TOP NEWS

* closedthe $18.9 million acquisition of Clearview International LLC, a Texas-basedprovider of colocation and cloud infrastructure services. Clearview operates twodata centers, totaling about 30,000 square feet of colocation space. TheClearview acquisition builds on the 66,000 square feet of data center capacityin Dallas acquired by Zayo on Dec. 31, 2015, according to a company . The acquisitionwas funded with cash on hand and will contribute more than $2 million inincremental annualized adjusted EBITDA, before the benefit of any realized costsynergies.

*Facebook Inc. hasbacked out of the bidding process for live-streaming Thursday games of theNational Football League next season, Bloomberg News reports,citing a source familiar with the details. While the social network hadexpressed interest in live streaming the NFL games, the source said the NFL'straditional advertising model did not appeal to Facebook, which wanted its livevideos to be ad free. Facebook also was not interested in streaming the earlymorning London games that are reportedly included in the deal. Meanwhile,Verizon Communications Inc.,Yahoo! Inc., andAmazon.com Inc. areamong the companies that are thought to be interested in acquiring the rightsto the Thursday games.

Internet & OTT

* Inmore M&A news, Silver Lake Partners and GIC signed a deal to buysubstantial equity stakes in Ancestry.com LLC from existing equity holders at anenterprise value of about $2.6 billion. Following the transaction, Silver Lakeand GIC will hold equal minority ownership positions in Ancestry.com, whileother current investors - the Permira funds, Spectrum Equity and Ancestrymanagement, including CEO Tim Sullivan and CFO and COO Howard Hochhauser - willremain as meaningful equity investors, and, along with GIC, will continue toown a majority of Ancestry.com, according to an SEC . Further, the company intends tooffer a liquidity opportunity to employees who own shares or vested options.Ancestry.com and certain affiliated entities will offer to purchase from suchemployees any or all vested shares or options at the same value per share aspaid in the investment. The closing of the employee tender offer is expected tobe nearly simultaneous with, and will be conditioned upon, the closing of theinvestment, though the expiration of the tender offer is expected to occurbefore the closing.

*Amazon.com placed a third-season order for original series "Bosch," Variety reports.The cop drama, based on the novels by Michael Connelly, stars Titus Welliver asLAPD detective Harry Bosch, along with Jamie Hector, Amy Aquino, Madison Lintzand Lance Reddick, according to the report. Viewers can reportedly currentlystream the first two seasons in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Austria. Season 2will reportedly premiere in Japan on April 8.

*Amazon.com is working to launch its fast delivery service on Web in May in order totarget a larger audience. Prime Now is currently available via a smartphoneapp. As part of its plans, the online retailer is offering marketing deals tomajor brands for the Web launch. The premium "Launch Hero Package"would reportedly cost $500,000 for about two weeks of placement on Amazon'swebsite associated with the rollout, Bloomberg News reports.

*Netflix Inc. struck adeal with Cineflix Rights to pick up exclusive worldwide streaming rights tocrime drama series "Marcella," Varietyreports.The series reportedly stars Anna Friel as a troubled detective mother of twochildren who gives up her career to care for her family. 

*In more company news, Netflix will premiere original film "TheFundamentals of Caring" on June 24 in all territories where Netflix isavailable. The movie premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival as theClosing Night film, according to a company news release. The movie is based on a novel by JonathanEvison and written, directed and produced by Rob Burnett. "TheFundamentals of Caring" stars Paul Rudd, Craig Roberts, Selena Gomez,Jennifer Ehle, Megan Ferguson and Frederick Weller.

Film & TV Programming

*Warner Bros.' "Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice" pulled in $52.4million to top the domestic box office for the April 3 weekend, to Walt Disney Co.'s "Zootopia" was No. 2 with$20 million, while Universal's "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2" took thethird spot with $11.1 million. Pure Flix's "God's Not Dead 2" was No.4 with $8.1 million, and SonyCorp.'s "Miracles From Heaven" was No. 5 with $7.5million. Meanwhile, comScore's Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian said ina statement that "Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice" finished itssecond weekend at the global box office with $682.8 million, while"Zootopia" is set to cross the $800 million mark worldwide.

The day ahead

Earlymorning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market. InAsia, the Hang Seng dropped 1.34% to 20,498.92, and the Nikkei 225 fell 0.25%to 16,123.27.

InEurope, as of midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.76% to 6,192.99, and the Euronext100 increased 0.95% to 862.15.

On the macro front

Thefactory orders report is due out today.

Featured news

The Daily DoseEurope: Orange, Bouygues end merger talks; Vivendi eyeing Mediasetstake: Orange and Bouygues Group ended merger talks after disagreeing onvarious concerns, while VivendiSA is preparing to acquire a 3.5% stake in Italy's .

ConferenceChatter: Upfront and Personal: Comedy Central yuks it up for mediabuyers: Short on information about demos, 's upfrontwent long on laughs as the network's top talent provided new perspectives onmultiplatform and product integration opportunities.

The ProgramGuide: International edition: Netflix orders Spanish series; AwesomenessTV tolaunch local versions in 5 countries: SNL Kagan presents a roundupof recent programming announcements from various international networks andonline video platforms.

MarketWeek:Broader markets, media stocks rally, but on uncertain ground: Mediaand communications stocks were generally up for the week as the first quartercame to a close, but there is plenty of food for the bears as Japan's leadingindex tanks.

Data Dispatch:Thinking outside the box office: 'God's Not Dead' to get a witness:"Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" will continue its hold of thebox office while religious title "God's Not Dead 2" looks to repeatthe success of its predecessor.

CAPITALLetters: A 'Fools' Day' quiz: Separating fact from fiction in media, communications:It is becoming increasingly more difficult to parse fact from fiction in theworld of media, entertainment and communications. But this being April 1, itseems like a good time for a pop quiz.

Best of SNL:Media & Comm, editor's picks: Take a look at the media andcommunications editor's top five picks for the week ended April 1.

Best of SNL:Media & Comm, most read: SNL Kagan presents the five most readmedia and communications articles for the week ended April 1.

ConferenceChatter: Upfront and Personal: Something new for Discovery nets:Discovery CommunicationsInc. executives discussed an array of new programming at an upfrontpresentation to the press, with an expansive slate that includes scriptedprojects, documentary films and a jump into live investigation fare.

The ShortReport: Windstream leads short interest decliners in early March:Windstream HoldingsInc. topped the list of short interest decliners amongcommunications companies surveyed by SNL Kagan in early March.

The ShortReport: MercadoLibre's short interest falls in early March:MercadoLibre Inc.witnessed the biggest drop in short interest among new media companies measuredby SNL Kagan in early March.

The ShortReport: Carmike's short interest grows in 1st half of March:Carmike Cinemas Inc.climbed to the top of the list of media and entertainment companies with thebiggest gains in short interest in the first half of March.

Featured research

Economics of TV & Film: SNL Kagan Box Office Report – Week13: The first quarter of the box office year came to a close on a highnote with audiences flocking to theaters to witness the showdown between theMan of Steel and the Dark Knight in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice."

Economics ofInternet: Profile: Tencent Video: Launched in March 2011, TencentVideo has since been integrated into Tencent Holdings Limited's vast social media, messagingand gaming networks.

Economics ofTV & Film: Big events hitting PPV in April: It looks to be abig month in PPV events, with Manny Pacquiao back in the ring against TimothyBradley on April 9, the Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones rematch at UFC 197 onApril 23 and World WrestlingEntertainment Inc.'s biggest event of the year, WrestleMania 32, onApril 3.