Top News
* U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order March 12 barring Singapore-based Broadcom Ltd. from acquiring QUALCOMM Inc., citing national security concerns. "The proposed takeover of Qualcomm by the Purchaser (Broadcom) is prohibited, and any substantially equivalent merger, acquisition, or takeover, whether effected directly or indirectly, is also prohibited," the presidential order said.
* Apple Inc. signed an agreement to acquire digital magazine service Texture for an undisclosed sum, the company said. Texture is a multi-title subscription service that provides digital access to various magazines.
* San Francisco-based file-sharing and cloud-storage company Dropbox Inc. expects net proceeds of up to about $617.4 million from its planned initial public offering, and enterprise cloud services company Salesforce.com Inc. will be one of the offering's major investors. Dropbox said up to 41.4 million shares of its class A common stock will be sold for between $16 and $18 per share in the upcoming offering, while the company is planning to sell 26,822,409 shares of class A common stock, and offer the IPO's underwriters an option of purchasing up to an additional 5.4 million shares, according to an SEC filing.
* The Senate Commerce Committee will focus on infrastructure spending during the week of March 12, kicking off with a hearing dedicated specifically to broadband deployment. The hearing, titled "Rebuilding Infrastructure in America: Investing in Next Generation Broadband," will explore the most effective ways to address broadband deployment in an infrastructure package while also weighing lessons learned from the broadband infrastructure projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Film & TV
* Nancy Dubuc, who joined A+E Networks as president and CEO in April 2013, is leaving the company, effective April 16, the company said. Chairman emeritus and former A+E Networks CEO Abbe Raven, who retired from the company in 2015, will return as an acting chair until a replacement is named.
* Marvel Studios' "Black Panther" surpassed the $1 billion mark at the global box office on March 10. The movie raked in $561.8 million domestically and $518.2 million internationally through March 11 for a combined total of $1.08 billion, making it the seventh-highest-grossing film of all time in the U.S., according to a news release.
Internet & OTT
* Apple ordered two seasons of a new musical animated comedy, titled "Central Park," TechCrunch.com reports. The series follows a group of caretakers who live and work in the titular location in New York.
* Hulu LLC placed a straight-to-series order for "Little Fires Everywhere," a limited series from Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington. The series, which is based on Celeste Ng's novel of the same name, explores the "weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, the ferocious pull of motherhood — and the danger in believing that following the rules can avert disaster," Hulu said.
* Snap Inc.'s Snapchat messaging service green-lighted "True Crime," a series of five-minute documentaries that will each look at a different crime, including murders and disappearances, Deadline.com reports. The show is being produced by Condé Nast Entertainment video team.
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng rose 0.02% to 31,601.45, while the Nikkei 225 climbed 0.66% to 21,968.10.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 dropped 0.02% to 7,213.59 and the Euronext 100 rose 0.21% to 1,034.61.
On the macro front
The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index, the Consumer Price Index and the Redbook are due out today.
Featured news
The Daily Dose Europe: Altice to sell voice carrier business; Elliott eyes removal of TIM board members: Altice NV has entered into an agreement with Tofane Global for the sale of its wholesale voice carrier business, while Elliott Management Corp. is reportedly seeking the resignation of seven of Telecom Italia SpA's board members.
The Daily Dose Asia-Pacific: Tencent buys stake in Chinese producer; Australia's defense agency bans WeChat: Tencent Holdings Ltd. acquired 27.64% of New Classics Media Corp. for 3.32 billion Chinese yuan from Beijing Enlight Media Co. Ltd., while Australia's defense department banned staff and serving personnel from using Chinese social media and messaging app WeChat.
M&A Replay: Fox wants probe into Comcast's Sky offer; hedge fund buys Telecom Italia stake: 21st Century Fox Inc. urged EU and British media regulators to investigate Comcast Corp.'s rival takeover offer for pay TV giant Sky plc, while hedge fund Elliott bought a 6% stake in Telecom Italia in a bid to challenge the latter's largest shareholder Vivendi SA.
The week in OTT: Twitter inks soccer deal; Facebook to stream baseball games: Twitter Inc. signed a three-year content deal with Major League Soccer, while Facebook Inc. expanded its partnership with Major League Baseball for the 2018 MLB season.
M&A Replay: Discovery closes Scripps deal; Google selling Zagat: S&P Global Market Intelligence provides a wrap-up of U.S. companies' media and communications deal announcements and completions from March 5 to March 9.
Hires and Fires Asia-Pacific: Sony Pictures shakes up international ops; Vocus reshuffles after CEO's exit: Sony Pictures Television Inc. revealed several changes within the senior management of its international production division, while Vocus Group Ltd. reshuffled its top management after the departure of its CEO.
Featured research
The Best Of: Kagan research and analysis, editor's picks: Here are the editor's top picks for the week ended March 9.
Wireless Investor: 5G in full swing as South Korea auctions spectrum in June: SK Telecom Co. Ltd. currently has the largest spectrum holding among South Korea's three mobile carriers at 195 MHz, followed by KT Corp. at 145 MHz and LG U+ at 120 MHz.
Economics of TV & Film: Broadcast pilot orders fall again for 2018-2019 season: As original content flourishes and competitors seem to enter the space daily, broadcast networks ordered fewer pilots for next season with the total dropping to 70, a 10-year low.
Multichannel Trends: Comcast data usage surge points to 3 hours-plus of daily streaming: Comcast's jump in data consumption in 2017 suggests more than three hours of daily streaming.
The Daily Dose is updated as of 7 a.m. ET. Some external links may require a subscription.
