Mediagazer: SiriusXM acquires 99% Invisible, producer of the highly successful podcast by the same name with 500M+ downloads, to become a “foundational” part of Stitcher (Reggie Ugwu/New York Times)

3:30 PM ET, April 26, 2021

Top News:

Kathleen Kingsbury / New York Times:

NYT says it is retiring the term “Op-Ed”; editorials will still be called editorials, but articles written by outside writers will be called “Guest Essays” — The first Op-Ed page in The New York Times greeted the world on Sept. 21, 1970.

Mónica Marie Zorrilla / Variety:

Early Nielsen numbers show 2021 Oscars drew 9.85M viewers, a drop of 58.3% from last year — The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, broadcast live from both Union Station and the Dolby Theatre in L.A. on ABC, hit a record low. — Per Nielsen Live+Same Day preliminary national numbers …

Discussion: New York Times, Observer, @yashar, The Hill, @oliverdarcy, @benmullin, @emzanotti, Hollywood Reporter, The Playlist, @dylanbyers, @morningbrew, @anthony, @claireatki, @alexeheath, @cuntybrent, @dylanbyers, @alexweprin, @mpasset, New York Post and OutKick

New York Times:

This year's Oscars, a TV broadcast about films mostly distributed on the internet, was a celebration of diversity as nine of 20 acting nominations went to POC — Chloé Zhao's film about the damaged American dream won best picture, best director and best actress.

Discussion: The Guardian, The Wrap, /Film, Fast Company, TechCrunch, Hollywood Reporter, The Week, Deadline, Smash Cut, @charmainesmchan, MediaPost, Variety, @brianstelter and Ad Age

Liza Lin / Wall Street Journal:

Chinese state media reporters say they received orders from the propaganda ministry not to report on Chloe Zhao's Oscar win, due to “previous public opinion” — Ms. Zhao is first Chinese woman to win best director, yet search engines erased the news

Discussion: New York Times, Mediaite, The Week, Associated Press, New York Post, @lizalinwsj, @kevindubouis, IndieWire, @kiminsley, @hashtaggriswold, @indiewire, @tunkuv, @cmarinucci, @tony_zy, The Verge, Hollywood Reporter, @mbaram and @jacobwgallagher

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Colette, co-produced by EA and Oculus Studios, and released by The Guardian, wins an Oscar for best documentary short — Facebook just won its first Oscar. — “Colette,” from the social giant's Oculus VR group and EA's Respawn Entertainment, picked up the trophy for documentary short subject Sunday at the 93rd Academy Awards.

Discussion: The Guardian, New York Times, Protocol, Wall Street Journal, @ruddlematthew, @kathviner, @risj_oxford, @george_chen, @jonsolomon, @lenoretaylor, @joshsternberg, The Verge and TechRadar, more at Techmeme »

Ben Smith / New York Times:

Facebook says it has a policy letting any person initiate a takedown of a post containing an image of their residence, regardless of the post's newsworthiness — The New York Post has complained that Facebook is blocking and downplaying its stories. But the platform doesn't pay any special deference to journalists.

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Roku says anti-competitive demands from Google, including requests for preferential treatment of apps like YouTube TV, may force YouTube TV off Roku's platform — Roku on Monday notified its users via email that YouTube TV may be forced off its platform entirely, alleging anti-competitive demands …

Javier Espinoza / Financial Times:

A group of Germany's largest media, tech, and advertising companies file antitrust complaint against Apple as it makes privacy changes on iPhones — Axel Springer among companies claiming controls will damage targeted advertising on iPhones — A group of Germany's largest media …

Discussion: New York Times, Daily Herald, Protocol, Al Jazeera, Wall Street Journal, @interfluidity, CNBC, @privacymatters, @pressgazette, @funnymonkey, @javierespft, @baekdal and @robertjbateman, more at Techmeme »

Chris Welch / The Verge:
Apple rolls out iOS and iPadOS 14.5 with App Tracking Transparency, which requires apps to get permission to track user activity on other apps for ad purposes

Discussion: ScreenRant, Insider, TechCrunch, ZDNet, TechRadar, @anthony, @tomwarren, @wadhwa, @puiwingtam and @jacknicas

Reggie Ugwu / New York Times:

SiriusXM acquires 99% Invisible, producer of the highly successful podcast by the same name with 500M+ downloads, to become a “foundational” part of Stitcher — The deal, for one of industry's earliest success stories, is the latest salvo in an era of rapid consolidation.

Discussion: PR Newswire, @stitcher, @romanmars, The Verge, RAIN News, @michaelmiraflor, @ylichterman, @nytimes, @radiotopia, @davidgura, @prx, @nwquah and @nicktheandersen

Sports Business Journal:

Sources: NBC has pulled out of the bidding for NHL's second TV package, making the next season the first time since 2005-2006 that NBC will not carry NHL games — NBC has officially pulled out of the bidding for the NHL's second TV package, according to U.S. and Canadian sources.

Discussion: @ourand_sbj, The Streamable, @sbjsbd, Variety, Awful Announcing, @ourand_sbj, New York Post, @zachhalverson, @brentaxemedia, @danmarrazza, @jimmyvan74, @fsgonepuckwild, @andrewmarchand, OutKick, The Athletic, @tsnbobmckenzie and @joeyerdon

Alex Sherman / CNBC:

How local TV stations plan to remain relevant as viewers shift to streaming, including Sinclair's plans to develop its own linear streaming service — - EW Scripps CEO Adam Symson tells CNBC his company is planning an “advocacy campaign” to teach Americans about the value of digital antennas.

Discussion: @asymson, @michellemanafy, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @billbert, @asymson, @ajitpai, @sherman4949, @mattrosoff, @davemorgannyc, @sherman4949, @jeffjarvis, @ewscrippsco, @tvtechnology, @sd_so and @sherman4949

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Facebook rolls out a miniplayer that will allow Facebook users to stream music and podcasts from Spotify through the Facebook app on iOS or Android — Facebook announced last week an expanded partnership with streaming music service Spotify that would bring a new way to listen to music …

Discussion: Spotify, The Verge, ScreenRant, @spotifynews, @chrisbrogan, @ashleyrcarman, The Verge, Variety, @lanceulanoff, RAIN News, @pkafka, @martinsfp and The Guardian, more at Techmeme »

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Part-time Editor, Remote — Techmeme

Home & Travel Reporter, Ireland — Newsweek

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Senior Editor - Visuals (Temporary), DC — NPR

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Tom Warren / The Verge:
Spotify is raising prices for several of its UK and European plans, and the Family plan in the US from $14.99 to $15.99/month, starting April 30

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Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: top talent, like Rachel Maddow, will be asked to make content for streaming services, as NBC's news chief Cesar Conde pushes a shift to streaming news

Discussion: TVNewser, @jillmartin, @benmullin, @mikenizza, @benmullin, @asharma, @dgisserious, @benmullin, @mariaesalinas, @brianstelter, @benmullin, @mylesudland and @anthony

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Financial Times:
OnlyFans is launching OFTV on Apple TV and Roku and plans to produce a show about the personal lives of creators called Unlocked

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Todd Spangler / Variety:
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Discussion: Awful Announcing, Hollywood Reporter, @boardroom, @fos, @hashtagheyalexa, @joepompliano, @variety, @alexweprin, Forbes, The Wrap and The Verge

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
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Michael Schneider / Variety:
As major studios and streamers increasingly turn to in-house production, a look at the independent TV production companies that have eschewed overall deals

Katie Robertson / New York Times:
Profile of new NY Post EIC Keith Poole, who previously made The Sun UK's biggest online brand, as sources say he sees The Daily Mail as NY Post's main rival

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From Techmeme:

Raffaele Huang / Wall Street Journal:
Apple removes WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China, saying it was ordered to do so by China's cyberspace officials citing national security concerns

Ryan Morrison / Tom's Guide:
Microsoft researchers introduce VASA-1, an AI model that can create a realistic talking face video from a portrait photo and an audio file, in research preview

Alex Heath / The Verge:
Meta details Llama 3: 8B- and 70B-parameter models, a focus on reducing false refusals, and an upcoming model trained on 15T+ tokens that has 400B+ parameters

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