Here are the most-read stories of the week.
Competition, regulation, pricing weigh on potential Univision sale
At its peak, programmer Univision Communications Inc. was the unquestioned TV leader among U.S. Hispanic viewers. But more than a decade after Univision's $12.3 billion purchase by a private investor group, media analysts say a host of issues are weighing on its potential sale. The most likely bidders include media conglomerates, Spanish-language programming competitors and international companies, the analysts said. But pricing, timing and the regulatory landscape could work together to limit the number of bids.
States still a hurdle in Sprint/T-Mobile's clearing regulatory path to close
State regulators, led by New York and California, plan to push forward with a lawsuit that analysts say could delay the closing of Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc.'s pending merger by at least several months. The states' lawsuit, filed in New York federal court in June, alleged that the merger of two of the four largest national mobile network operators would reduce competition and drive up prices for wireless services.
AT&T to rebrand DIRECTV NOW streaming service
AT&T Inc. is changing the name of its DIRECTV streaming service as the company prepares to roll out a new broadband-delivered AT&T TV service. The name change will begin later this summer as AT&T conducts testing of the new AT&T TV service in select markets. AT&T TV will livestream video over a self-installed set-top box, expanding AT&T's reach to customers who previously could not receive satellite TV service.
DISH changes course on wireless build plans after Sprint/T-Mobile deal
Speaking during a July 29 earnings conference call, DISH Network Corp. executives said the company no longer plans to pursue its two-phase build-out and will instead move directly forward with building a next-generation 5G network. Previously, the company said that in order to meet a looming March 2020 build-out deadline from federal regulators, it would initially spend between $500 million and $1 billion to roll out a narrowband network, known as an NB-IoT network, specialized for the low-power, machine-to-machine communications that characterize the internet of things.
Data Dispatch: Facebook's rising costs, expenses after data scandal
Facebook Inc.'s $5 billion U.S. regulatory settlement has had a strong impact on its expenses already, but other expense categories have also ballooned in the year and a half since the company disclosed a massive data breach. Spending on research and development and marketing and sales, for instance, have increased significantly since the news broke in March 2018 that the now-defunct data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica LLC improperly accessed millions of Facebook users' personal information.