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Cheddar buys a Viacom news platform; Facebook Watch to strike more content deals

Top News

* Financial-news streaming service Cheddar Inc. acquired the MTV Networks on Campus distribution platform from Viacom Inc. for an undisclosed amount, The Wall Street Journal reports. The small news and entertainment platform for college campuses will be renamed CheddarU and feature content from Cheddar's flagship financial news streaming service and segments from Cheddar Big News.

* Facebook Inc. is set to close more programming deals for its Watch video platform, the Journal reports, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. The content likely will include shows from 21st Century Fox Inc.'s FOX News Channel (US) and Time Warner Inc.'s CNN (US).

* California legislators appear poised for a legal battle that would pit efforts to restore and expand upon Obama-era broadband regulations in the state against federal regulators' efforts to stop such actions. The California Senate on May 30 approved S.B. 822, a bill designed to ban any practice that hinders or manipulates consumer access to the internet to favor certain types of content, services or devices.

Regulatory

* AT&T Inc. will not ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that allows the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to regulate broadband activities of common carriers, Multichannel News reports. In a statement, a company spokesman said the U.S. carrier will instead focus on negotiating a "fair resolution" of the case with the FTC.

Technology

* Apple Inc. is gearing up to unveil its software strategy for 2019 at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, Calif., next week, Bloomberg News reports. In addition to unveiling software upgrades for operating systems powering its devices, the tech giant plans to unveil an upgrade for its augmented reality software.

* In more Apple news, the company is reducing orders for power management chips from Dialog Semiconductor PLC as it will now source two suppliers for chips to be used in one of its three new iPhone models, Reuters reports. In a statement, Dialog said the move will result in 30% fewer chips from the chipmaker in 2018 than it previously expected.

* Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV unit FCA US LLC struck a deal to add up to 62,000 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans to Alphabet Inc. unit Waymo LLC's self-driving fleet. The companies also are in talks about using Waymo's self-driving technology in a FCA-manufactured vehicle for retail customers, according to a news release.

Internet & OTT

* Six proposals from Facebook's shareholders recommending organizational changes have been rejected during the company's annual meeting held May 31, Reuters reports, citing company executives. The proposals included an amendment of the Facebook voting structure and content oversight.

* Netflix Inc. will release Shakespeare-inspired film "The King" in 2019. The movie, which stars Timothée Chalamet, Joel Edgerton, Robert Pattinson and Lily-Rose Depp, is about a young, disgraced prince who inherits the crown, the company said.

The day ahead

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

In Asia, the Hang Seng increased 0.08% to 30,492.91, while the Nikkei 225 decreased 0.14% to 22,171.35.

In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.71% to 7,732.26, and the Euronext 100 was up 1.14% to 1,060.98.

On the macro front

The motor vehicles sales report, the employment situation report, the PMI Manufacturing Index, the ISM Manufacturing Index, the construction spending report and the Baker-Hughes Rig Count report are due out today.

Featured news

The Daily Dose Europe: Orange eyes video unit, Altice Studios merger; Mediapro to set up French channel: Orange SA is considering a merger between Orange Cinema Series and Altice Studio, while MediaPro is preparing to launch a channel for the La Ligue 1 soccer games in France.

The Daily Dose Asia-Pacific: SoftBank puts $2.25B in GM's self-driving unit; Google launches 2nd app in China: The SoftBank Vision Fund will invest US$2.25 billion in the self-driving unit of General Motors Co., while Google Inc. attempts to re-enter China by launching the Files Go tool on third-party Chinese app stores.

Hires and Fires: BET Networks loses CEO; Jeffrey Storey takes helm of CenturyLink: Debra Lee has left Viacom unit Bet Networks as chairman and CEO, while Jeffrey Storey became the new CEO and president of CenturyLink Inc.

Hires and Fires Europe: Telekom Austria appoints supervisory board chair; Netia CEO quits: S&P Global Market Intelligence presents a biweekly rundown of executive and board changes in the European media and communications industries.

Hires and Fires: Sprint names new director; Saga Communications increases board size: Sprint Corp. appointed Stephen Kappes a new director of the company, while Saga Communications Inc. increased the size of its board to seven members.

Featured research

Wireless Investor: Margins grow despite ARPU decline: While most U.S. average-revenue-per-user metrics are on the decline, top-line growth continues to outpace expenses and, as a result, U.S. mobile industry EBITDA margins have been on the rise.

Broadcast Investor: Broadcast station ad projections update: political, digital lead growth: Kagan projects U.S. TV station ad revenues to grow 8.0% in 2018 boosted by political, while our radio forecast is up 1.1% mostly on digital and off-air revenue growth.

Broadcast Investor: Deal market April — Sinclair's station sales triple annual deal volume: April added $630.2 million to the deal volume, tripling the annual volume, with 91% of the volume attributed to spinoffs associated with the proposed merger of Tribune Media Co. and Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.

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