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Byron Allen working on sports OTT service; Instagram prepping YouTube competitor

Top News

* Byron Allen, the programming entrepreneur whose Entertainment Studios Inc. acquired Weather Group LLC, is working to launch a sports streaming service, according to a Multichannel News report. The global sports service will reportedly aggregate content from independent sports networks on a single platform, which will be sold by subscription directly to consumers.

* Instagram is working to develop a dedicated space for scripted shows, music videos and other content on the platform, TechCrunch.com reports. Instagram has tentatively planned to announce the service on June 20 and is reportedly lining up partners.

* President Donald Trump's pick to fill the open seat at the Federal Communications Commission has years of experience in public service, but his positions on major policy issues such as net neutrality and broadcast ownership remain largely unknown. But Washington, D.C., insiders say this could actually boost Geoffrey Starks' chances for confirmation.

Technology

* Cybersecurity executives at the annual Infosecurity Europe conference in London said diverse hiring policies are key for tackling the industry's skills shortage. As cyberattacks and data breaches become more frequent and severe, employers are struggling to recruit enough IT security professionals.

* Blockchain company Shift sent a cease and desist letter to Apple Inc. for allegedly copying its logo for a new smartphone feature, the New York Post reports. The image is the logo for Apple's new Shortcuts feature, which was unveiled at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. The blockchain company asked Apple to change its Shortcuts logo or pay $200,000 to cover rebranding expenses.

Internet & OTT

* Measurement, tracking and manpower issues are among the factors that have many content providers opting against launching advertising-backed streaming services, according to several executives at the Over the Top Video Executive Summit.

* Rashida Jones, senior vice president of specials for Comcast Corp.'s NBC News, will lead a new news streaming service for the network, The Hollywood reporter reports. Christine Cataldi, who served as co-executive producer of Megyn Kelly's hour of the "Today" franchise, will serve as executive producer. The name of the upcoming service and its launch date remain undisclosed.

* Facebook Inc. unveiled several news-focused shows that it is funding for its Watch video platform. The shows, which will be available exclusively on Facebook Watch, are "On Location," a daily news show from ABC News; weekly series "Chasing Corruption" from Advance Local; ATTN: INC's "Undivided ATTN"; CNN (US)'s "Anderson Cooper Full Circle"; FOX News Channel (US)'s "Fox News Update"; Mic's "Mic Dispatch" and Univision (US)'s "Real America with Jorge Ramos." The shows will debut later this summer, Campbell Brown, head of global news partnerships at Facebook, said in an official post.

* Facebook unveiled new features that let users add music in personal videos and lip sync to songs while livestreaming, The Hollywood Reporter reports. Also, the company will be testing options to let users add music to Facebook Stories.

* "13 Reasons Why" will return to Netflix Inc.'s streaming service for its third season, Multichannel News reports. The renewal of the series, which deals with teen suicide and sexual assault, comes amid criticism from the Parents Television Council.

Programming

* Diane Nelson, president of DC Entertainment and president of Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Consumer Products, will leave the company. Nelson had been on a leave of absence since the end of March, according to a news release. The DC executive management team will continue to report to Thomas Gewecke, chief digital officer and executive vice president of strategy and business development, in the interim.

Multichannel

* Comcast Business has restored Business Voice and VoiceEdge Select services for most of its customers who experienced an outage, Multichannel News reports, citing a statement by a company executive. The executive said the company is working to resolve the issue for any customers who are still impacted.

The day ahead

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

In Asia, the Hang Seng was up 0.81% to 31,512.63, while the Nikkei 225 rose 0.87% to 22,823.26.

In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 fell 0.09% to 7,705.22, and the Euronext 100 rose 0.18% to 1,061.99.

On the macro front

The jobless claims report, the quarterly services survey, the EIA natural gas report, the consumer credit report, the fed balance sheet and the money supply report are due out today.

Featured news

The Daily Dose Europe: New EU fine on Google looms; Amazon launches Alexa, Echo in France: The European Union may impose a new fine against Google Inc. over market dominance abuse, while Amazon.com Inc. launched Alexa and Echo in France.

The Daily Dose Asia-Pacific: Huawei denies collecting Facebook user data; Tencent planning WeChat travel ID: Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. said it never collected or saved data from Facebook users, despite the latter's recent confirmation that it had data-sharing deals with nearly 60 companies, while Tencent Holdings Ltd. is working with Chinese authorities to create a WeChat travel ID system.

The Program Guide: Global edition: Uma Thurman to star in Netflix drama; Amazon saves 'The Expanse': Uma Thurman will star in a new supernatural drama for Netflix, while Amazon.com picked up the recently cancelled Syfy (US) series "The Expanse" for a fourth season.

Featured research

Technology: US TV set and Blu-ray player projections through 2027: Kagan projects 4K-capable U.S. TV homes will reach 45.6 million, or 36.8% of 123.7 million U.S. TV households, by the end of 2018 while smart TV-enabled homes will increase to 73.8 million, or 59.7% of total U.S. TVHHs, by year-end 2018.

Technology: Doubt around NAFTA, Chinese import tariffs muddy North American smart TV market: Smart TV shipments to North America increased 12% year over year in the first quarter of 2018, and Kagan estimates that 8.7 million smart TV units shipped to the region.

Technology: Smart speakers take off: Smart speakers, also called virtual assistants or smart home speakers, have become increasingly popular over the past 18 months, with total unit shipments surpassing 31 million in 2017, up from just 6.5 million in 2016.

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