Top News:
Kayla Cobb / The Wrap:
Disney+ is rolling out Verts, its new short-form video feed, to US users on its mobile app, featuring clips from movies and TV shows on Disney+ — Users will be able to swipe through a stream of scenes from movies and shows on Disney+ — Disney's experiment with vertical video begins this week.
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Universal says it is shifting to five weekends of exclusive theatrical runs, up from three, and will move to a minimum of seven weekends in January 2027 — Theaters will get a minimum of five weekends of exclusive play and then, starting next year, seven. A pandemic-era policy was guaranteeing only three.
Discussion:
Variety, /Film, The Wrap, Deadline, World of Reel, Dark Horizons and Media Play News
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: Netflix will pay as much as $600M for InterPositive, Ben Affleck's AI moviemaking company, including bonuses for meeting certain performance targets — Netflix Inc. will pay as much as $600 million for InterPositive, the AI moviemaking company founded by Ben Affleck …
Discussion:
The Ankler, Variety, The Verge, @astreonnova, Reuters, The Wrap, TechCrunch and NPR, more at Techmeme »
Scott Nover / Washington Post:
Sources: the DOD barred press photographers from briefings on the Iran conflict after they published photos of Pete Hegseth that his staff deemed “unflattering” — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's staff took issue with images taken in a rare briefing last week and decided to shut …
Discussion:
Paul Krugman, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Queerty, The Bulwark, National Press Club, MS NOW, Poynter, Politico, Metro.co.uk, Wonkette, HuffPost, Australian Financial Review, @paulksmith.bsky.social, Washington Examiner, Civil Discourse …, New York Times, Associated Press, @scottnover, @eilperin, @scottnover, Newser, Kate Berry on LinkedIn, NOTUS, The Wrap, Digby's Hullabaloo, @danielsgoldman.dg4ny.co, Military and Veteran …, RedState, @hirono.senate.gov, Rolling Stone, @pincheesq.bsky.social, @adamrose.bsky.social, @fraying.bsky.social, @timkarr.bsky.social, @devilstower.bsky.social, New York Daily News, PetaPixel, @joelsiegel.bsky.social, @freedomofpress@social …, @jalefkowit@vmst.io, @ywfyf.com, @anthonylfisher.bsky.social, @jacobbogage.bsky.social, @peterbakernyt.bsky.social, IJR, @pgourevitch.bsky.social, @jcollins.bsky.social, TMZ.com, twitchy.com, @davekeating.substack.com, @smtrumbull.bsky.social, @dbernstein.bsky.social, The Independent, @drewharwell.com, @kylegriffin1.bsky.social, @gottalaff.bsky.social, DNYUZ, Defector, New Republic, Althouse and r/Journalism
@lulugnavarro:
NYT AG Sulzberger says the NYT has 2,300 journalists, double the number from 10 years ago, and 3,000+ in total, including Athletic and Opinion staff — The size of the @nytimes newsroom: Publisher AG Sulzberger says it's now 2300 journalists, doubled from 10 years ago.
Discussion:
@deggans, @andrewsolender, @aseitzwald, @emmanuelfelton, @thenewsham and @michaelpfreeman
Kendra Barnett / Adweek:
NewsGuard launches an AI content farm detection tool in partnership with Pangram Labs, which says it's seeing 300 to 500 of these sites emerge each month — Plus, a plug-in with The Trade Desk may help advertisers avoid showing up next to AI-generated news content
Nicole Meir / The Associated Press:
The AP Fund for Journalism doubles the size of its local news program to 100 members, who can now share some of their content via the AP's distribution network — AP Fund for Journalism (APFJ) today announced 50 additional news organizations are joining its landmark local news program …
Scott Roxborough / The Hollywood Reporter:
RTL reports 2025 revenue down 3.8% YoY to €6.02B, adjusted EBITDA of €661M, paying streaming subscribers up 19% to 8.1M, and streaming revenue up 26% to €509M — RTL says its streaming platform RTL+, which now boasts more than 8 million subscribers, will cross into profitability later this year.
Discussion:
Advanced Television, Variety, Deadline, Broadband TV News and Telecompaper
Astrid Suárez / Associated Press:
Inter American Press Association: press freedom in the Americas suffered a “dramatic deterioration” in 2025; the US has “restrictions” on freedom of speech — Press freedom in the Americas suffered a “dramatic deterioration” in 2025, a regional watchdog said Tuesday …
Discussion:
Al Jazeera
Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:
PitchBook: VC dealmaking in the media sector fell 69% YoY to $165M across 47 deals in the first two months of 2026, as investors take an “AI-first” approach — The Funding File: AI-focused super PAC Leading the Future, Justin and Ben Smith's Semafor and former Paramount co-CEO …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
TikTok plans to launch TikTok Radio, a live audio channel that blends creator content and music, on March 13 on the iHeartRadio app and on 28 US stations — In teaming with iHeart, the viral video app is dropping the visuals: The companies are launching TikTok Radio from iHeart …
Discussion:
Inside Radio, Jon Kurland on LinkedIn, Radio Ink, Barrett Media and Radio World
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
A look at Social Spider, a nonprofit that publishes four monthly print newspapers in London and expects to be profitable for a second straight year in 2026 — The publisher of four London local newspapers is expecting to be profitable for the second year running in 2026.
Discussion:
David Floyd on LinkedIn and @markoneinfour.bsky.social
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