Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
Cable operator Altice USA agrees to acquire streaming-video network Cheddar for $200M; Cheddar founder Jon Steinberg to become president of the Altice News unit — Cheddar founder and CEO Jon Steinberg is set to become president of Altice News, overseeing Cheddar, News 12 and i24News
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
ESPN announces plans to shut down ESPN The Magazine in September after 21 years; the company is considering publishing standalone print issues — ESPN, the sports-media giant with an influence that extends across several types of media, is getting out of one particular venue: print.
@the_corres:
The Correspondent apologizes for creating the impression its expansion would be US focused, says it will share plans for the $2.6M it raised in coming weeks — We screwed up: http://twitter.com/...
Discussion:
@natesilver538, @aodespair, @baratunde and @jayrosen_nyu
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Twitter announces live streaming content deals with Univision, WSJ, and Time and new initiatives with previous partners including Viacom, the NFL, and ESPN — - Twitter Expands Live-Streaming Video Lineup, Sets Content Deals With Viacom, ESPN, Live Nation, Univision, and More
Discussion:
Adweek, MediaPost, Multichannel News, American Press Institute, Awful Announcing, The Wrap, TechCrunch, Engadget, 9to5Mac, Tubefilter and Deadline, more at Techmeme »
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Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed:
On paid email newsletter platforms, small audiences are translating to dollars for writers, such as on Substack, where the 12 top earners make $160K+ on average — As writers gravitate toward paid email newsletters, small audiences translate to meaningful dollars.
Discussion:
@tonyajoriley, @rachelysanders and @elizabethminkel
Sara Guaglione / MediaPost:
At NewFronts, The New York Times says The Daily podcast has reached 2M listeners per day, talks ad targets, smart speakers, and its upcoming food festival — The New York Times announced new ad target offerings and events, as well as an emphasis on its TV-film commitment at its NewFront this morning.
Discussion:
WWD
John Koblin / New York Times:
The Obamas' new production company, Higher Ground Productions, announces seven projects for Netflix, including an adaption of NYT's “Overlooked” obituary series — Eleven months after striking a deal with Netflix, the Obamas have a slate of programming.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Fast Company, Broadcasting & Cable, @brianstelter and The Week
Lloyd Grove / The Daily Beast:
New York Times ends relationship with CartoonArts, the cartoon syndication service that supplied the anti-Semitic cartoon — A ‘Times’ spokesperson told The Daily Beast exclusively about the paper's decision to stop using syndicated cartoons, including those from the syndicator of the offensive cartoon.
Discussion:
Poynter, Religion News Service, Newser, Breitbart, New York Post, New York Times and The Daily Caller
Alex Weprin / MediaPost:
Former Roku executives launch Tetra TV, an advertising network that aims to connect buyers to ad inventory from 100+ streaming video channels across platforms — A pair of veterans of the OTT platform Roku are launching a new advertising network, focusing on connected TV.
Discussion:
Broadcasting & Cable, Radio & Television …, Variety and PR Newswire
Ed O'Keefe / Shorenstein Center:
Legacy media and native streamers should focus on live news because now, as before, it will help attract and retain subscribers though it can be controversial — Searching for a way for streaming to save the news (and for the the news to save streaming) — Additional Research & Interviews: Andrew J. Zucker
Discussion:
@aobaoill
Eben Novy-Williams / Bloomberg:
FanDuel to be the first sports betting operator in the US to offer live-sports broadcasts alongside betting odds on its website and mobile app — - Website, app to provide live soccer, tennis from Sportradar — Operator bets games alongside odds will spur more gambling
Discussion:
Awful Announcing and @thefixisintuohy
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Viacom to launch 14 free, ad-supported channels on Pluto TV on May 1 with content from BET, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and MTV — - Twitter Expands Live-Streaming Video Lineup, Sets Content Deals With Viacom, ESPN, Live Nation, Univision, and More — For Viacom, the future of television has an increasingly online sheen.
Discussion:
Beet.TV, Deadline, NickALive!, TechCrunch, MediaPost, Adweek, The Wrap and Broadcasting & Cable
Roger Parloff / Yahoo Finance:
Profile of Chris Cox, who, despite being chief product officer for years, never drew the attention for Facebook's scandals that Zuckerberg and Sandberg did — In late 2003, during his senior year at Stanford, Chris Cox, the future Chief Product Officer at Facebook (
Discussion:
@alexeheath, @adityamohanty_, @raju, @hkanji, @mathewi, @hardcorevalue, @yahoofinance, @zooko, @mikeisaac, Business Insider and Beyond Search