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AT&T's DIRECTV options; Cisco's Datadog offer; Apple's gaming service

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AT&T's DIRECTV options; Cisco's Datadog offer; Apple's gaming service

Top news

* AT&T Inc. is considering a sale of satellite and digital video unit DIRECTV, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter. The wireless carrier has considered various options, including a spinoff of DIRECTV into a separate public company and a combination of DIRECTV's assets with DISH Network Corp., sources told the Journal, adding that AT&T may ultimately decide to keep DIRECTV.

* Cisco Systems Inc. put in a takeover offer worth more than $7 billion for Datadog Inc., but its efforts were rebuffed with the software company opting for an IPO instead, Bloomberg News reports. Datadog raised $648 million in its U.S. IPO, selling 24 million shares at $27 apiece.

* Apple Inc.'s new game subscription service stands to benefit from the company's music and app sales expertise, but analysts said whether it can break out in an increasingly crowded mobile gaming market remains unclear. Apple Arcade will allow subscribers to play more than 100 games across the company's devices for $4.99 a month.

Advertising

* CBS Corp. and WarnerMedia decided to ban advertisements for electronic cigarettes amid global health concerns following reports of deaths and diseases related to vaping products, CNBC.com reports. The decision follows a similar ban from CNN (US) announced last week. WarnerMedia, which has run ads for vaping company Juul Labs Inc. in recent weeks on its cable channels TBS (US) and TNT (US), said it will no longer accept such ads.

Internet & OTT

* Comcast Corp. is now offering its Xfinity Flex streaming box for free to its internet-only customers. Launched in March, Comcast previously charged $5 per month per set-top for Xfinity Flex. Customers can lease additional Xfinity Flex set-top boxes for $5 per month per box, which is limited to two boxes per customer.

* WarnerMedia's upcoming streaming service, HBO Max, ordered a two-season revival of the animated series "The Boondocks," Variety reports. The 24 new episodes along with the 55 episodes of the original series will come to HBO Max in fall 2020.

Technology

* Microsoft Corp.'s board authorized a new share repurchase program of up to $40 billion. The share repurchase program does not have an expiration date and may be terminated at any time, the software giant said.

* Nielsen Holdings PLC acquired a minority stake in digital video-focused analytics company OpenSlate, for an undisclosed amount. Under the deal, Nielsen will provide equity capital to OpenSlate, which will be used to expand the latter's team and technology.

* Microsoft-owned GitHub Inc. acquired Semmle, a startup developing an engineering analytics solution for software development process management, according to an official blog post. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

* Facebook Inc. unveiled Portal TV, a device that brings wide-angle video chats to the biggest screen in the house, along with Portal and Portal Mini video-calling devices, according to an official blog post. Portal and Portal Mini begin shipping Oct. 15, while Portal TV begins shipping Nov. 5. Portal Mini is priced at $129, Portal will cost $179 and Portal TV will cost $149.

Multichannel

* As it rolls out its mobile product, Altice USA Inc. thinks it can tap a very broad customer base. Altice USA CEO Dexter Goei said that based on the cable operator's footprint and addressable rights around the service, which bowed earlier this month, Altice Mobile has the potential to reach 75 million people.

* The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania joined a multistate lawsuit to block the merger of T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corp., according to a news release. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro will become the 18th attorney general to challenge the merger, which the states believe would severely undermine competition in the telecommunications sector.

The day ahead

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

In Asia, the Hang Seng dropped 1.07% to 26,468.95, and the Nikkei 225 rose 0.38% to 22,044.45.

In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.59% to 7,357.54, and the Euronext 100 climbed 0.25% to 1,091.33.

On the macro front

The jobless claims report, the Philadelphia Fed business outlook survey, the current account report, existing home sales report, leading indicators report, the EIA natural gas report, the Fed balance sheet and the money supply report are 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 Europe: Viacom AVOD in Italy; Facebook's smart home gadgets; Sky's fiber deal: Viacom launched an ad-supported streaming platform in Italy, Facebook rolled out three new smart home gadgets, and pay TV giant Sky struck a deal to gain wholesale access to BUUK Infrastructure Issuer PLC's full-fiber networks in the U.K.

The Daily Dose Asia-Pacific: Huawei's computer strategy; Hitachi merger; SoftBank's MadeiraMadeira investment: Huawei will step up its presence in the computer hardware market, Hitachi plans to combine Hitachi Consulting and Hitachi Vantara businesses, and SoftBank led a funding round for a Brazil-based internet retailer.

Hires and Fires: Disney CEO resigns from Apple's board; Salem Media Group reduces board size: Walt Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger resigned from Apple's board, while Salem Media Group reduced the size of the company's board in efforts to cut costs.

Featured research

Economics of Advertising: SportsTime Ohio leads RSN prime-time ratings in July: SportsTime Ohio (US) in Cleveland-Akron-Canton took the regional sports network prime-time ratings crown in July with a 3.70, followed by New England Sports Network (US) in Boston-Manchester with a 3.41 and FOX Sports North (US) in Minneapolis-St. Paul with a 3.18.

Economics of Advertising: Europe drives growth for global ad agencies in Q2, North America slows down: Omnicom Group Inc. was the only agency to see negative year-over-year revenue growth in the second quarter of 2019, while other ad agency holding groups Publicis Groupe SA, Interpublic Group of Cos. Inc. and WPP PLC reported positive year-over-year growth.

Economics of Advertising: Bloomberg, CNBC big beneficiaries of new Nielsen ratings: Combining C3 ratings with out-of-home viewing metrics could be a big boon for some networks, and Nielsen may win back CNBC (US) and potentially Bloomberg Television (US) to provide total day ratings data.

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