Top News
* Uber Technologies Inc. is selling most of its Southeast Asian operations to local rival Grab in exchange for a nearly 30% stake in Grab, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources. According to the report, the companies are still finalizing the details and a potential transaction would be subject to regulatory scrutiny.
* Netflix Inc. is in advanced talks with former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama for a deal to produce exclusive content for the streaming service, The New York Times reported, citing sources with knowledge of the talks. Details such as the number of episodes to be produced and the format for the shows have yet to be decided under a proposed deal.
Regulation & Policy
* As the U.S. government looks to promote broadband deployment and free up more spectrum for wireless operators, two federal agencies that typically work together on these issues are finding more opportunities for cooperation, but also conflict. Much like the Federal Communications Commission, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration — a division of the U.S. Commerce Department that advises the president on telecommunications policy issues — focuses its policymaking on expanding broadband internet access in America and on expanding the use of spectrum.
Internet & OTT
* Twitter Inc. promoted Parag Agrawal to chief technology officer of the company, Reuters reported, citing a company update. Agrawal, who joined Twitter in 2011 as an ads engineer, succeeded Adam Messinger who left the microblogging service in December 2016.
* Google Inc.'s YouTube TV expanded its partnership with Major League Baseball. YouTube TV will serve as the presenting sponsor of the 2018 and 2019 World Series and will also team up with the MLB on a new seasonlong sponsorship, dubbed "First Pitch," according to a news release.
* Assaf Ronen, former voice shopping vice president at Amazon.com Inc., joined Uber as its new head of product, Recode reported, citing a company confirmation. Ronen succeeded Daniel Graf who stepped down as its product head but will remain as an adviser for some time.
* Netflix will premiere its first Korean original stand-up comedy special "Yoo Byungjae: Too Much Information" March 16, the company said. The series will be available for streaming on Netflix internationally.
TV Network
* Comcast Corp.'s USA (US) green-lighted a "Suits" spinoff series, Variety reported. The new series stars Gina Torres as a "powerhouse" lawyer adjusting to "the dirty world of Chicago politics."
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a mixed opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng increased 1.11% to 30,996.21, and the Nikkei 225 increased 0.47% to 21,469.20.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.04% to 7,205.96, and the Euronext 100 was up 0.09% to 1,027.03.
On the macro front
The employment situation report, the wholesale trade report and the Baker-Hughes Rig Count report are due out today.
Featured news
The Daily Dose Europe: Telefónica mulls German unit sale; Mediapro to produce Netflix, DIRECTV content: Telecom giant Telefónica SA is considering selling its German business Telefónica Deutschland GmbH, while Spanish broadcaster MediaPro Group agreed to produce original content for streaming giant Netflix and AT&T Inc.-owned DIRECTV.
The Daily Dose Asia-Pacific: Tencent invests US$632M in Douyu; Grab nears deal for Uber's Southeast Asia biz: Tencent Holdings Ltd. invested US$632 million in Chinese streaming platform Douyu, while Southeast Asian ride-hailing giant Grab is close to finalizing a deal to buy Uber's business in the region.
Hires and Fires: ESPN gets new president; Snap to lay off 100 engineers: Walt Disney Co. named James Pitaro president of ESPN Inc. and co-chair of Disney Media Networks. Snapchat's parent Snap Inc. unveiled plans to lay off about 100 of its engineers.
SoftBank leads US$535M funding in DoorDash; China to invest in chip companies: A SoftBank Group Corp.-led group of investors committed US$535 million in San Francisco-based food delivery service DoorDash, Inc., while China plans to raise up to 200 billion yuan to invest in Chinese chip companies.
Hires and Fires Europe: Spotify co-founder exits Telia board; Hrvatski Telekom rejigs board: S&P Global Market Intelligence presents a biweekly rundown of executive and board changes in the European media and communications industries.
Featured research
Economics of Internet: IQIYI uses US IPO to maintain Chinese market lead: With growing competition for subs and the need to expand content spending, Baidu Inc.'s OTT video subsidiary, iQIYI, Inc., filed for an initial public offering in the U.S. in February.
Economics of Internet: State of Nordic online video: subscription: The Nordic market for subscription-based online video services has grown over the last few years in both subscriptions and revenues, increasing its share of total consumer spend for subscription-based video entertainment.
Economics of Networks: TV One keeps costs in check; revenue down but EBITDA up: Urban One Inc.'s cable network TV One (US), targeting the African-American community, did well in the fourth quarter of 2017 despite declining Nielsen ratings and subscriber counts.
Multichannel Trends: Sling TV leads race for subscribers, but DIRECTV NOW catching up fast: DISH Network Corp.'s virtual service provider has nearly double the subscribers of AT&T's DIRECTV NOW, but the latter is on a steeper upward trajectory in its first five quarters of operations.
Economics of TV & Film: Kagan Box Office Report – Week 9: The domestic box office is on a four-week growth streak thanks to "Fifty Shades Freed" and "Black Panther" and has nearly caught up to last year after starting off 2018 on a down note.
Wireless Investor: NHL.TV looks a lot like MLB.TV, so do their users: Online NHL content is streamed through a reskinned version of the MLB.TV platform.
The Daily Dose is updated as of 7 a.m. ET. Some external links may require a subscription.
