TOP NEWS

*AT&T Inc. and itsunit DIRECTV rejected Time WarnerCable Inc.'s six-year deal to carry regional sports network in theCalifornia market, Multichannel News reports,citing an emailed statement by a Time Warner Cable representative. Under thedeal, Time Warner Cable offered a 30% discount on the RSN for the first year,and for the next five years to offer the network at a rate equal to what thecompany pays to carry AT&T's ROOTSPORTS Northwest (US) RSN. Meanwhile, a spokesman for , said inan emailed statement that it is seeking a flexible, long-term carriageagreement that does not unnecessarily burden its entire customer base.

* 's Windows 10operating system is now running on up to 270 million monthly active devices,TechCrunch.com reports,citing a company announcement at its Build keynote. In January, Microsoft CEOSatya Nadella saidthere were more than 200 million active Windows 10 devices. In more news fromthe event, the software giant said the Windows Store has recorded more than 5billion visits, up from 3 billion in January.

Film & TV Programming

*21st Century Fox Inc.and Skydance Media are interestedin acquiring Viacom Inc.'sParamount Pictures unit outright rather than being passive investors, Variety reports,citing sources briefed on the situation. Viacom, however, is not shopping thestudio around and would prefer to have investors buy a 20% to 40% stake in thestudio. Proceeds from the sale would go toward the debt and grow the studio,according to comments Viacom Chairman Philippe Dauman made in February.Interest is not capped to Skydance and Fox as the studio is drawing theinterest of more than three dozen parties. Viacom values Paramount between $4billion and $5 billion. But some investors say the price is not justified giventhe studio's declining EBITDA over recent years.

Technology

*Alphabet Inc.'sGoogle Inc. unit. andOracle Corp. sparred over the database maker's request for $8.8 billion indamages as part of a copyright disputebetween the two companies, Bloomberg News reports.In a court filing, Google asked U.S. District Judge William Alsup in SanFrancisco to ignore opinions submitted by Brigham Young University ProfessorJames Kearl regarding the damages, while claiming that its own hired expertstrongly disagreed with Oracle's damages assessment. With a monthlong trial setto start May 9, Google said the professor accepted Oracle's damages theory "atface value" and used it "as a basis for offering an extremely broadrange of potential amounts of disgorgement of Google's Android-related profits."Oracle, meanwhile, asked the judge to disregard Google's request. In May, thejurors will reportedly decide on whether Google could reportedly access Oracle'scopyrighted code without permission under the "fair use" legaldoctrine. Oracle has reportedly accused Google of not paying for Java softwareit used to develop Android.

Internet & OTT

*Netflix Inc. orderedits first original series that has been filmed entirely in . The first season of the dramaseries, which will start production in Madrid in 2016 and feature 16 episodes,will debut exclusively on the streaming service around the globe in 2017, accordingto a company news release.The series is produced by Madrid-based Bambú Producciones, led by Ramón Camposand Teresa Fernández Valdés, and co-created by Gema Neira.

*Multichannel network Fullscreen will launchits subscription video service on April 26. Titled fullscreen, the service willcost $4.99 a month and will be available on desktop, mobile apps and onChromecast, The Hollywood Reporter reports.The original shows offered by the service will include "Electra Woman& Dyna Girl," "Filthy Preppy Teen$," "Jack & Deanof All Trades" and video podcast "Shane & Friends." Theservice will also include licensed shows like "Dawson's Creek" and "Savedby the Bell." CEO George Strompolos reportedly said the service istargeted at the 13 to 30 years old demographic. Fullscreen is owned by OtterMedia, a joint venture between AT&T and The Chernin Group.

*Streaming movie service Tribeca Shortlist can now be accessed on 's Apple TV. Consumerscan access Tribeca Shortlist's movie catalog via AirPlay from iPhone and iPad,according to a company newsrelease. In addition, Tribeca Shortlist subscribers can downloadany movie or Shortlist video directly to their iPhone and iPad for offlineviewing. Tribeca Shortlist is a premium subscription video-on-demand servicecreated by Lions GateEntertainment Corp. and Tribeca Enterprises.

*Comcast Corp. andElectronic Arts are shutting down a beta service that streamed games to X1set-top boxes on April 12, MultichannelNews reports,citing a company representative. The representative said Comcast received a lotof interest from X1 users but does not currently plan to launch it forconsumers. Meanwhile, according to a reportby DSLReports.com, EA has pulled its financial and staffing commitment for theXFINITY Games Beta Trial.

The day ahead

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

In Asia, the Hang Seng dropped 0.13% to 20,776.70, while theNikkei 225 was down 0.71% to 16,758.67.

In Europe, as of midday, the FTSE 100 was down 0.41% to6,177.46, and the Euronext 100 fell 1.27% to 865.63.

On the macro front

The jobless claims report, the Chicago PMI, the EIA naturalgas report, the Fed balance sheet and the money supply report are due out today.

Featured news

The Daily DoseEurope: Telecom Italia names new CEO; no progress in Orange-Bouygues Telecommerger talks: Negotiations over a merger between Orange and BouyguesTelecom have not yet made progress, while appointed FlavioCattaneo to replace Marco Patuano as company CEO.

ConferenceChatter: Upfront and Personal: Food Network adds more family-centric fare:Food Network (US)is launching more family-centric programming, notably kids versions of some ofits most popular fare, as a means to burnish its brand, bolster coviewing andbuild its audience now and into the future.

Facebook,Apple publishing platforms get more inclusive: Analysts weigh in onthe companies' decisions to let publishers of all sizes use their platforms tohost articles.

Rumor Mill:Departure of Telecom Italia CEO feeds Vivendi takeover rumors:Telecom Italia has been plunged into yet another crisis after CEO Marco Patuanoresigned, following a standoff with shareholder . Board member FlavioCattaneo takes over amid rumors that Vivendi may seize full control of theItalian operator.

The Starzalign: Starzwill unveil a new logo and tagline as part of a brand repositioning, while alsobringing sister service Encore, and its various multiplexes, under the flagshipStarz brand. SNL Kagan spoke to executives to learn more about the change.

Hires andFires: Media & Comm director moves through March 29: SNL Kaganpresents a rundown of board changes in the media and communications industries.

Eastern Europevideo spotlight: VICE Media to expand Eastern Europe footprint: Inthis monthly feature, SNL Kagan provides a roundup of news related toover-the-top, video-on-demand and other online video initiatives in differentEastern European markets.

Featured research

Economicsof TV & Film: Broadcast pilot orders rise for 2016-17 season:Although many broadcast networks have voiced trepidation over the pilotprocess, the five major English-language nets ordered 81 pilots this year, up3.8% over last year's yield.

MultichannelTrends: 2016 pricing and packaging: Uneven progress in speed bumps:A recent survey of published U.S. broadband offerings suggests that whileInternet service providers didn't universally introduce increases in speeds in2015, downstream improvements appear more common than the uneven trajectory ofprice increases.

Economics ofNetworks: MSOs caught in sports rights Catch-22: Sportsprogramming, the only genre to be considered DVR-proof, is driving up bills forsubscribers and thinning margins for operators. Our 2015 analysis indicatesthat sports channels are the most expensive and among the most common on theaverage multichannel package.

Economics ofAdvertising: Sports networks rise, general networks fall in February Rentrakratings: The group of non-NielsenHoldings-rated sports networks we track was the only genre torecord an increase in average coverage ratings year over year while the generalnetworks posted the biggest decline in February, according to data fromRentrak Corp.'s TVEssentials.

GlobalMultichannel: Nordic broadcasters fine-tune brands and programming to drivelicense fee revenue: Nordic broadcasters are realigning networkportfolios and increasing investment in local content to boost license feerevenues per sub from low-single-digit or negative growth to approachdouble-digit compound average growth rates.