Top news
* Nexstar Media Group Inc. completed the acquisition of Tribune Media Co. in an accretive transaction valued at about $7.2 billion, creating the largest pure-play local broadcast television and digital media company in the U.S. Under the agreement, Nexstar acquired all outstanding shares of Tribune Media for $46.687397 per share in cash. Nexstar also completed the divestitures of 21 television stations for about $1.33 billion, inclusive of a purchase price adjustment for two Indianapolis stations sold to Circle City Broadcasting I Inc.
* Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg held a meeting Sept. 19 with President Donald Trump amid criticism that Facebook is "anti-Trump" and over perceived anti-conservative bias, CNN.com reports. Zuckerberg is set to meet members of the House Judiciary Committee on Sept. 20, according to a person familiar with the matter.
* The U.S. Federal Communications Commission will vote Sept. 26 at the agency's monthly open meeting on proposed auction procedures for a spectrum auction in the 3.5 GHz band, which wireless operators say is crucial for 5G deployment. Bidding in the auction is scheduled to start June 25, 2020.
Television
* Following the completion of Nexstar's acquisition of Tribune Media, E.W. Scripps Co. acquired eight television stations in seven markets divested from the Nexstar-Tribune Media merger. Concurrently, TEGNA Inc. completed the previously announced acquisition of substantially all the assets of 11 Nexstar local television stations for $740 million in cash.
* NBC Sports Chicago (US) warned that subscribers of AT&T Inc.'s DIRECTV and DISH Network Corp. could lose the channel when Chicago Cubs' season concludes, Broadcasting & Cable reports. The warning came in the wake of the joint venture between Cubs and Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. to start a Marquee Sports Network for the Major League Baseball club.
Internet & OTT
* Comcast Corp. added sports streaming service DAZN to its Xfinity Flex platform as part of a distribution deal. The U.S. cable giant will also make DAZN available via its Xfinity X1 service this fall.
* The new subscription video-on-demand service by Tyler Perry Studios and Viacom Inc.-owned BET Networks, is now live in the U.S. BET+ features more than 1,000 hours of ad-free premium content, including exclusive new original programming and premier African American TV, movie and musical content. The streaming service is available on Google LLC's Android devices, Amazon.com Inc.'s Fire TV and Prime Video Channels, and iOS devices such as Apple Inc.'s iPhone and iPad.
* Fox Corp. COO John Nallen said the company is pleased with early returns on its investment in the sports betting business after the company launched FOX Bet in collaboration with The Stars Group Inc. in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In the nine days since the bow of FOX Sports Super 6, the app has logged more than 280,000 downloads, drawing upward of 425,000 total entries.
Technology
* Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. unveiled its Mate 30 smartphone series at a Sept. 19 event in Munich. Available in 4G and 5G variants, the smartphones will operate on an open-source version of the Android OS but will not come preinstalled with Google apps or Play store due to Huawei's inclusion in the U.S. government's entity list, according to CNBC.com.
* Apple is reopening its iconic glass cube store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, N.Y., today. The store, which had been under renovation, is now nearly double the size of its original version.
* Verizon Communications Inc. will let customers in parts of New York City access Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband network from Sept. 26. With the addition of New York, Verizon's will be providing 5G mobility service to 11 cities and it plans to expand the service to more than 30 cities in 2019.
* Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company will invest €3 billion to expand its data centers across Europe over the next two years, which will bring the search engine's total investment in Europe's internet infrastructure to €15 billion since 2007. Google will invest an additional €600 million in 2020 to expand the company's data center presence in Hamina, Finland.
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng declined 0.13% to 26,435.67, while the Nikkei 225 rose 0.16% to 22,079.09.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.20% to 7,371.36, and the Euronext 100 was up 0.47% to 1,099.32.
On the macro front
The Baker-Hughes Rig Count report is 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 Asia-Pacific: Huawei Mate 30 launch; Eros Now/Microsoft tie-up; new streaming service in Korea: Huawei unveiled its Mate 30 smartphone series, India's Eros Now is partnering with Microsoft Corp. to build an online video platform, and South Korea's CJ ENM CO. Ltd. is joining forces with local cable network JTBC Plus Co. Ltd. to launch a streaming service.
DAZN on Comcast; Oi mobile network sale; Russia's interception: Sports streaming service DAZN struck a distribution deal with Comcast; Brazil's Oi SA is in talks with Telefónica SA and Telecom Italia SpA for a potential sale of its mobile network; and Russian officials are allegedly intercepting messages of Mobile TeleSystems PJSC customers.
Outgoing AT&T Communications CEO's pay; Charter accounting chief's annual salary: Fiscal 2019 pay package of John Wiley & Sons Inc. President and CEO Brian Napack and annual salary of Charter Communications Inc.'s new chief accounting officer, Kevin Howard, are among those included in the latest installment of The Pay Check.
Hires and Fires: Charter names chief technology officer; NTN Buzztime CEO resigns: Charter named Stephanie Mitchko executive vice president and chief technology officer of the company, while MDC Partners Inc. eliminated the position of COO after Seth Gardner, who was named to the position in May, left the company.
The Program Guide: 'Seinfeld' coming to Netflix; Comedy Central renews 'South Park': Netflix Inc. secured the global streaming rights to iconic sitcom "Seinfeld," while Comedy Central (US) renewed animated comedy show "South Park" for three more seasons.
Featured research
Economics of Internet: Connected TV viewing boost continues for broadcast, cable networks: Traditional broadcast and cable networks have had little choice but to adapt and embrace a new digital world, with top networks regularly reaching 40 million or more U.S. digital viewers each month.
Economics of TV & Film: KBOX Week 37: Pole dancers and an evil clown excite the fall box office: "IT Chapter Two" and "Hustlers" pushed week 37 box office up 4.0% from $145.4 million in 2018 to $151.2 million in 2019. The 2019 fall season has a 6.4% lead over 2018 after two weeks.
Broadcast Investor: Public trading multiples: TV, radio stocks dip on recession worries: Broadcast stocks were mostly down in August as investors worried about an upcoming recession while trade disputes deepened with China and U.S. GDP growth ticked down in second quarter 2019.
Economics of Networks: A la carte rears its head once again: Litigation in Maine is ongoing in an attempt to overturn a law requiring cable operators to offer channels on an a la carte basis.
Economics of TV & Film: Summer box office falls short after a promising start: Hopes were high heading into summer 2019 as "Avengers: Endgame" debuted in the final week of spring with a $357.1 million opening weekend and carried its massive momentum into the first weeks of summer.
Technology: 5G survey: Spectrum, technology roadmap highlights: This article, the first in a series, provides a snapshot of currently deployed 5G network technologies, as well as insight into the various spectra and network evolution roadmaps that mobile operators will utilize to deliver 5G in the coming years.
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