fortune, Vanity Fair, BGR, AppleInsider, MacRumors, 9to5Mac and Tech Insider

Natalia Drozdiak / Wall Street Journal:

Source: News Corp files complaint to European Commission accusing Google of leveraging its dominance in search for news articles — News Corp Files Formal Complaint to European Commission over Google — U.S. tech giant accused of leveraging its dominance in the search for news articles

Discussion: Fortune, Bloomberg, The Stack, The Times & The Sunday Times, Computerworld, Reuters, Ars Technica UK and Wall Street Journal

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Senior Data Journalist, NY — WSJ

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Oil Reporter, Singapore — Bloomberg

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Business Reporter, SC — Post & Courier

State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

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Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Team Editor - Opinion, ON — Toronto Star

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City Correspondent, London — Financial News

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Marc Burrows / Guardian:
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Ann Christy:
How scammers are making thousands of dollars via Kindle Unlimited by publishing fake e-books that are free to buy

Discussion: David Gaughran and @mattcutts

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:
Bill Cosby's lawyers push New York Magazine to turn over transcripts, unpublished material from July 2015 cover story featuring his alleged victims

Chris O'Shea / FishbowlNY:
The New Yorker Is the First Magazine to Win a Pulitzer

Discussion: MinOnline, Press Gazette, @overdrivelibs, @nakashimae and The Pulitzer Prizes

Hasit Shah / Nieman Lab:
A look at India's ScoopWhoop, MissMalini, and SWEN, local startups aiming to outcompete Western news companies

Discussion: @dhume

Lara O'Reilly / Business Insider:
Elisabeth Murdoch's Vertical Networks to launch Brother, a made-for-Snapchat mobile video media brand aimed at millennial men, within weeks

Discussion: @bobbierman

Doc Searls Weblog:
Publishers like Forbes, Wired, others need a new standard option allowing readers to block ad tracking, not the ads themselves

Discussion: @dsearls, @dsearls and @dangillmor

Earlier Picks:

Mark Sweney / Guardian:
BBC iPlayer opens up to partners for the first time, collaborates on online Shakespeare festival with other organizations including the British Film Institute

Discussion: Advanced Television and Engadget

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Crackle, Sony's free, ad-supported streaming network, will launch on Comcast's Xfinity On Demand on April 20

Discussion: Fast Company, Adweek, Ad Age, Broadcasting & Cable and Home Media Magazine

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Jay Z, Tidal & Kanye West sued for misstatements about ‘The Life of Pablo’ exclusivity

Discussion: Associated Press, Tech Insider, FACT Magazine, Variety, Jezebel, AppleInsider, The Wrap, Gizmodo, Below are the posts from feed., 9to5Mac, The FADER, Fortune, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, USA Today, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
Melissa Harris-Perry becoming Elle.com editor at large

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Blade, @starjonesesq, ELLE, TVNewser, @perlmutations, @ellemagazine, @jamilsmith and @mharrisperry

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Facebook pulls down mega-popular celeb site The Shade Room's page for alleged copyright violations

Discussion: CNNMoney, BuzzFeed, @bowbrick, @joshuatopolsky, CNET, @bougieblackgurl, @nezua, @kennwhite, Jezebel, @jbenton, @laurahazardowen, @trevortimm and @dangillmor

Jason Abbruzzese / Mashable:
Verizon and Hearst to acquire Complex Media in 50/50 split, for its predominantly younger, male audience; WSJ reports the deal values Complex at $250M-$300M

Discussion: Ad Age, Wall Street Journal, PR Newswire, FishbowlNY, AdExchanger, Editor & Publisher, @jasonabbruzzese, @lowkeyuhtn, @jiandeleon, Racked and The Verge

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
YouTube debuts live 360 video, releases API for hardware makers to integrate into devices, also launches spatial audio for on-demand YouTube videos

Discussion: YouTube Blog, The Verge, Daily Mail, @lavrusik, VideoNuze Analysis, Silicon Republic, Ars Technica UK, Pocket-lint, SocialTimes, Android Police, BuzzFeed, FACT Magazine, Digiday, Mashable, BGR, 9to5Google, Engadget, Consumerist, WebProNews and Ad Age

From Techmeme:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority:
Source: Google has canceled the development of a second-generation Pixel Tablet, planned for release in 2025, due to concerns that it wouldn't sell very well

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is testing a more conversational version of Siri, dubbed “LLM Siri”, with plans to release it in spring 2026 as part of iOS 19 and macOS 16

The Information:
Sources: OpenAI considered making a browser, discussed deals to power AI features on Samsung devices and search on sites and apps from Condé Nast and others

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