Mediagazer: Comcast starts rolling out Disney+ and ESPN+ on its X1 cable TV and Flex broadband-streaming platforms (Todd Spangler/Variety)

9:35 PM ET, March 29, 2021

Top News:

Sources: Substack is raising $65M at a $650M valuation; a16z will lead the round — Substack is raising $65 million in new venture capital funding that would value the company at around $650 million, Axios has learned. Existing investor Andreessen Horowitz is leading the round.

Discussion: @sarafischer, @lucas_shaw, @mattyglesias, @jonathanvswan, @mdudas and @pkafka

Chris Welch / The Verge:

T-Mobile to shut down TVision's three bundles of live channels at the end of April, after launching in Nov., and is instead partnering with YouTube TV and Philo — TVision Live, Live Plus, and Live Zone will go offline on April 29th — Only five months after announcing its TVision streaming service …

Lukas I. Alpert / Wall Street Journal:

Mason Slaine, who owns a 3.4% stake in Tribune, says he would commit $100M toward Bainum's Tribune bid, aiming to acquire the Orlando Sentinel and Sun Sentinel — Mason Slaine, a minority Tribune investor, is looking to acquire the Orlando Sentinel and the Sun Sentinel

Jon Harris / Morning Call:
A mystery bidder, identified as “Bidder C”, has offered $30M-$40M for Morning Call Media Group to owner Tribune Publishing, recently acquired by Alden Global

Discussion: @davewiner and @mcallguild

Marc Tracy / New York Times:
Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss joins Stewart Bainum in Tribune bid, with plans to own Chicago Tribune; source: each plans to put up $100M towards the $650M bid

Felicia Sonmez / @feliciasonmez:

Felicia Sonmez says she has been told by her editors that the Washington Post is rescinding its years-long ban on her from writing about sexual misconduct — Hi all. I've been told by my editors that the Post is rescinding its ban. This is good news, but it's unfortunate that it had to come at such a high emotional toll, and after my distress was dismissed for years. I'm taking time to rest and process. Thank you for your support.

Discussion: The Hill, Insider, @briannawu, @cagoldberglaw, @wesleylowery, The Wrap, @dataeditor, @vikkie, @jackmirkinson, @nycsouthpaw, @moiradonegan, @joshchafetz, @emilyrauhala, @jayrosen_nyu, @hshaban and @hanaatameez

Rachael Bade / Politico:
Felicia Sonmez criticized WaPo editors during a staff town hall, revealing that she is barred from writing anything about sexual misconduct or #MeToo

Discussion: @feliciasonmez, My New Band Is, Jezebel, Washington Post, @anamariecox, @feliciasonmez, Poynter, @zachdcarter, @owillis, @bellwak, @moiradonegan, @amybwang, The Hill, @tinywriterlaura, @espiers, @mcastimovies, @kerrymflynn, @martinfowler, Mediaite, @adamdavidson, All in Her Head, @feliciasonmez, @blackamazon, @econ_marshall, @briannawu, @jamesgleick, @chenderson, @evaholland, @max_fisher, @aaschapiro, @hunterw, @sarahkaplan48, @emilymiller, @ericmgarcia, @wesleylowery, @amlwhere, @feliciasonmez, @cmclymer, @jenzerb, @feliciasonmez, @feliciasonmez, @feliciasonmez, @feliciasonmez, @feliciasonmez, @feliciasonmez, @feliciasonmez, @lemieuxlgm, @budrykzack, @jbendery, @allisongeroi, @jayrosen_nyu, @lisagartner, @khandozo, @soledadobrien, @gmillertsn, @coleenchristie, @juliedicaro, @atrios, @pwcdanica, @adamdavidson, @ourobororoboruo, @mattyglesias, @espiers, @bfishbfish, @grace_segers, @bloosemore, @benjamingoggin, @kemc, @shefalil, @mikkipedia, Free Political Newsletter, @spj_tweets, @miriamelder and @chick_in_kiev

Luke Winkie / Nieman Lab:

Boston Globe's health and life sciences pub Stat is thriving during the pandemic, with monthly unique visitors of 23M+, up from an average of 1.5M in 2019 — “Our Chartbeat dial went past the maximum. It went all the way around again.” — 2020 was one of the grimmest years for the media business on record.

Discussion: Talking Biz News, @rickberke, @niemanreports, @luke_winkie and @jimrutenberg

Reveal:

Federal judge dismisses Planet Aid's four year, multimillion-dollar libel lawsuit against Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting — After more than four years of fighting a multimillion-dollar libel lawsuit brought by international aid group Planet Aid, Reveal from The Center …

Discussion: @reveal, @christacir, @vdbaranetsky, @inn, @jkealing, @reveal, @emilyroseman1 and @achabel

Ronan Shields / Adweek:

Ad tech company TripleLift sells a majority stake to Vista Equity Partners, sources say for $1.4B — Ad tech sees another M&A jolt

Discussion: Insider, PE Hub, PR Newswire, @davidbeisel, @robgo, @digitalshields, @adweek, @ezberry, @dangoldin, @nextviewvc, @aripap and Ad Age, more at Techmeme »

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Comcast starts rolling out Disney+ and ESPN+ on its X1 cable TV and Flex broadband-streaming platforms — Comcast is plugging the Walt Disney Co.'s Disney Plus and ESPN Plus into its X1 cable TV and Flex broadband-streaming platforms — part of the operator's ongoing strategy to become the one-stop hub for all video entertainment.

Discussion: Adweek, WebWire, Media Play News, Gizmodo, Light Reading, The Desk, The Streamable and Cord Cutters News

Ben Smith / New York Times:

Inside Harper's, which has struggled in the digital era but is nonetheless America's most interesting magazine and offers one of media's oddest workplaces — The publication of the “Harper's letter” attracted huge attention. Most people had stopped reading the magazine, which is stranger and better than you might expect.

Brent Lang / Variety:

Tribeca Festival announces in-person, outdoor events from June 9-20 across NYC — The Tribeca Festival will return as an in-person event, a hopeful sign that coronavirus may be loosening its grip on cultural life in America. The announcement comes as vaccination levels are rising …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, /Film, Collider, The Playlist, Associated Press and The Wrap

Todd Spangler / Variety:

News Corp will acquire the consumer arm of educational publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for $349M in cash and will combine it with HarperCollins Publishers — The Rupert Murdoch-controlled company said it expects the deal to close in the second quarter of calendar 2021 …

Discussion: New York Times, @markdistef, @raju, GameSpot, @blackamazon, @chaykak, Publishers Weekly, Business Wire, The Wrap, @jeffreyt1, @thelincoln, @pkafka, @jasonhirschhorn, @dabeard, Reuters and Wall Street Journal

Kayleigh Barber / Digiday:

Good Housekeeping says GH+, its $20 per year membership program, is on track to have 10,000 paying members at the program's one year anniversary in June — Good Housekeeping is testing what a membership model looks like in conjunction with a subscription product and is finding that the ceiling …

Discussion: @kerrymflynn

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More News:

Lucy Campbell / The Guardian:
BBC had £880M of annual recurring savings since 2016/17, beating its target a year ahead of schedule; to cut costs, BBC Four will be focused on archived content

Associated Press:
Indian Country Today, an online news outlet and daily broadcaster covering tribes and Indigenous peoples, will now operate as an independent company

Discussion: @jennimonet

Patrick Brzeski / Hollywood Reporter:
Hong Kong's largest free-to-air broadcaster TVB opts not to renew the rights to the Academy Awards, which won't be aired there for the first time in 50+ years

Discussion: @thr and The Federalist

The Guardian:
Sources: UK government delays US-style televised briefings until mid-May, as it considers whether to continue a war with the media on “culture war” topics

Discussion: @parisdaguerre, @lucysiegle, @thattimwalker, @angelarayner and @frasermatthew

Nabila Ahmed / Bloomberg:
Australian media giant Nine says it suffered a cyberattack that disrupted live programming on Sunday; the company is working with Australia's cyber intel agency

Discussion: Sydney Morning Herald, BBC, The Desk, Sky News, Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review, The Guardian, The Guardian, Hollywood Reporter and The Daily Aus

Earlier Picks:

Aaron Sankin / The Markup:
How Digital Advertising Alliance's AdChoices tool, which launched in 2010 to let users opt out of personalized ads, is undermined by its cookie-based approach

Discussion: @dangillmor and @themarkup

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
A look at Colour Entertainment, a 20-year-old nonprofit dedicated to helping executives of color in the entertainment industry climb the corporate ladder

BBC:
Brazilian court orders President Bolsonaro to pay $3,500 in damages to a reporter, after Bolsonaro suggested last year that she offered sex for information

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, @lionelbarber, France 24, CNN and Newser

Kevin Roose / New York Times:
Bidders for the NFT of Kevin Roose's NYT column, which sold for ~$560K, share their motivations, including fun, self-promotion, and a signal of support for NFTs

Discussion: Fast Company, @kashhill, @marclacey, @flitteronfraud, @mlcalderone, @kaibrach, @neilcybart, @smdiehl, @jacknicas, @ron_fournier and @kevinroose

From Techmeme:

Ben Lovejoy / 9to5Mac:
Kuo: Apple's M5 chip to use TSMC's advanced N3P node; M5 Pro, Max, and Ultra will use a new server-grade SoIC packaging featuring separate CPU and GPU designs

Financial Times:
Sources: Meta plans to add displays to its Ray-Ban glasses as soon as H2 2025 to show notifications or AI responses, and has accelerated Orion's development

Bloomberg:
Google says it plans to counter Japan's FTC over claims that it hobbles rivals in search; a source says Japan's FTC sent a cease-and-desist order to Google

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