trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/oL4cSLq_nidBgsTInGmbxg2 content esgSubNav
In This List

Cracks in Libra's coalition; NBC Sports' RSN launch; Entertainment Studios' deal

Blog

Broadcast deal market recap 2021

Blog

Price wars in India: Disney+ Hotstar vs. Amazon Prime Video vs. Netflix

Blog

Volume of Investment Research Reports on Inflation Increased in Q4 2021

Blog

Using ESG Analysis to Support a Sustainable Future


Cracks in Libra's coalition; NBC Sports' RSN launch; Entertainment Studios' deal

Top news

* Mastercard Inc., Visa Inc. and other major financial partners are reassessing their involvement in Facebook Inc.'s cryptocurrency, Libra, following a backlash from U.S. and European government officials, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing people with the knowledge of the development. The financial backers reportedly do not want to attract regulatory scrutiny and hence declined Facebook's requests to publicly support the project.

* NBC Sports launched its revamped regional sports network in Chicago, with one major distributor, DISH Network Corp., on the sidelines. The satellite service's customers, as well as subscribers to its virtual provider Sling TV, have lost access to NBC Sports Chicago (US), as the parties could not come to terms on a new carriage deal. Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs exited the network to enter in a joint venture with Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. to form a dedicated channel for the club, Marquee Sports Network.

* Entertainment Studios Inc. agreed to buy 11 broadcast television stations from USA Television Holdings LLC and USA Television MidAmerica Holdings LLC for $290 million. The stations are located in Alabama, Indiana, Oregon, California, Mississippi, Minnesota and Iowa.

* The Communications Workers of America President Christopher Shelton recently urged AT&T Inc. Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson and the company's board to reject Elliott Management Corp.'s "Activate AT&T Plan." The four-part proposal recommends increased strategic focus, improved operational efficiency, a formal capital allocation framework, and enhanced leadership and oversight.

Streaming

* Walt Disney Co. struck a content deal with Amazon.com Inc.'s Prime Video streaming service in Latin America, Variety reports. The deal, which will run from Oct. 1, 2019, until September 2020, features a selection of Disney titles for Prime Video, including all four "Toy Story" movies, "The Lion King" and "Avengers: Endgame."

Technology

* LiveXLive Media Inc. reached 775,000 paid subscribers as of Sept. 30, with monthly active users of more than 1.1 million, according to a news release. The company livestreamed 19 music festivals and events during the first half of fiscal 2020.

* Canadian telecommunications company TELUS Corp. agreed to acquire security and automation services provider ADT Security Services Canada Inc. for about C$700 million. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

* Upland Software Inc., which provides cloud-based enterprise work management software, bought InGenius, a computer telephony integration platform provider. The purchase price paid for InGenius was $26.4 million in cash at closing, and a $3.0 million cash holdback payable in 12 months.

* Silicon Valley information technology services company Infogain Corp. acquired Houston-headquartered Silicus Technologies LLC, a Microsoft Corp. partner company. Infogain CEO Sunil Bhatia said the acquisition of Silicus Technologies will further expand Infogain's Azure-based cloud services capabilities for clients in the technology, travel and hospitality, retail and insurance industries.

* DTN, a U.S.-based provider of insights, analysis and decision-support solutions, acquired Australian private weather service Weatherzone from Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings Ltd. The transaction is expected to support DTN's commitment and growth strategy of providing weather insights to customers.

* TiVo Corp. on Oct. 1 unveiled its new Edge home entertainment viewing device and a new video network exclusively for TiVo customers. TiVo Edge is a 4K Ultra HD device, designed to work with HD antenna or digital cable. Available in two variations, TiVo EDGE for cable and TiVo EDGE for antenna, TiVo EDGE gives viewers access to live, recorded and streaming TV all on one device.

Cable

* Cable One Inc. closed on its acquisition of Fidelity Communications Co.'s data, video and voice business and certain related assets for about $525.9 million. The purchase price was financed with cash on hand and the net proceeds from $450 million of delayed draw term A loans.

The day ahead

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

In Asia, the Hang Seng declined 0.19% to 26,042.69, and the Nikkei 225 was down 0.49% to 21,778.61.

In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 fell 2.01% to 7,211.84, and the Euronext 100 slid 1.56% to 1,067.79.

On the macro front

The U.S. ADP employment report and the U.S. EIA petroleum status 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: Netflix job boost in UK; Facebook antitrust complaint; KPN CEO hire update: Netflix Inc. is set to create thousands of jobs in the U.K.; Facebook Inc. is facing an antitrust complaint in France; and Dutch telecom operator KPN NV appointed Joost Farwerck CEO and management board chairman.

The Daily Dose Asia-Pacific: TSMC countersuit; Tencent-Funcom deal; NetEase unit's US listing: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. countersued rival chipmaker GlobalFoundries Inc., Tencent Holdings Ltd. is acquiring a 29% stake in Norwegian game developer and publisher Funcom SE, and a subsidiary of NetEase Inc. filed for an initial public offering in the U.S.

5G Focus: Huawei's licensing; demos in Malaysia; T-Mobile's Dutch trials: 5G Focus is a weekly global roundup of notable 5G trials, launches, use cases and major equipment supply contracts. It will also feature an in-depth analysis of strategies, expansion plans, business models and other related initiatives.

Featured research

Global Multichannel: Global markets update — Lithuania: Kagan has recently updated Global Multichannel and Broadband analyses for Lithuania, as well as analyses for related operators Telia Lietuva AB and Balticum UAB.

Technology: Addressable TV advertising limited in traditional TV delivery systems: While addressable TV advertising in traditional TV delivery systems has been in the U.S. and Europe for years, it has not moved very far to date. That is starting to change.

Economics of Advertising: Nielsen data highlights prime-time delivery erosion: Analysis of the August 2019 Nielsen ratings and delivery data. Total prime-time delivery at the 116 networks fell by 7.7% year over year.

Global Multichannel: Global markets update — South Korea: The South Korean multichannel market is experiencing upheaval as two of the three incumbent telcos have submitted their applications to acquire some of their cable competitors to accelerate growth.

The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7:30 a.m. ET. Some external links may require a subscription. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.