TOP NEWS

*The National Basketball Association struck a deal to live stream USA Basketballexhibition games on FacebookInc.'s social networking website, Recode reports.The deal covers nine games from the men's and women's teams over the next twoweeks, according to the report.

*Outerwall Inc.'sRedbox Automated RetailLLC is testing a potential new transactional digitalvideo-on-demand and EST offering,Variety reports,citing an emailed statement by a company representative. The company introducedan app for AppleInc.'s iPad, called Redbox Digital, to let some customers test thenew offering.

TV Networks

* Itis official: RogerAiles resigned aschairman and CEO of FOX NewsChannel (US) and FOX Business Network (US), and Chairman of FoxTelevision Stations. Rupert Murdoch will serve as chairman and acting CEO ofFox News Channel and Fox Business Network, 21st Century Fox Inc. said in a .

Multichannel

*Pandora Media Inc.recently rejected a$15-per-share takeover offer from Liberty Media Corp., which valued the company at morethan $3.4 billion, The Wall StreetJournal reports,citing people with knowledge of the matter. Pandora's board, however,reportedly turned down the offer, believing the company should have been valuedat around $20, its stock-trading price in the fall.

Internet & OTT

*Netflix Inc. placed athird-season order for "Marvel's Daredevil," Variety reports.The streaming giant premiered the second season in March.

*In more streaming news, Amazon.com Inc. added two original series to its AmazonPrime Video in Japan, Variety reports.Beginning July 22, users will be able to watch "Baby Steps," a10-part tennis-focused drama based on a comic, while a 13-part "CrayonShin-Chan: Alien vs. Shinnosuke" will debut Aug. 3 for Japanese Primemembers. 

*Amazon.com will debutthree new half-hour comedy pilots Aug. 19, including one starring martial artsfilm star Jean-Claude Van Damme. The other two pilots include "I LoveDick," and "The Tick," the company said in a .

*Amazon.com teamed up with Wells Fargo & Co. to launch a student loanbusiness, Reuters reports.Under the partnership, Wells Fargo will provide cheaper rates for loans tocustomers of the online retailer with a "Prime Student" subscription.

The day ahead

Earlymorning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.

InAsia, the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.09% to 16,627.25 and the Hang Seng decreased0.16% to 21,964.27.

InEurope, around midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.42% to 6,728.27, and the Euronext100 was up 0.06% to 867.81.

On the macro front

ThePMI manufacturing index flash report is due out today.

Featured news

The Daily DoseEurope: Amazon to invest €500M in Italy; KPN sues FOX unit: Amazonis making a series of investments worth at least €500 million to back Italy'sdigital turnaround plan, while KPN NV filed a lawsuit against Eredivisie Media &Marketing regarding carriage of FOX Sports.

The Daily DoseAsia-Pacific: Google investigated in Korea; Pokémon live-action film is ago: GoogleInc. is under scrutiny by the South Korean Fair Trade Commissionfor alleged anti-competitive practices with its Android OS, while 'sLegendary Entertainment secured the rights to launch a live-action Pokémon filmfranchise.

Data Dispatch:Thinking outside the box office: Star Trek teleports to top: Thenewest Star Trek title should open at the top of box offices, but not as strongas previous titles in the franchise.

Streamingdeals help, but Twitter still struggling: Despite the companyinking live-streaming deals with the NFL, NBA and others, many still measureTwitter by the amount of new users.

Hires andFires: US Media & Comm management moves through July 20:S&P Global Market Intelligence presents a weekly rundown of executive changesin the media and communications industries.

StartupSpotlight: France's Molotov aims to replace the cable box: Launchedin France earlier this month, Molotov is a TV content aggregator that aims toreplace the traditional cable box, according to Jean-David Blanc, co-founderand CEO of online video startup.

Featured research

WirelessInvestor: 600 MHz Auction to launch with a flood of new spectrum but a shrunkenbuyer pool: Evidence continues to mount that the 600 MHz forwardauction will have to run multiple stages and settle for a lower spectrumclearing target to get wireless bidders on the same page as broadcast sellers,whose first ask would require buyers to spend well over $87 billion.

Economics ofTV & Film: 2016 not likely to top 2015's huge year in PPV: Thebiggest pay-per-view event of all time, Mayweather vs. Pacquiao (4.6 millionbuys), combined with UFC's banner year to result in more than $1 billion inindustry revenues for a record-breaking 2015.

BroadcastInvestor: Broadcast transactions – 2nd week of July 2016: Thesecond week of July brought another spinoff related to the merger of and Media General Inc.

BroadcastInvestor: B-Stats Q2'16: Mainly defined by TV spinoffs: Broadcastdeal volume reached $728.9 million in the second quarter.

Recent earnings

AT&T CFO:DIRECTV Now will be a 'game changer': On the same day that DISHreported its largest quarterly subscriber losses on record, 's DIRECTV said itcontinued to add subscribers in the second quarter.

DISH CEO:'We're certainly prepared to live without Tribune': Over a monthinto a retransmission consent dispute between and , DISH CEOCharlie Ergen suggested that at least some of Tribune's stations could bepermanently struck from the satellite TV operator's lineup.