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, What's on Netflix, Deadline, @coreyatad.com, 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:
Variety, The Ankler, Inc.com, The Verge, @astreonnova, Reuters, The Wrap, TechCrunch and NPR, more at Techmeme »
Payton Turkeltaub / Variety:
Google's video production unit, 100 Zeros, and Range Media Partners are launching a slate of vertical microdramas with dozens of scripted and non-scripted shows — Range Media Partners and Google's production initiative, 100 Zeros, is adding a range of microdramas to its roster.
Discussion:
IndieWire, The Hollywood Reporter and @ljon.bsky.social
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
CNN plans to debut a six-episode series called Kara Swisher Wants To Live Forever about longevity science, with interviews of Sam Altman and others, on April 11 — CNN will debut a new original series, Kara Swisher Wants To Live Forever, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on April 11.
Discussion:
CNN
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:
Variety, Deadline, Broadband TV News, Advanced Television 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, Mashable, Michael Biondo on LinkedIn, Jon Kurland on LinkedIn, Barrett Media, Radio Ink and Radio World
@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, @michaelpfreeman and @thenewsham
