Top news
* Nexstar Media Group Inc. signed retransmission-consent renewals on Dec. 31, 2019, with U.S. cable providers Comcast Corp. and Charter Communications Inc., as well as cable operator Mediacom Communications Corp., Verizon Communications Inc.'s FiOS TV and telecom provider Frontier Communications Corp.
* Google LLC plans to terminate in 2020 an intellectual property licensing structure that allowed the company to delay paying U.S. taxes, Reuters reports, citing a 2018 Dutch filing. A spokesman for the Alphabet Inc. unit said the change will bring company policy in line with U.S. tax law.
* A consortium led by Chinese conglomerate Tencent Holdings Ltd. agreed to purchase a 10% equity stake in Universal Music Group Inc. from France-based Vivendi SA, in a deal that values the music enterprise at €30 billion. This transaction is expected to close by the end of the first half of 2020.
* California's privacy law, which requires companies to disclose personal information they collect from customers, came into effect Jan. 1, TechCrunch reports. The California Consumer Privacy Act gives customers the right to know the purpose of data collection and the names of any third parties that can access it.
* YouTube LLC ordered a docuseries on Justin Bieber that will shed light on the pop star's forthcoming album, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "Justin Bieber: Seasons" will be10 episodes.
* Netflix Inc. removed "Friends" from its platform in the U.S., Variety reports. Warner Media LLC's upcoming streaming service HBO Max secured exclusive domestic streaming rights for the sitcom.
* The Walt Disney Co.'s streaming service, Disney+, moved the debut of original series "WandaVision" from 2021 to this year, Deadline.com reports. It will premiere alongside "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier."
Technology
* British chip designer Imagination Technologies Group PLC will provide Apple Inc. access to "a wider range" of intellectual property in exchange for license fees under a new multiyear deal.
* Peter Halt stepped down as CFO of TiVo Corp. following the recently announced agreement to combine it and Xperi Corp. in a $3 billion transaction. The company's board approved Chief Accounting Officer Wesley Gutierrez to replace Halt.
* Xiaomi Corp. will invest more than $7.18 billion over the next five years in artificial intelligence and 5G technology, Reuters reports, citing a letter from the company's chief executive, Lei Jun.
Programming
* The Clemson-Ohio State game scored the largest audience for a College Football Playoff semifinal not played on New Year's Day. Clemson's 29-23 victory Dec. 28 delivered 21.2 million viewers across ESPN Inc.'s megacast presentation on ESPN (US), ESPN2 (US), ESPNU (US) and ESPNews (US), according to Nielsen Holdings PLC.
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng gained 1.25% to 28,543.52.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.84%% to 7,606.17, and the Euronext 100 increased 1.17% to 1,157.83.
On the macro front
The jobless claims report, PMI manufacturing index, 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: Tax changes at Google; Universal Music stake sale; Apple/Imagination deal: Google is changing how it settles its taxes, Vivendi sold its Universal Music stake and Apple signed a new multiyear deal with Imagination Technologies.
The Daily Dose Asia-Pacific: Tencent buying Universal stake; Huawei cuts targets; Samsung halts chip output: A Tencent-led consortium is taking a 10% equity stake in Universal Music from Vivendi, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.'s total revenue in 2019 is expected to grow 18% year over year, while Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. partly halted some semiconductor production at its Hwaseong chip complex.
Featured research
Wireless Investor: Auction 103 tops $5.7B in first 8 days of bidding: After just eight days of bidding, the 37 GHz, 39 GHz and 47 GHz auction is proving to be a historically robust event for the U.S. Treasury, nearing sums raised for personal communications services in the 1990s.
Global Multichannel: Western Europe's continued fiber investments could benefit 5G: Operator investments in building out fiber to the home continue to gain momentum in the region, with many focusing on more densely populated areas with faster and higher turnover while other areas remain underserved.
Wireless Investor: Postpaid subscriber breakout: Wearables about to surpass tablet subscriptions: Total U.S. postpaid subscribers grew 2.8% year over year in the third quarter of 2019, led by growth in smartphones and wearables, while feature phones and tablets continued to wane.
Economics of TV & Film: Global Film Release Report — November 2019: The Global Film Release Report for November 2019 is now available.
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