Top news
* Amazon.com Inc. and Walt Disney Co. have locked horns over terms for carrying Disney apps on Amazon's Fire TV devices, The Wall Street Journal reports. While Amazon is seeking rights to sell a higher percentage of the ad inventory on the apps, Disney is resisting the idea, sources with knowledge of the matter said.
* U.S. Attorney General William Barr and acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan, along with U.K. Home Secretary Priti Patel and Australian Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton, urged Facebook Inc. to halt its plan to implement end-to-end-encryption across its messaging services. In an open letter, the international law enforcement partners requested Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to not proceed with its end-to-end encryption plan without ensuring the users' privacy.
* Amazon's cloud division is planning to build a regional data center in a free-trade zone in Argentina and is looking to inject about $800 million in the project over the course of 10 years, Bloomberg News reports. However, the decision to carry on with this project is not final and the plan could still change, a source with the knowledge of the matter said.
Broadcasting
* The NFL's centennial season is off to a solid viewership start, with average game audience numbers up 5% through the first four weeks of the season. Combining linear and digital audiences, NFL games averaged 16.6 million viewers per contest, compared to 15.8 million at the corresponding stage of the 2018 regular season. From a TV perspective alone, the games tallied an average audience of 16.3 million, according to the NFL, citing data from Nielsen Holdings PLC, up 4% from 15.7 million last year.
Technology
* Facebook launched a new camera-focused app for users of its Instagram LLC platform called Threads. In a blog post, Robby Stein, Instagram's director of product, said the stand-alone app allows users to stay connected with people on their Instagram accounts in a private space.
* Financial technology company PayPal Holdings Inc. is expected to exit Facebook's cryptocurrency project, Libra, London's Financial Times reports. The online payments system company skipped a key meeting that was scheduled on Oct. 3 in Washington to discuss the future of Libra.
* The U.S. and the U.K. struck a cross-border data access agreement, enabling law enforcement agencies from both countries to speed up the process of gathering electronic data needed to combat crime. The agreement will "considerably" reduce the time it takes to access data related to serious crimes such as terrorism and cyberattack, the DOJ said.
* Apple Inc. asked suppliers to increase the production of the company's latest iPhone 11 range by up to 10%, or 8 million units, the Nikkei Asian Review reports. The tech giant launched the three new iPhone models, the iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, in early September.
* RingCentral Inc. is partnering with Avaya Holdings Corp. to introduce new global unified communication as a service solution called "Avaya Cloud Office by RingCentral." As part of the deal, both companies will contribute resources towards the development, sales and marketing of the new solution, and RingCentral will pay Avaya an advance of $375 million for future commissions, as well as certain licensing rights, which will be paid primarily in stock.
* Comscore Inc. entered into a partnership with media solutions provider CTV Media Inc. to deliver television audience measurement. The agreement covers both local and national advanced television audience data, according to a news release.
Internet & OTT
* Warner Media LLC's upcoming streaming service, HBO Max, struck a partnership with "Sesame Street" producer Sesame Workshop to bring the show's 50-year library, along with five new seasons of the show, to the streaming platform. The deal also includes four new series, according to a news release.
* Facebook removed 211 Facebook accounts, 107 pages, 43 groups and 87 Instagram accounts for engaging in "coordinated inauthentic behavior" that originated in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Nigeria, according to an official blog post. The social networking giant said there were multiple sets of activity, each localized for a specific country or region, primarily in the Middle East and Africa, and some in Europe, North and South America, South Asia and East Asia, and Australia.
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a lower opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng fell 1.11% to 25,821.03, while the Nikkei 225 rose 0.32% to 21,410.20.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.35% to 7,102.21, and the Euronext 100 increased 0.27% to 1,057.94.
On the macro front
The employment situation report, the international trade report and the Baker-Hughes Rig Count report are due out today.
Click here to read about today's financial markets, setting out the factors driving stocks, bonds and currencies around the world ahead of the New York open.
Featured news
The Daily Dose Europe: Netflix, Mediaset team up; EU ruling on Facebook; London court on Google case: Netflix Inc. and Mediaset SpA will co-produce seven feature films, the Court of Justice of the European Union rules to allow EU to request content removal on Facebook, and London's Court of Appeal ruled to move forward on a legal action against Google LLC.
The Daily Dose Asia-Pacific: BlackRock, Tencent talks; 5G deals in Asia; Singapore fake news law update: BlackRock Inc. held talks with Tencent Holdings Ltd. as it evaluates potential partners in China, SK Telecom Co. Ltd. signed a deal to provide Rakuten Inc. with 5G technologies, and Maxis Bhd. and Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. struck an agreement for the provisioning of 5G network in Malaysia.
The Program Guide: Netflix renews 'Dear White People' for final season; ABC cancels 'Grand Hotel': Netflix renewed college comedy "Dear White People" for a fourth and final season, while ABC (US) pulled the plug on "Grand Hotel" after just one season on the network.
Software, telecom tower companies among Brexit M&A bright spots: Lack of a physical supply chain, a weak pound and ready yield plays could cushion midmarket software and telecom towers M&A from disruption as the U.K.'s deadline to leave the European Union approaches.
Google, Facebook given breathing room as Singapore enacts 'fake news' law: The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act came into effect Oct. 2 and introduced exemptions for tech companies around sending notices to end users and disabling their access.
Hires and Fires Europe: Disney names new EMEA president; Telecom Italia chairman steps down: Disney named Jan Koeppen president of its Europe, Middle East and Africa operations, while Fulvio Conti stepped down as chairman and a director of Telecom Italia SpA.
Featured research
Technology: US commercial smart building projects set for 56% annual revenue growth: The commercial smart building market is emerging as a key revenue driver for the industrial internet of things. Smart building project revenue is expected to increase from $731.9 million in 2018 to $6.78 billion in 2023.
Global Multichannel: Global UHD H1'19 update: Asia, Europe continue to dominate UHD scene: Only four new unique UHD channels launched worldwide in the first half of 2019. Overall, by the end of 2019, the number of available unique UHD channels worldwide is expected to reach 197, up 16.6% year over year from 169 channels at the end of 2018.
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