Mediagazer: A look at Roku's experiment with original programming: acquiring shows at a fire-sale price instead of committing billions of dollars to original shows (Lucas Shaw/Bloomberg)

Top News:

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Spotify buys app developer Betty Labs, creator of Locker Room, a live social audio app where fans can talk about sports, which Spotify plans on expanding — The acquisition will allow creators of all kinds to host anything from debates to live concerts.

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Radio and podcasting company Entercom is rebranding itself to Audacy and retiring Radio.com — After more than 50 years as Entercom Communications, the radio and podcasting company is unfurling a new banner: Effective immediately, it is changing its name to Audacy. … The company's new website is audacyinc.com.

Discussion: Axios, RadioInsight, The Desk, @jason_kint, Forbes, RAIN News, Radio & Television … and Hot Pod News

Substack Blog:

Substack raises $65M Series B led by Andreessen Horowitz — When we started Substack to build an alternative media economy that unlocks the full potential of the internet and gives more power to writers and readers, we didn't know if the model would work. A lot of people told us that no one would pay for newsletters.

Discussion: @jammastergirish, Axios, @somospostpc, @chaykak, @danprimack, TechCrunch, @kantrowitz, @asymmetricinfo, @andrewchen, @kmikeym and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »

Axios:

Sources: Substack's latest round values the company at around $650M — 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.

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

ViacomCBS' BET is going digital-only in the UK on April 8 and will run on Pluto TV and Channel 5's My5 streaming platform — Originals ‘Celebrity Comfort Food,’ ‘Black to the Future’ and ‘We Do That’ will join the lineup as senior vp of BET International Monde Twala says: “We are committed to growing the BET brand in the U.K.”

Discussion: Broadband TV News and Digital TV Europe

Brandon Katz / Observer:

LightShed Partners: SVOD subscribers will nearly double by 2024 to 1.25B from 650M at the end of 2020 — Of the 11 major legacy media and tech companies that have a direct hand in Hollywood, all but one house some sort of over-the-top (OTT) streaming service.

Discussion: The Streamable, LightShed Partners, @richlightshed and @richlightshed

Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:

The broadcast of Derek Chauvin's trial, allowed due to intense interest and limited physical access due to COVID, reignites debate over cameras in the courtroom — Earlier this month—with jury selection set to begin in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the white former Minneapolis police officer …

Discussion: Associated Press, @athenacnn, USA Today, NBC News and @jon_allsop

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

A look at Roku's experiment with original programming: acquiring shows at a fire-sale price instead of committing billions of dollars to original shows — Roku Sells You TV Dongles. So Why Is It Making TV Series? — When Cody Heller found out Roku was buying her show “Dummy,” she was thrilled.

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Dominion's suit against Fox News lists a torrent of disinformation and says the few stories that told the truth show that Fox knew it was spreading lies — Media critic — Back in December, Dominion Voting Systems warned Fox News and other spreaders of election-related conspiracy theories that lawsuits were imminent.

Discussion: @oliverdarcy and CNN

Justine Calma / The Verge:

Netflix says it wants to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2022, by reducing electricity use by 45%, hiring local crews, and offsetting the rest — It plans to hit ‘net zero’ emissions by the end of 2022 — Netflix set out goals today to limit the damage the company does to the climate.

more at Techmeme »

Max Willens / Digiday:

Kantar: Medium spent <$500K on advertising in 2020; its publications asked for more marketing, but Medium couldn't make it seem like it favored its own content — For most of the past three years, Medium spared no expense producing content for its platform and its publications.

Discussion: @simonowens, @sarahmarshall and The Fix

Sarah E. Needleman / Wall Street Journal:

Cameo, which now has 40,000 personalities, raises $100M from Vision Fund 2 and others at a $1B+ valuation, up from $300M in 2019 — The four-year-old video platform features more than 40,000 personalities but faces increased competition, potentially from Facebook

Discussion: Variety, Axios, @mr312, The Wrap, @richlightshed, @mgsiegler, @wsj and Reuters, more at Techmeme »