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CBS board to discuss Viacom merger; Pandora to cut staff by 5%

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CBS board to discuss Viacom merger; Pandora to cut staff by 5%

Top News

* CBS Corp.'s board will likely discuss a potential combination with Viacom Inc. during its regularly scheduled meeting on Feb. 1, Reuters reports, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. Viacom CEO Bob Bakish and CBS CEO Leslie Moonves talked about the potential deal earlier this month. Moonves, who had resisted a combination, is reportedly now open to the idea.

* Pandora Media Inc. will cut its employee base by about 5% as part of cost-saving measures, according to an SEC filing. The company intends to redeploy existing employees and hire for new positions, as it plans to shift its focus to ad-tech and audience development efforts. The layoffs, which the company's board approved Jan. 11, are anticipated to be completed in the first quarter.

* AT&T Inc. CEO Randall Stephenson said he expects the company to complete its planned acquisition of Time Warner Inc. in 2018, despite opposition from U.S. antitrust regulators. AT&T's consolidated revenues for the fourth quarter of 2017 totaled $41.68 billion versus $41.84 billion in the year-ago quarter.

* Facebook Inc.'s move to up the quality of its platform to encourage more "meaningful interactions" was top of mind for analysts during the company's fourth-quarter 2017 earnings call Jan 31. The move, in response to the social media platform's impact on the 2016 presidential election and other cultural, social and political issues, led to a 5% drop in time spent on the platform in the quarter, or 50 million fewer hours in aggregate, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on the earnings conference call.

Multichannel

* Verizon Communications Inc. won a contract from the New York state to deploy high-speed broadband to 15,500 rural households. As part of the contract, the carrier said it has been awarded $70.7 million in phase 3 of the New NY Broadband program, while an additional $12 million from the Federal Communications Commission Connect America Fund plus Verizon's own investment increased the total funding to $106.6 million.

Internet & OTT

* United American Corp. filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Facebook over the use of geolocation-based filters by the social networking giant. In a suit filed in the Federal Court of Canada, the company accused Facebook of infringing on certain claims of a patent covering the technology for user content sharing system and method with automated external content integration.

* Google Inc.'s YouTube TV secured exclusive rights to stream locally televised, English-language Los Angeles Football Club matches, The Hollywood Reporter reports. Under a multiyear deal, the live YouTube TV service became the official live TV partner of the Los Angeles Football Club.

* Netflix Inc. on Jan. 31 resumed production on the sixth and final season of original series "House of Cards," according to a news release. The streaming giant had to halt production amid sexual harassment allegations against series star Kevin Spacey, who had to be removed from the cast.

* Netflix will stream a new live action, original series for kids and family, called "The Prince of Peoria." The 16-episode series follows a 13-year-old prince from a wealthy island kingdom who travels to the U.S. to live incognito as an exchange student, the company said.

* Amazon.com Inc.'s Prime Video licensed 50 series from HBO (US) for members in Japan, The Hollywood Reporter reports. The licensed content includes the first six seasons of "Game of Thrones," along with other hits such as "True Detective," "The Sopranos" and "The Wire."

* Kurt Sutter, creator of "Sons of Anarchy' and "Mayans MC" series, signed up with 21st Century Fox Inc.'s 20th Century Fox Television, Fox 21 TV Studios and FX Productions for an overall deal, TheWrap.com reports. As part of the multiyear deal, Sutter will develop, write, supervise and produce new projects for television and other platforms.

Technology

* Spectrum Co. LLC, the ATSC 3.0 spectrum consortium founded by Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. and Nexstar Media Group Inc., named John Hane president of the group. Univision Communications Inc. unit Univision Local Media, Inc. has signed a memorandum of understanding to join the group, according to a news release.

The day ahead

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

In Asia, the Hang Seng was down 0.75% to 32,642.09. The Nikkei 225 rose 1.68% to 23,486.11. In Europe as of midday, the FTSE 100 slid 0.03% to 7,531.36, and the Euronext 100 was up 0.38% to 1,067.00.

On the macro front

The motor vehicle sales report, the Market Focus report, the jobless claims report, the PMI Manufacturing index, the ISM manufacturing index, the EIA natural gas report, the Fed balance sheet and the money supply report are due out today.

Featured news

The Daily Dose Europe: Netflix, EuropaCorp in deal talks; TalkTalk investors pull out shares: Netflix and EuropaCorp are in discussions for a multipicture agreement, while a number of TalkTalk Telecom Group PLC's investors pulled out their stocks over dividend concerns.

The Daily Dose Asia-Pacific: SoftBank buying majority stake in Line Mobile; Samsung announces stock split: SoftBank Group Corp. will acquire a 51% stake in LINE Corp. unit Line Mobile, while Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.'s board approved a 50:1 stock split as fourth-quarter 2017 net income surged.

Q&A: Social media exec: Instagram an 'untouched' opportunity: Ryde Studios founder and CEO Nicolas Gibbs sat down with S&P Global Market Intelligence to discuss the state of social media, premium content and how social media needs to catch up with traditional media from a content investment perspective.

The Program Guide: Global edition: Netflix sets 'Rapture' premiere; Sean Bean to star in Sky drama: Netflix has set the premiere date of its new rap documentary series, while Sean Bean will front Sky plc's original street-racing drama "Curfew."

Featured research

Economics of Networks: FOX nabs Thursday Night Football rights: Despite some challenges with ratings for the NFL over the past year, 21st Century Fox Inc. outbid CBS Corp. and NBCUniversal Media LLC on a five-year Thursday Night Football deal at an estimated $3.25 billion.

Economics of Networks: Cable Program Investor: Table of contents for Issue No. 242, published January 2018.

Global Multichannel: EPL auction: Partnerships, non-live rights more obtainable for tech groups: Over-the-top tech platforms may concentrate on "near-live" rights, goals clips or bespoke content partnerships for this cycle of English Premier League rights.

Broadcast Investor: Broadcast Investor: Table of contents for issue No. 629, January 2018, and B-Stats Supplement Vol. 21, No. 4.

Broadcast Investor: TV station multiplatform analysis 2018: Stations target national audiences: Based on Kagan's TV station-level analysis of content offerings, total live over-the-air broadcast channels in the U.S. increased to 6,335 from 6,109 in January 2017, and up from 2,518 at the end of 2010.

Economics of Advertising: Direct mail advertising becomes more expensive in 2018: Direct mail, one of the costliest forms of advertising, has become more expensive for advertisers in 2018, even as it continues to lose market share to faster-growing digital platforms.

Technology: Connected device increases help OTT video supplement free-to-air in Italy: With a large connected device installed based in the country, over-the-top video still remains an important distribution mechanism despite widespread use of free-to-air television in Italy.

The Daily Dose is updated as of 7 a.m. ET. Some external links may require a subscription.