Mediagazer: Comcast acquires the ad-supported streaming service XUMO for an undisclosed sum (Comcast)

Comcast acquires the ad-supported streaming service XUMO for an undisclosed sum — We are pleased to announce that Comcast has acquired XUMO, the advertising-supported streaming service based in Irvine, California. — XUMO offers free, live and on-demand streaming entertainment, news …

Discussion: Variety, Beet.TV, @jbflint, @awallenstein and @taralach

Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:

Source: MSNBC plans “to seek out more smart, pro-Sanders voices”, shifting coverage amid criticism, as Sen. Bernie Sanders has surged over the last couple weeks — With Bernie rally coverage, Bernie-friendly guests, and a mandate to “seek out more smart, pro-Sanders voices,” …

Discussion: @mlcalderone, @jayrosen_nyu, @danielpmcdermot, @pramilajayapal, @brianstelter, Poynter, @joepompeo, @krystalball, @ggreenwald, @carlbeijer, Fox News, TVNewser, Columbia Journalism Review, Washington Post, The Hill, ABC17NEWS and CNN

Discussion: New York Times, The Week, @vanityfair, @bemidji4bernie, MediaFile, The Hill, Salon, living room pundit, The Daily Beast, The Hill, Fox News and The Guardian

Dawn Chmielewski / Forbes:

Profile of Nickelodeon president Brian Robbins, who is trying to revitalize the channel by bringing in YouTubers like Annie LeBlanc and the 8 year-old Ryan Kaji — As the opening strains of the Ryan's Mystery Playdate theme song begin to play in this San Fernando Valley soundstage …

Discussion: @forbes

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

Investor group that includes Searchlight Capital and led by former Viacom CFO Wade Davis agrees to acquire a 64% stake in Univision; Davis to become CEO — The Spanish-language media giant last summer said it would entertain offers from potential buyers as part of an exploration of “strategic options.”

Discussion: Variety, Broadcasting & Cable, Variety, PR Newswire, @claireatki, Radio & Television …, Deadline, @univisionprteam, Multichannel News and @miriamgottfried

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

AMC Networks sets a new carriage deal with Dish and Sling TV that expands the distribution of its six linear channels and streaming services — AMC Networks has set a new carriage pact with Dish and Sling TV that expands the distribution of AMC's growing portfolio of subscription streaming services.

Discussion: Multichannel News

Wayne Friedman / MediaPost:

NBCUniversal launches One Platform, a unified platform for buying TV and digital ads — Just in time for this spring/summer upfront advertising buying season — as well as for its new ad-supported streaming platform, Peacock, which starts in April — NBCUniversal is launching its new …

Discussion: Reuters and AdExchanger

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:

Report for America, which currently supports ten journalists covering Native American communities, says it plans to help fund nine more journalists this year — It's hard to say that Native Americans have, historically, gotten the kind of journalism they deserve.

Discussion: @laurenmckown, @lenikacruz, @groundtruth, @aliaemily, @niemanlab and bookforum.com

Gabe Bullard / Nieman Reports:

Magazines like Harvard Business Review, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and The Economist are increasingly using narrated articles to boost reach and retention — How Harvard Business Review, The New Yorker, and The Economist use audio to boost reach and retention

Discussion: American Press Institute and A Media Operator, more at Techmeme »

Lara O'Reilly / Digiday:

Sources: France's third largest telecom Bouygues awarded a contract to Google to develop a targeted TV ad system using data from Bouygues' set-top TV boxes — Google has long pitched YouTube as an alternative to traditional TV advertising, but it's never managed to make a move into the $170 billion global TV ad market itself.

Tomás Mier / People.com:

The Oprah Winfrey Show will launch a podcast on March 3, making 25 years of episodes from the talk show available to stream — The first 10 episodes to be released will feature special guests Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil and Suze Orman — You get a podcast and you get a podcast!

Discussion: The Wrap, @kerrymflynn and @loudmouthjulia

Elidor Mehilli / The Conversation:

Albania passes new “anti-defamation package” laws against disinformation, targeting the websites of online media outlets but not social media platforms — A new set of laws in Albania empowers a government agency to review citizen complaints about online news websites.

P R Sanjai / BloombergQuint:

Disney's Hotstar blocks an episode of John Oliver's show in India that criticized Narendra Modi — (Bloomberg) — An episode of John Oliver's show that criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been blocked in India by Hotstar, the local platform run by Walt Disney Co. — Bloomberg

Discussion: @iamjohnoliver, @mknid, @shashj, @ranaayyub and @samiur1204