Top News

* The District Court of Munich granted Qualcomm Inc.'s request for a permanent injunction to stop Apple Inc. from selling or importing iPhones to Germany that allegedly infringed the chipmaker's patent. The court ruled that the tech giant is also liable for monetary damages, according to a news release.

* Mat Baxter, CEO of Initiative, an Interpublic Group of Cos. Inc. agency, said he would advise his marketer clients to "stay off" Facebook Inc.'s advertising platform in order to protest against the company's practices. "It's about time we take a collective stand against the egregious behavior of Facebook," Baxter said in a post on his LinkedIn Corp. profile. The post prompted a statement from IPG CEO Michael Isor Roth, who said the company will continue to work closely with its media partners, including Facebook, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

* The Christmas box office will launch with five debut films over the Dec. 21 holiday weekend, of which two titles will vie for the fattest stockings before another run of wide releases Christmas Day. Ahead of Christmas, Walt Disney Co. is putting some family-friendly fare under the tree, with "Mary Poppins Returns" competing against an aquatic action hero from AT&T Inc.'s Warner Bros. studio. Forecasts suggest "Aquaman" will outswim Mary Poppins over the weekend.

* While 2018 brought the largest security software deal in a decade, news that another big name may be on the sales block lends support to analysts' view that cybersecurity's M&A hot streak is set to continue in 2019. This year saw the biggest cybersecurity announcement in at least a decade with International Business Machines Corp.'s pending $35.69 billion acquisition of Red Hat Inc., and recent reports indicate that security software giant McAfee, last valued at $4.2 billion in 2016, could be the next up for sale.

Technology

* In more Apple news, the company adopted a format similar to other tech giants for its reports on U.S. national security requests for user data, Reuters reports. The iPhone maker, which previously used to combine the number of National Security Letters and requests under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, has started reporting them separately. For the first half of 2018, Apple received zero to 499 National Security Letters related to 1,000 to 1,499 users.

* Heading into 2019, the EU is considering a number of legislative proposals impacting the technology, media and telecommunication industries, including laws introducing new taxes on big tech companies and content quotas on streaming media giants.

Streaming

* "Fixer Upper," the Joanna and Chip Gaines remodeling series that has ended its original run on HGTV (US), was Sling TV's most popular series in 2018, followed by CBS (US)'s "The Big Bang Theory," FOX (US)'s "Family Guy," HGTV's "House Hunters" and Food Network (US)'s "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives." The rankings were based on viewing trends of subscribers to DISH Network Corp.'s Sling Orange and/or Sling Blue and Extras viewing packages between Jan. 1 and Nov. 27, according to a news release.

* Google LLC's Android TV platform has partnerships with more than 100 pay TV operators around the globe, Shalini Govil-Pai, senior director of product management for Android TV, told Multichannel News. Govil-Pai said "tens of millions" of consumers, mainly in Europe and Asia, are using the platform.

Music

* Live Nation Entertainment Inc. has bought a majority stake in DF Entertainment, an independent concert promoter in Argentina. The Buenos Aires-based company sold more than 500,000 tickets to events in 2018 and oversees a lineup of artists for both concerts and festivals, according to a news release.

* Spotify Technology SA has settled a legal dispute with Wixen Music Publishing, a California-based company that licenses songs on behalf of Tom Petty, Neil Young, The Doors and others, Variety reports, citing an official statement. The suit, which sought nearly $1.6 billion in damages, had accused Spotify of using thousands of songs without the correct license.

Cable

* Liberty Global PLC agreed to sell its direct-to-home satellite television operations now serving four Eastern European markets to M7 Group SA for a total enterprise value of about €180 million. Closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval, which is expected in the first half of 2019, the company said.

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.

The day ahead

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

In Asia, Hang Seng rose 51% to 25,753.42, while the Nikkei 225 was down 1.11% to 20,166.19.

In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 fell 0.27% to 6,693.58, and the Euronext 100 was down 0.52%
to 905.98.

On the macro front

The Durable Goods Orders report, the Gross Domestic Product report, the Corporate Profits report, the Personal Income and Outlays report, the Consumer Sentiment report, the Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index and the Baker-Hughes Rig Count report are due out today.

Featured news

The Daily Dose Europe: Apple faces iPhone ban in Germany; Uber fined in France: A German court ruled that Apple could no longer sell certain iPhone models in the country due to a patent dispute with Qualcomm, while ride-sharing company Uber Technologies Inc. will pay a €400,000 fine in France over a customer data breach.

The Daily Dose Asia-Pacific: Naspers, Tencent invest in Swiggy; Car platforms get backing from SoftBank: Naspers Ltd. led a US$1 billion funding round for Indian food delivery platform Swiggy, while SoftBank Group Corp. made investments in automobile platforms Cambridge Mobile Telematics Inc. and Fair.

Hires and Fires: AT&T's WarnerMedia names content chief; Netflix appoints VP of original content: Apple appointed John Giannandrea senior vice president of machine learning and artificial intelligence strategy, while Channing Dungey, the former president of Walt Disney's ABC Entertainment Group, is joining Netflix Inc.

Featured research

Global Multichannel: Indian TV market enters new era: While India's sheer size and diversity make it a naturally attractive market, its recent advances in audience measurement and the final stage of TV digitization are creating new opportunities for local and global players.

Economics of Internet: Q3'18 top US video provider rankings: Netflix continues to dominate the No. 1 spot in our third-quarter list of top video services, while Comcast Corp.'s runner-up status could be challenged by Hulu in the fourth quarter.

Economics of Advertising: New! Global Advertising Expenditure Forecasts, December 2018: Global Advertising Expenditure Forecasts for December 2018 have just been released by © 2018 Zenith.

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