8 Mar, 2021
McAfee to sell enterprise business for $4B; IonQ to go public via SPAC merger
The Daily Digest highlights top news and exclusive insights on the technology, media and telecommunications sectors.
Top News
McAfee to divest enterprise business for $4B
McAfee Corp. entered into a definitive agreement to sell its enterprise business to a consortium led by Symphony Technology Group LLC for $4.0 billion.
IonQ to go public via SPAC merger
U.S. quantum-computing provider IonQ Inc. agreed to merge with dMY Technology Group Inc. III, a publicly traded special-purpose acquisition company, in a deal that values the combined entity at about $2 billion.
Antitrust set to be back in the spotlight in Congress
A Senate subcommittee is set to hold a hearing on "the case for antitrust reform" this week. The hearing, set for March 11, will be hosted by the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee that focuses on competition policy and antitrust.
Chart of the day
Global internet outages decline in early March
Global internet outages declined 12% in the first week of March compared to the prior week, according to data from ThousandEyes, a network-monitoring service owned by Cisco Systems Inc.
Internet Media
6brands drive Discovery's aggregate streaming usage, CFO says
Through the early days for Discovery Inc.'s aggregate streaming service, usage patterns have been broad and point to engagement across the company's content portfolio.
M&A
Cinedigm to acquire streaming technology platform FoundationTV
Cinedigm Corp. agreed to acquire streaming technology platform FoundationTV for an undisclosed sum.
Airspan Networks to go public via blank-check merger
5G network services provider Airspan Networks Inc. struck a definitive agreement to merge with special-purpose acquisition company New Beginnings Acquisition Corp.
Capital Markets
Cable One completes $800M debt offering
Cable One Inc. completed the debt offering of $800 million of convertible senior notes.
Personnel
Liberty Latin America removes COO in executive team revamp
Liberty Latin America Ltd. will remove its COO as part of a restructuring at the executive team level that includes the addition of two new roles.
Regulatory Policy
Va.'s privacy law vs. California's — and which state might be next
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signed a sweeping piece of consumer data protection legislation into law this month, making Virginia the second state to pass a comprehensive data privacy law, according to privacy experts.
Kagan Research
Economics of Internet: See it in charts: US, international OTT, February 2021
Dive into trends in the rapidly evolving U.S. and international over-the-top video market through select charts published in February 2021.
Multichannel Trends: 2020 US multichannel video loss tops 7 million, virtual sub momentum slows in Q4
Traditional U.S. multichannel plumbed new depths in 2020 with an 8.6% decline of nearly 7.2 million subscriptions, as the impacts of the pandemic amplified cord cutting instead of insulating an industry built around home entertainment.
Economics of Advertising: Advertising Forecasts 2020
Kagan presents a virtual databook comprising its 2020 "Advertising Forecasts" report, with 10-year projections to 2030.
Economics of Advertising: 'Celebrity Wheel of Fortune' tops prime-time game show ratings in January
Game shows grew more popular across broadcast and cable TV in January 2021,
New streaming media devices push global shipments to 31 million in Q4'20
Worldwide streaming media device unit shipments rose 11.2% year over year to an estimated 31.0 million in the final three months of 2020 as the top vendors released new hardware in the historically high-volume fourth quarter.