Top news

* Netflix Inc. led the nominations for the 77th Golden Globes with 17 nods, followed by HBO (US)'s 15 nominations, according to The Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Hulu LLC and Amazon.com Inc.'s Prime Video drew five nominations each, while Apple Inc.'s recently launched streaming service, Apple TV+, earned three nominations.

* Comcast Corp. CFO Mike Cavanagh said the media conglomerate will invest $2 billion to bolster the launch of its ad-supported video-on-demand service Peacock, aiming for the new service to break even within five years. Peacock is scheduled to launch in April 2020 with a mix of originals, exclusive acquisitions and other content.

* Amazon.com Inc. filed a complaint in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims alleging President Donald Trump pressured the Department of Defense to award a $10 billion JEDI contract to Microsoft Corp. instead of the online retailer. The company said Trump launched "repeated public and behind-the-scenes attacks" to "harm his perceived political enemy" Jeffrey Bezos.

Film & TV

* With the merger finalized just last week, ViacomCBS Inc. President and CEO Bob Bakish spoke about quickly tapping corporate synergies while also announcing that an icon of the broadcast business could become a thing of the past. Bakish told investors the recombined company is looking to sell CBS' Black Rock headquarters in Manhattan.

* The Walt Disney Co. raked in around $9.9 billion globally from its 2019 box office titles, beating its previous record of $7.6 billion in 2016, CNBC reports, citing data from Comscore Inc. Disney's "Frozen II" is set to cross the $1 billion benchmark this week while the studio has yet to release its latest installment of the "Star Wars" series, "The Rise of Skywalker."

Technology

* Facebook Inc., Amazon, Netflix, Google LLC, eBay Inc., IAC/InterActiveCorp, Uber Technologies Inc. and Booking.com BV are among the biggest digital and tech spenders, advertising executives said at an industry conference. Together, these companies are spending upward of $1 billion apiece on ads, accounting for some $36 billion in 2018, mostly in the U.S., according to Brian Wieser, global president of business intelligence at WPP PLC's Group M.

* Intel Corp. rolled out a cryogenic control chip called "Horse Ridge" to enable commercially viable quantum computers. The company believes that the chip will speed up the development of full-stack quantum computing systems.

* Alphabet Inc. appointed Frances Arnold to its board. She will serve on Alphabet's nominating and corporate governance committee. Arnold won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018.

Regulation

* The trial against T-Mobile US Inc./Sprint Corp. merger began Dec. 9 in a New York district court, TechCrunch.com reports. Fourteen attorneys general are challenging the merger over concerns that it will decrease competition in the U.S. telecom market.

* The U.S. National Labor Relations Board initiated a new investigation into Google LLC's labor practices after the company fired four of its employees recently, CNBC reports, citing a spokesperson for the agency. The investigation will also seek to determine whether the tech company discouraged employees from engaging in union activity.

* Francisco Salguero joined the U.S. Federal Communications Commission as chief information officer, replacing interim information chief John Skudlarek, according to a news release. Previously, Salguero was deputy chief information officer at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The day ahead

Early morning futures indicators pointed to a lower opening for the U.S. market.

In Asia, the Hang Seng was down 0.22% to 26,436.62, and the Nikkei 225 decreased 0.09% to 23,410.19.

In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 decreased 0.93% to 7,166.27, and the Euronext 100 decreased 1.04% to 1,111.47.

On the macro front

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index, Productivity and Costs and Redbook 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: Altice Europe on fiber unit; Amazon's French original; Google under EC probe: Altice Europe is in talks with investors for the sale of its Portuguese fiber unit, Amazon will produce French original, and the European Commission began its probe into Google's data collection practices.

The Daily Dose Asia-Pacific: Xiaomi in Japan; Beijing's foreign software curbs; SoftBank-WeWork deal update: Xiaomi Corp. officially entered the Japanese market, Beijing ordered government agencies to remove foreign computer equipment from their offices, and SoftBank Group Corp. is arranging a US$1.75 billion line of credit for WeWork Cos. Inc.

The US Week Ahead: Multistate challenge to T-Mobile/Sprint deal begins: The multistate lawsuit, led by New York and California, alleges that the deal would harm innovation and lead to higher prices for consumers.

The Week in OTT: CBS All Access adds kids shows; Netflix mulls more data release: YouTube Originals signed up former first lady Michelle Obama for a special called "Creators for Change." Netflix's head of original films, Scott Stuber, said the streaming platform is working to make audience metrics for its films more transparent.

M&A Replay: CBS-Viacom merger closes; Apple completes Intel smartphone modem business buy: Viacom Inc. and CBS completed their merger Dec. 4, less than four months after the companies agreed to reunite in an all-stock transaction, while Apple completed the purchase of Intel's smartphone modem business in a transaction valued at $1 billion.

Featured research

Global Multichannel: 2019 LatAm groups report: Megacable growing its broadband business: Megacable Holdings S. A. B. de C. V. is expanding at a healthy pace on the back of broadband subscribers and through the acquisition of part of competitor Axtel SAB de CV's network. It is also laying a submarine cable to Baja California to increase the state's connectivity.

Global Multichannel: 2019 LatAm groups report: Grupo Televisa tapping into fiber optics in Mexico: Grupo Televisa SAB, the leading multichannel player in Mexico via direct-to-home and cable, is diversifying its technology platform after acquiring fiber-to-the-home provider Axtel in 2018. It now offers DTH customers fixed wireless broadband services.

Global Multichannel: 2019 LatAm groups report: Liberty Latin America back on track after hurricanes: Liberty Latin America Ltd. is growing at a healthy pace despite still being in recovery mode in Puerto Rico after 2017's hurricanes. It has expanded throughout the Caribbean in recent years, with acquisitions in Costa Rica and the Lesser Antilles.

Multichannel Trends: Multichannel programming costs drop markedly in Q3: The drop in estimated programming expenses at DIRECTV and DISH Network Corp., on the back of significant subscriber losses, drove the decline.

Economics of Internet: State of Belgian OTT video: Subscription: The total number of paid subscriptions to online video services in Belgium reached 656,000 in 2018, led by the growth of Netflix.

Multichannel Trends: Cable logs mid-single-digit revenue gains in Q3'19 as customers hit new high: Download our PowerPoint overview of cable's third-quarter 2019 performance, including revenues, EBITDA, margins, segment receipts, contributions and ARPUs and the sector's customer universe.

Economics of Advertising: Barter advertising struggles against changing viewer habits: Our barter TV advertising forecast indicates that lower ratings and growing subscription video-on-demand interest could impact total revenues.

Economics of TV & Film: Broadcast sitcoms lag one-hours but are important in off-network window: Sitcoms have a rich history on broadcast TV and can bring in significant revenues in secondary markets, but they have faded in prominence in recent years.

Global Multichannel: 2019 LatAm groups report: AT&T on path to diversification in Latin America: Currency depreciation across South America hit AT&T Inc. revenues in 2018, but the company is expanding both its higher-end DTH customer base and its newer fixed-wireless broadband services base as it grows its mobile services footprint in Mexico.

Global Multichannel: Global markets update — Uruguay: Kagan has recently updated Global Multichannel and Broadband analyses for Uruguay, as well as analyses for related operators DIRECTV Uruguay, Cablevisión Uruguay and Administración Nacional de Telecomunicaciones.

Consumer Insights: See it in charts: Consumer Insights, November 2019: Kagan presents charts showing device use and entertainment trends based on its online consumer survey data published in November.

Consumer Insights: Amazon Prime Video's originals on the rise as movie viewing wanes: Original content is neck and neck with movies as the content type viewed by the largest share of Amazon Prime Video users, according to data from U.S. online consumer surveys conducted by Kagan from 2017 to 2019.

The Best Of: Kagan research and analysis, editor's picks: Kagan presents the editor's top picks from its exclusive research and analysis for the week ended Dec. 6.

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