TOP NEWS
* News Corp. and Telstra Corp. Ltd. signed definitive agreements to combine FOXTEL and FOX SPORTS Australia Pty. Ltd.. Under the deal, News Corp. will hold a 65% shareholding in the combined entity, with Telstra owning the remaining 35%. News Corp., which will consolidate the combined entity into its financial statements, will appoint four directors, including the chairman, to the combined entity's board and the senior executives. Meanwhile, Telstra will appoint two directors. The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2018.
* PT Go-Jek Indonesia is considering a domestic initial public offering, Bloomberg News reports. While the Indonesian ride-hailing startup is "very serious" about the IPO, Go-Jek President Andre Soelistyo said there was no specific time frame.
PAN-ASIAN NEWS
* Nikkei Inc. and the Financial Times Group Ltd. launched scoutAsia, a new English corporate data and news service. The artificial intelligence-powered service allows clients to access news and information on 500,000 companies across more than 20 countries in North and South Asia and the ASEAN.
JAPAN
* KDDI Corp. formed a capital and business alliance with Tier IV Inc., a developer of open-source autonomous driving software. With the tie-up, both parties aim to build an optimal network for autonomous driving society.
* Johnny & Associates Inc. will launch an official YouTube channel on March 21. The channel will feature the Japanese talent management agency's talents, The Nikkei reports.
SOUTH KOREA
* SK Telecom Co. Ltd. acquired local music content provider Groovers through its affiliate iriver Inc., Money Today reports. The South Korean telco is expected to apply its AI, 5G and blockchain technologies to create a new music service platform.
* The Ministry of Science and ICT kicked off a project to support multichannel network content businesses. Through a joint investment from the government and the private sector, the ministry will support the production of 10 multichannel network creators with quality content, and help them tap overseas over-the-top platforms.
* Kakao Corp. is planning to establish a unit focusing on blockchain technology, Yonhap News Agency reports. The company plans to appoint Han Jae-sun, co-founder and chief technology officer of FuturePlay, to lead the affiliate.
* LG Electronics Inc. unveiled new OLED TV models powered by the company's voice recognition AI platform DeepThinkQ, the LG OLED TV AI ThinkQ and LG Super Ultra HD TV AI ThinkQ.
CHINA, HONG KONG AND TAIWAN
* Spanish telecom giant Telefónica SA agreed to team up with China Unicom in the field of internet of things. The deal will see the two companies gaining access to each other's networks while working together to deploy IoT services across their respective footprints. The new IoT-based services are expected to be launched later in 2018.
* Hong Kong's i-Cable Communications Ltd. denied recent reports that it is planning to buy at least 10 channels from 21st Century Fox Inc., or planning a capital injection of at least HK$500 million whenever necessary.
* Baidu Inc. will expand its cloud business this year to serve clients in the financial sector, NetEase news reports. The company aims to attract financial institutions to move their core business systems into the cloud.
INDIA AND SOUTH ASIA
* The Mumbai bench of India's National Company Law Tribunal will hear Aircel Cellular Ltd.'s plea for bankruptcy protection on March 8, The Economic Times reports.
* Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures Networks India secured exclusive media rights from the England and Wales Cricket Board for the Indian subcontinent until 2022. The agreement with the ECB will allow Sony to both televise and digitally broadcast within the Indian subcontinent, men's and women's international matches played in England, Television Post reports.
* Fox Life India picked up several Gordon Ramsay-led series, such as "The F Word USA," "Culinary Genius USA" and the U.K. version of "Culinary Genius." Season six and seven of "Kitchen Nightmares USA" will also be available to Indian audiences, according to Real Screen.
* Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. appointed Sanjay Narayanan as theatrical marketing head in India, overseeing the marketing campaigns for Lions Gate's slate of theatrical releases in the country.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
* Advanced mPay Co Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Thai telco Advanced Info Service Public Co. Ltd., entered into a joint venture agreement with e-payment provider Rabbit-LINE Pay Co. Ltd. through subscription for the newly issued ordinary shares of 33.33% shareholding. MPay bought the newly issued ordinary shares in total of 1,999,998 shares for 787 million Thai baht. Advanced mPAY, Line Pay Corp., and Line Co. (Thailand) Co. Ltd. and Rabbit Pay System Co will each own 33.33% of the company.
* Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. tested 5G devices for the first time in Thailand in an event organized by the country's National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, RYT9 reports. Thailand expects 5G technology to be commercially viable by 2020.
* Axiata Digital Innovation Fund, the venture capital fund of Malaysian Axiata Group Bhd., made an undisclosed investment in specialist drone solutions provider Aerodyne Group. According to The Malaysian Reserve, the investment amounts to double-digit millions and is the venture capital fund's largest single investment to date.
* Singapore-based ride-hailing app company Grab appointed Tarin Thaniyavarn as the new country head of Grab Thailand, effective April 1. Thaniyavarn, who previously served as executive vice president for group strategy and government relations at Lazada, succeeds Yee Wee Tang, who now assumes the position of country head of Grab Cambodia.
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
* Telstra is in talks with private equity company HarbourVest Partners, which holds more than US$45 billion in assets globally, to form a new investment joint venture, The Australian Financial Review reports.
* Australian online recruiter Seek is taking full control of its Asian business by paying A$157 million to buy out News Corp.'s 13.75% stake in SEEK Asia, The Australian reports.
FEATURED NEWS
The Week Ahead: House to vote on package tackling spectrum, FCC reauthorization: The U.S. House of Representatives plans to vote on a bipartisan legislative package that would both reauthorize the Federal Communications Commission in terms of funding and procedure, and would also resolve several outstanding issues in the media and communications space.
FEATURED RESEARCH
Economics of Internet: OTT viewing delivers big digital ad boost for broadcasters in 2017: Gauging digital video ad viewing for major U.S. broadcast networks across all platforms continues to be challenging but what data is available suggests that networks are likely seeing the most viewing on connected devices, smart TVs, gaming consoles.
Economics of Networks: Post-DOJ merger approval, Discovery and Scripps gear up for future together: The companies' fourth-quarter earnings provide a diptych view of the state of the cable network industry.
Nozomi Ibayashi, Nicole Shiwon Kim, Frances Wang, Ed Eduard and Wil Hathaway contributed to this report. The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7 a.m. Hong Kong time. Some external links may require a subscription.
