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Fox fights back on Comcast's Sky bid; RTL Group to launch VOD services

TOP NEWS

* 21st Century Fox Inc. is urging antitrust regulators in the U.K. and the European Union to pursue thorough investigations into Comcast Corp.'s broadcasting and antitrust compliance, following the U.S. cable giant's £22 billion bid for Sky plc, London's The Daily Telegraph reports. Fox is reportedly hoping the investigations will help slow down the regulatory process involving Comcast's offer for Sky.

* RTL Group will launch on-demand services in Belgium, Hungary and Croatia in the coming months, Digital TV Europe reports, citing CEO Bert Habets. The services will be based on France's 6play platform.

PAN-EUROPEAN

* The European Commission is targeting to impose taxes on digital companies based on profits they have earned in European countries, Reuters reports, citing a preliminary draft. The EC also included a temporary proposal to tax on companies' digital revenues regardless of profits.

UK AND IRELAND

* The Irish government has selected the London branch of Bank of New York Mellon Corp. to manage an escrow account for up to €15 billion of back taxes from Apple Inc. Ireland's Department of Finance said the government and Apple will work with BNY Mellon to finalize operational arrangements for the escrow over the coming weeks. It added that a separate search for the fund's investment managers is currently ongoing.

* Sky unveiled the spring launch of virtual reality experience Hold The World in partnership with London's Natural History Museum and veteran broadcaster David Attenborough, as part of the relaunch of its Sky VR app on Google Inc.'s Daydream View, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.'s Gear VR and Facebook Inc.'s Oculus Rift. The experience, Sky's first fully interactive production, marks the "next phase" of the British pay TV giant's VR development. Alphabet Inc. owns Google.

* Independent News & Media PLC named Murdoch MacLennan as nonexecutive chairman, less than a week after joining the board. MacLennan, who is also deputy chairman of Telegraph Media Group, will take over from Leslie Buckley, INM-owned Irish Independent reports.

GERMANY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA U.K.

* ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE is eyeing legal action against Viceroy Research following a study that said the broadcaster was overpaying for acquisition and inflated its revenues, Handelsblatt reports. The broadcaster said the report's allegations were unfounded.

* German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF (DE) have been asked by the German Rundfunkkommission to report on their savings efforts until the end of April, DWDL reports. The broadcasters plan to save around €951 million by 2028.

* Axel Springer SE has elected Iris Knobloch, president and director general of Warner Bros. France SA, and Alexander Karp, CEO of U.S. software firm Palantir Technologies, to join its supervisory board. Warner Bros. France is a unit of Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

FRANCE

* Canal Plus SA will resume broadcasting TF1 Group channels following a request from the French regulator, Reuters reports. The Vivendi SA unit stopped airing TF1 channels last week over "unreasonable" fees.

* Orange SA, Altice NV unit SFR Group, Bouygues Telecom SA and TF1 Group are among the 50 companies and industry associations that have co-signed a letter expressing objection to the proposed e-privacy regulation. The signatories are concerned that the current proposals would reinforce already dominant players in the data economy; would threaten the development of EU startups, online advertisers, telecom operators, and other sectors; undermine the essential role of press and media and would not offer efficient protection for consumers.

* Les Echos launched "AI for Business," an initiative that is touted to strengthen the newspaper's editorial offer on new technologies with an editorial team dedicated to artificial intelligence. It will be complemented by a new vertical on Les Echos' website, as well as dedicated accounts on social networks, a weekly newsletter and special issues.

NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG

* Netflix Inc. is developing a Dutch original series that is fully funded by the streaming service and will be exclusively available on its platform, NOS reports, quoting Netflix's vice president of original series, Allie Goss. Goss did not reveal further details on the series' theme as well as Netflix's cost of investment on the production.

* Liberty Global plc unit Telenet said it will fully acquire Flemish television production company De Vijver Media NV, which owns the channels Vier, Vijf, and Zes and Production House Woest, for an undisclosed amount. Shareholders Mediahuis NV and Wouter Vandenhaute and Erik Watté (Waterman & Waterman NV) will sell their respective stakes of 30% and 20% to Telenet.

* Dutch provider KPN NV said it has reached an agreement to sell its U.S.-based subsidiary iBasis Inc. to Tofane Global, a Paris-based telecommunications and digital player specializing in international carrier services, for an undisclosed sum. The transaction is still subject to regulatory approvals.

* The European Investment Bank (EIB) will grant Belgian operator Proximus a €400 million loan for the further rollout and upgrading of its fixed broadband infrastructure in Belgium. In the framework of its Fiber for Belgium project, Proximus announced its intention to invest €3 billion over 10 years to accelerate its fiber deployment in Belgium.

* NXP Semiconductors NV said it will redeem $500 million worth of 5.75% notes due 2023. The company will redeem the notes through its subsidiaries NXP BV and NXP Funding LLC.

NORDIC COUNTRIES

* Sweden's telecom industry is opposing state legislation to tighten surveillance over internet and phone traffic, Dagens Industri reports. The country's data and privacy protection agencies also oppose the plan, which is reportedly part of the government's anti-crime drive.

* UBS Group AG's holding of financial instruments in TDC A/S has risen above 5% of share capital and voting rights, TDC said. Held indirectly, UBS' holding in shares and financial instruments amounts to 12.41% of the share capital and voting rights in TDC.

SOUTHERN EUROPE

* Telecom Italia SpA's board agreed to spin off its fixed access network into a separate entity, which will be named Netco. Telecom Italia proposed to fully control Netco and to own its access network and infrastructure, according to a news release.

* Amazon.com Inc. teamed up with Spanish soccer league La Liga and broadcaster Mediapro for the production of "Six Dreams," Rapid TV News reports. The football documentary can be streamed through Amazon Prime Video upon its premiere this year.

* Telecom Italia aims to boost broadband coverage and provide additional content offering to improve shareholders' returns, Reuters reports, citing CEO Amos Genish. The company is also open to seeking advice from Elliott Advisors about its 2018-2020 strategy.

* Italian state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA and Enel SpA, which owns broadband company Enel Open Fiber SpA, said they are on track with discussions on funding for open fiber, Reuters reports. The parties denied media report stating changes on financing strategy.

* Italian satellite TV provider Tivusat has added free-to-air movie channel Cine Sony in its lineup and is also anticipated to add Italian football-focused news and talk show channel Top Calcio 24 HD in the coming days, Advanced Television reports. Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures Television Networks operates Cine Sony.

EASTERN EUROPE

* Netflix has begun production work on its first Polish original series, "1983." The series, produced by The Kennedy/Marshall Co. and The House Media Co., is expected to be launch globally on the streaming service later this year, the company said.

* Facebook took down a post by Janos Lazar, the chief of staff of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, for allegedly violating its community guidelines, Reuters reports. The video post allegedly claims that immigrants contribute to increased crime in the capital of neighbor Austria.

* Roskomnadzor found that Mobile TeleSystems PJSC and MegaFon's roaming rates are overblown and that imposing daily subscription rates for customers abroad is baseless, Telecompaper reports, citing Prime. The operators expressed their willingness to explain the pricing to the Russian regulator.

* Ukraine's National Commission for the State Regulation of Communications and Informatization has finalized the tender for LTE services in the 1,800 MHz band, which the operators can use for 15 years, Telecompaper reports. VEON Ltd. said its unit Kyivstar acquired rights to 25-MHz paired bands, as well as two lots of 5 MHz, for 1.33 billion Ukrainian hryvnia and for 1.51 billion hryvnia, respectively.

FEATURED NEWS

UK advertising watchdog cracks down on secondary ticketing websites: The U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority has taken action against four large resellers as part of a sector-wide investigation over misleading pricing information in online event ticketing.

Fox Sports snags LatAm deal; Televisa, Amazon ink content tie-up: In this monthly feature, S&P Global Market Intelligence provides a roundup of news related to over-the-top, video-on-demand and other video initiatives in different Latin American markets.

FEATURED RESEARCH

Economics of Internet: Profile: HOOQ (Singapore): Backed by Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. and Singtel, SVOD provider HOOQ has initially focused on rolling out in emerging markets where the latter's affiliates are present.

Anne Freier, Amanda Kelly, Charlotte van Hek and Gerard O'Dwyer contributed to this report. The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7 a.m. London time. Some external links may require a subscription.