Top News
* Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc. are looking to seek approval from U.S. regulators to merge without having to divest any assets before a deal is announced, WirelessWeek.com reports. The carriers, however, are working on a plan to sell some assets, including spectrum licenses, after a deal has been announced.
* The Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau paused the 180-day transaction shot clock on Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.'s proposed acquisition of Tribune Media Co. In a post, the agency said the clock has been paused for 15 days until Nov. 2 to give more time to interested parties for additional comments.
* Some of the biggest CEOs in the cable industry see major benefits to moving deeper into the wireless business. Liberty Global plc's CEO said his company is "all in on mobile," while Charter Communications Inc.'s CEO said cable has the opportunity to offer "6G" service.
* Telecom, media and tech billionaires account for almost one-third of an estimated $2.7 trillion of aggregate wealth and 17% of the total 400 wealthiest Americans, according to an analysis of Forbes' annual ranking of the richest Americans. Analyzing the super rich has become somewhat of a national pastime, particularly following the "Occupy Wall Street" movement's focus on income inequality and economic class disparity.
Technology
* The Saint Regis Mohawk Native American tribe filed an alleged patent-infringement case against Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp., Reuters reports. In a filing with a federal court in Virginia, the tribe accused the tech giants of infringing supercomputer patents that were assigned by SRC Labs LLC in August. The company assigned the patents to the tribe in a bid to protect them from administrative review.
* With Alphabet Inc. and Amazon already chasing the smart home customer with their intelligent personal assistant services, Raghu Puri, managing director at Accenture, believes cable and wireless operators must step up to compete for the connected home.
Internet & OTT
* Facebook Inc.'s WhatsApp unveiled a new feature that will allow users to share location in real-time with family or friends. The end-to-end encrypted feature, dubbed Live Location, will let users control who they share their location with and for how long, according to an official blog post.
* Stage 13, the digital content brand of Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Digital Networks, will stream unscripted hip-hop series "Independent" on Oct. 19, followed by the premiere of "Lipstick Empire" on Oct. 24 and "I Love Bekka & Lucy" on Nov. 7. Users can stream the series for free through Stage 13's channels on Google Inc.'s YouTube, Facebook and Stage13.com, according to a news release.
* Netflix Inc. canceled Chelsea Handler's talk show "Chelsea" after two seasons, Variety reports. Handler reportedly announced the move in a tweet, saying that it was her decision to cancel the talk show.
* Netflix will premiere Japanese original series "Rilakkuma and Kaoru" in spring 2019. The animated series is a story about a soft toy bear, called Rilakkuma, who showed up one day to live with a young woman named Kaoru, the company said.
* Local and foreign-language originals are becoming increasingly important for Netflix as the company expands across Europe. Netflix's strategy is a strong bet that Europe's free-to-air stronghold is ready to pay for high-end content.
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a lower opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng fell 1.92% to 28,159.09, and the Nikkei 225 was up 0.40% to 21,448.52.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 fell 0.36% to 7,515.90, while the Euronext 100 was down 0.83% to 1,045.24.
On the macro front
The jobless claims report, the Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey, the leading indicators report, the EIA natural gas report, the Fed balance sheet and the money supply report are due out today.
Featured news
The Daily Dose Europe: PE firm to buy Spain's Imagina; MTG completes sale of pan-Baltic units: Chinese private equity firm Orient Hontai Capital is buying a majority stake in Spanish sports media rights group Imagina Media Audiovisual SL, while Modern Times Group completed the sale of its pan-Baltic broadcasting units to Providence Equity Partners.
The Daily Dose Asia-Pacific: Chinese firm to buy Spanish sports rights group; Tata Tele to raise US$3B: Chinese private equity firm Orient Hontai has struck a deal to buy a majority stake in Imagina Media Audiovisual for US$1 billion, while Tata Teleservices' board of directors approved a proposal to raise as much as 200 billion Indian rupees.
Sony's Crackle expands in Uruguay; Brazil's Algar Telecom debuts SVOD: In this monthly LatAm video spotlight 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 Advertising: The Weather Channel's ratings get a storm surge in September: An analysis of September 2017 C3 ratings from Nielsen Holdings.
Economics of Networks: Disruptions in media sector lead to fewer linear cable network launches: Launching new channels on linear TV has become less attractive as the media landscape shifts and internet-based streaming services threaten the dual revenue streams of cable networks.
Wireless Investor: Industry talks shared-network deployment for 5G at DC5G conference: Industry insiders stressed the need for access to spectrum, shared infrastructure and network densification for the fifth generation of mobile networks.
Economics of Networks: VSP, OTT competitors weigh heavily on cable network industry economics: The cable network industry remains under pressure from new competitors selling skinny bundles.
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