Mediagazer: Almost 8 out of 10 GOP voters who watch Fox News believe Trump is the best President in US history, as the network presents an “alternative reality” (Maxwell Tani/The Daily Beast)

NYT CEO says third-party distribution deals lead to loss of product control, compares news outlets that partner with Apple to studios that helped Netflix grow — NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc is expected to launch an ambitious new entertainment and paid digital news service on Monday …

Discussion: 9to5Mac, @nycjim, @reutersus, BGR and New York Times

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:

Source: Apple has signed up Vox for its upcoming news subscription service; other Vox Media properties will not participate initially — Apple Inc. signed Vox to be part of an upcoming subscription service for newspaper and magazine readers, according to a person familiar with the matter …

Discussion: MacRumors, @stroughtonsmith, 9to5Mac and @markgurman, more at Techmeme »

Peter Kafka / Recode:

Sources: Apple's new TV service to be unveiled Monday will be a storefront for other streaming services, where Apple will set and offer its own bundles — Apple's TV plans, explained. (Spoiler: Apple isn't taking on Netflix yet.) — After years of circling the TV business …

Discussion: Digiday, The Information, @pkafka, @pkafka, BGR, @benbajarin, @karaswisher, @waltmossberg, @mgsiegler, @pierce, @mollywood, @pkafka, @pkafka, @lucas_shaw, @pkafka, @pkafka, Mashable, Engadget, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, Gizmodo, Bloomberg, CNET, The Verge and @mdudas, more at Techmeme »

Brian Stelter / CNN:

Fox's Jeanine Pirro to be off the air for a second week; a source says she was suspended for two weeks and that she will return on March 30 — New York (CNN Business)Jeanine Pirro's weekend show on Fox News, “Justice with Judge Jeanine,” will be pre-empted for a second straight week, according to the network's schedule.

Discussion: Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, The Hill, theepochtimes.com, Hollywood Reporter, TVLine, Variety, The Wrap, The Week and New Yorker

Discussion: @davidfolkenflik, CNN, @pgogoi, @deggans, @mbaram, @bariawilliams and @bluechoochoo

Ryan Faughnder / Los Angeles Times:

Sources: expected layoffs begin after the close of the Disney-Fox deal, with about two dozen senior-level executives at 20th Century Fox affected so far — Anticipated layoffs have begun at Fox, following the storied studio's sale to Walt Disney Co. earlier this week.

Discussion: Variety, Deadline, Variety, The Wrap, Fortune, Los Angeles Times, Hollywood Reporter, @jimhillmedia, @thisisweber, The Wrap, Collider, @brentalang, Deadline and Deadline

Richard Lawler / Engadget:

Comcast's Xfinity Flex, a $5/month service for its broadband customers, comes with a 4K set-top box and access to paid and free, ad-supported streaming services — Comcast's latest bundle isn't a cable TV service, exactly, since it's aimed at the increasing number of subscribers who only have internet.

Discussion: CNET, Variety, @gerryfsmith, MacRumors, @shiraovide, FierceVideo, @pkafka, @pkafka, @pkafka, @pkafka, CNBC, Multichannel News, Bloomberg and Deadline, more at Techmeme »

David Sharman / HoldtheFrontPage:

Google DNI grants €500K to publishers Reach and JPIMedia for a local audio news platform and €398K to Newsquest for a community news sharing tool — Two regional publishers have won half a million Euros worth of funding for a joint project aimed at improving their audio output.

Discussion: Press Gazette, Press Gazette and The Keyword

Dade Hayes / Deadline:

Study: of all Netflix releases in the US in 2018, 51% were originals, more than double the 25% reported in 2016 — Illustrating the strategy Netflix executives have long articulated — and pointing to a wider gap between the company and its rivals — a new report shows that for the first …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter and The A.V. Club

Vikas SN / The Economic Times:

Sources: Netflix is testing a low-cost, mobile-only subscription with select users in India, for half the price of its entry-level plan in the country — In October last year, Netflix chief product officer Greg Peters had said that they will experiment with their pricing models to grow …

Discussion: The Next Web, MediaNama, Engadget and FierceVideo, more at Techmeme »

Julia Jacobs / New York Times:

Bustle names Dan Peres as editor in chief of Gawker.com; Peres was editor in chief of Condé Nast's men's fashion magazine Details for 15 years — Gawker's parent company, Bustle Digital Group, has named the journalist Dan Peres as the editor in chief of Gawker.com …

Discussion: @allegraehobbs, @jpmanga, @jamesfdennin, @mlcalderone, @johannabarr, @yoda, @scottbix and @jeremymbarr

Marcela Kunova / Journalism.co.uk:

Slovakia's Investigative Center of Jan Kuciak continues his work on organized crime in collaboration with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project — Journalists from competing media joined forces to create the Investigative Centre of Jan Kuciak to continue uncovering international organised crime

Discussion: Global Investigative …

Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:

Almost 8 out of 10 GOP voters who watch Fox News believe Trump is the best President in US history, as the network presents an “alternative reality” — A new survey of the network's watchers reveal the hard core of the Republican Party and how hopeless it is for Democrats to try and court them.

Discussion: Washington Post, @jaysbookman, @ichotiner and @jelani9