Mediagazer: TCG, the Chernin Group's venture subsidiary, is investing $30M in Surfline, a mostly subscription-based media company that focuses on surfing coverage (Sara Fischer/Axios)

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Sara Fischer / Axios:

Sources: Politico's Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer, and John Bresnahan are launching a daily newsletter in 2021 as a standalone company, competing against Playbook — Three of Politico's biggest reporting stars plan to launch a competitor to the company's Politico Playbook franchise, sources tell me.

Discussion: @jasonshevrin, @yashar, @jimvandehei, The Wrap and Washingtonian

Kelsey Sutton / Adweek:

Nielsen: workers increased their TV watching time between 9am and 4pm by 21% YoY; kids between 6 and 17 also saw double-digit increases in TV watch time — Altered viewing patterns during Covid-19 present new reality for advertisers — As people continue working and attending school remotely …

Discussion: @adweek, MediaPost and nexttv.com

Sean O'Neill / Skift:

Red Ventures, which owns CNET and travel advice site The Points Guy, has acquired travel media company Lonely Planet from NC2 Media — FIRST FREE STORY (1 OF 3) — More travel executives get their mission-critical industry news from Skift than any other source on the planet. — Already a member?

Discussion: Red Ventures, @celbrash, @rafat, @thepointsguy, @sean_oneill, @chyan and Publishers Weekly

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Showtime debuts a Pluto channel, Showtime Selects, which will air a selection of its programming for free, with ads, to attract new subscribers — Showtime is unlocking a selection of original programming — for free, with ads — in a new channel on Pluto TV.

Discussion: The Streamable, Decider, Light Reading, /Film and MediaPost

Leia Idliby / Mediaite:

The Drudge Report, once a supporter of Trump's rise to the presidency, featured a Photoshopped image of the president in an orange prison jumpsuit on Tuesday — Matt Drudge, the head of influential news aggregator Drudge Report, featured an image of President Donald Trump in a prison jumpsuit on his website.

Discussion: Vanity Fair and The Wrap

The New York Times Company:

NYT says it has raised $4M for Headway, a three-year journalistic venture, which will aim to produce 10-12 deeply researched, data-rich projects per year — The New York Times has raised $4 million to launch Headway, a journalism initiative to investigate global and national challenges.

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu, @kimmelman, @jayrosen_nyu, @froomkin, @jswatz and @rockphilanth

Sara Fischer / Axios:

TCG, the Chernin Group's venture subsidiary, is investing $30M in Surfline, a mostly subscription-based media company that focuses on surfing coverage — TCG, a venture affiliate of The Chernin Group that invests in media, entertainment and tech businesses, is investing $30 million in Surfline …

Discussion: Business Insider, @sarafischer, PR Newswire, @sanjitatwal, @peterchernin, @rafat and @kylelaughlin

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Sources: Patch launches Patch Labs, a service to help local news reporters publish their own newsletters and websites, with tools to sell ads and subscriptions — Patch, the hyperlocal (and profitable) local digital news company, has built a new software platform called “Patch Labs” …

Jem Aswad / Variety:

Joe Rogan is Spotify's most popular podcast globally and NPR News Now is in the US with The Daily, Call Her Daddy, and Michelle Obama's podcast in the top five — As they do at this time every year, Spotify has unveiled the top artists, albums, tracks, playlists and podcasts …

Discussion: Fast Company, Spotify, @highwayqueens, @drownedinsound, @wcchen, The A.V. Club, The Wrap, @drownedinsound, @kerrymflynn, Spotify, Hollywood Reporter and Engadget

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Hearst exec says UK subscriptions rose 233% YoY in March as readers made use of subscription trials; after abandoning them in April, orders still rose 100% YoY — Magazine giant Hearst had to take action to stem losses from discount magazine subscription offers as new subscribers jumped 233% following the start of the pandemic.

Kayleigh Barber / Digiday:

Some publishers are experimenting to keep events engaging during the pandemic: Atlas Obscura is planning US road trips, PopSugar hosted a drive-in LA premiere — This article is part of the Future of Work briefing, a weekly email with stories, interviews, trends and links about how work, workplaces and workforces are changing.

Discussion: @kayleighjbarber

Sahil Patel / Wall Street Journal:

Reddit says it averaged 52M DAUs in October, up 44% YoY, disclosing the metric for the first time; ad revenue hit $100M+ in 2019, on track to rise 70%+ in 2020 — The disclosure comes as the tech company pursues new advertisers — Reddit Inc. said it averaged 52 million daily active users in October …

Discussion: The Wrap, The Verge, Adweek and Engadget, more at Techmeme »