The Telecompaper Global Media index ended week 49 up 0.7 percent, supported by Alphabet (+2.7%) and AT&T (+2.2%). Walt Disney (-2.6%) and Netflix (-2.3%) suffered a pull back. Seoul Broadcasting (+8.7%) and TF1 (+7.8%) were the week's biggest winners. Comcast will provide the details of its upcoming Peacock service in January and Viacom and CBS merged into ViacomCBS.
Comcast to detail Peacock in January
An important announcement was made by Comcast, saying that the long awaited investor meeting devoted to its upcoming Peacock streaming video service will be held on 16 January. In related news, two AVOD services were announced, one by German TVOD-provider Pantaflix and one by OTT-television provider Plex. The latter's new service will be global.
Tamedia apparently felt pressured to dramatically lower the price of its OTT TV service Zattoo.
AT&T, because of its WarnerMedia unit, is a major index constituent. The company provided a shareholder update, which added some detail to its financial guidance. AT&T also said that it was planning a preferred stock offering.
Broadcasting: Media For Europe delayed, ViacomCBS created
In broadcasting, the feud between Vivendi, owner of a 29 percent stake in Mediaset, and Mediaset itself continued. A court postponed its ruling on the creation of a new holding (Media For Europe) for both Mediaset and Mediaset Spain until after the EGM of 10 January.
In the US, the merger of Viacom and CBS closed, resulting in a new company, ViacomCBS.
Google and Facebook targeted over personal data collection
In the internet segment Alphabet's Google and Facebook came under fire from the EC, which launched an investigation into their data collection strategies. Further, Google's founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin decided to step down as Alphabet's CEO and President. Google's CEO Sundar Pichai will become also the CEO of Alphabet, meaning that the Other Bets will now also be his responsibility. They include Verily (healthcare), Waymo (self-driving cars), investment and development units (X, CapitalG, GV), Google Fiber and other companies.
In relation to Facebook, the FTC ruled that Cambridge Analytica illegally harvested personal information by deceiving users.
