Archives for February 2021

AT&T spinning off DirecTV after losing millions of customers

AT&T is spinning off its DirecTV into a new company for a fraction of the $48.5 billion it paid for the satellite TV service in 2015. DirecTV has lost millions of customers on AT&T’s watch, and is valued in the deal at just $16.25 billion, including debt.

Private equity firm TPG will own 30% of the business, while AT&T holds the rest. The telecom company will receive $7.8 billion in cash, including $1.8 billion from TPG and and $5.8 billion from the new DirecTV firm, which is borrowing that sum. The new DirecTV will also take on $200 million in debt from AT&T.

AT&T launched its streaming service HBO Max last year and has focused on building that business. It also owns TV networks like CNN and TBS along with the Warner Bros. movie studio in addition to its huge wireless and internet business.

AT&T said the deal will strengthen its balance sheet and let it focus on the expensive task of upgrading its wireless network with next-generation 5G technology. That update requires expensive investments in radio spectrum — it just spent $23.4 billion for bandwidth in the latest U.S. government auction — and AT&T also plans to plow more resources into fiber-optic internet infrastructure and HBO Max.

AT&T will use the deal proceeds to pay down debt.

The new DirecTV company will include AT&T TV, a streaming version of cable TV, and U-verse, AT&T’s older cable service. AT&T will retain its Latin America DirecTV business. AT&T said it expects “few to no changes” for subscribers. The deal is expected to close in the second half of the year.

“It’s fair to say that some aspects of the (DirecTV) transaction have not played out as we had planned, such as pay TV households in the U.S. declining at a faster pace across the industry than anticipated,” AT&T wrote.

U.S. and Canadian subscribers to cable or satellite television services dropped by 27 million between 2010 and 2020, and fell by 6 million in 2020 alone, said Digital TV Research. A burst of new streaming services have recently emerged to compete with Netflix, including HBO Max, Disney+ and NBCUniversal’s Peacock. AT&T’s video business has lost 6.7 million customers over the past two years, and claimed 17.2 million subscribers at the end of 2020.

Bruce makes it to Yankees, 3 1/2 years later than he thought

Jay Bruce made it to the New York Yankees, 3 1/2 years later than he first thought.

Bruce had just reached a Philadelphia hotel room after a train ride that followed a hitless afternoon in the New York Mets’ loss to Texas at Citi Field on Aug. 9, 2017. He was with his family and hearing talk he was about to be dealt to the Yankees. Then that swap fell through and he was sent to Cleveland for minor league pitcher Ryder Ryan.

“I wanted to go somewhere I had an opportunity to win a World Series,” he recalled.

Two weeks later, the Indians started a winning streak that extended for an American League-record 22 games.

“So I was extremely happy being in Cleveland. I would have been extremely happy being in New York,” Bruce said Friday at spring training in Tampa, Florida. “That’s why I absolutely picked the Yankees now, because I want to win the World Series.”

Bruce agreed this month to a minor league contract that would pay a $1.35 million salary while in the major leagues and $150,000 while in the minors. If he’s not added to the 40-man roster by March 25, he would have the right to opt out.

He is hoping to earn an outfield job at age 33 on a team that projects to start eight right-handed hitters most days along with switch-hitting center fielder Aaron Hicks.

But one fewer roster spot remains open after 37-year-old outfielder Brett Gardner finalized a $5.15 million, two-year contract this week to return for a 14th season in the Bronx.

“I’m not sure if it would have affected my decision at all,” Bruce said. “I’m excited to finally get to play with Brett, He’s someone that I came up with kind of playing against. And we’ve been in the big leagues together since 2008. And he’s someone that I’ve always admired, even being an older player. He’s stayed in great shape and he’s been a productive, extremely productive player and a great Yankee.

“And so to be on that side with him now is something that I definitely appreciate and look forward to — hopefully getting to know him a lot better and, gaining a better understanding as to why he is able to stay healthy and do all those things that he’s still able to do.”

A three-time All-Star while with Cincinnati from 2008-16, Bruce was traded to the Mets in 2016, then re-signed with the Mets ahead of the 2018 season for a $39 million, three-year contract. He was traded to Seattle in December 2018 as part of the trade that brought Robinson Canó and Edwin Díaz to the Mets, then was dealt to Philadelphia the following June.

Bruce slumped to a .216 average, 29 homers and 59 RBIs in 2019, then hit .198 with six homers and 14 RBIs in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

“I think it’s all health related,” he said. “I think that if I’m healthy, I’m myself. And I think that’s the biggest key. Last year I had a couple soft tissue injuries. The year before I had kind of a freak elbow deal. And if I’m healthy and I’m on the field, yeah, I think that my number, my track record shows that I am a viable option, that I can help any team out there.”

Clint Frazier has taken over as the Yankees’ starting left fielder this year, joining Hick and right fielder Aaron Judge. Gardner figured to get significant at-bats, and manager Aaron Boone says he hopes to shift Giancarlo Stanton from designated hitter to the outfield at times.

That leaves Bruce trying to beat out Michael Tauchman, a left-handed hitter with speed, and Estevan Florial for an outfield berth.

“I view my role as someone who has the ability to play both corners of the outfield, to play first base, DH when needed and provide the left-handed power that the Yankees have been looking for,” Bruce said.

NOTES: The Yankees intend to cut their first three or four exhibition games to seven innings under COVID-19 protocols. RHP Michael King is to start Sunday against Toronto in Tampa. … RHP Gerrit Cole and RHP Jameson Taillon are to pitch Monday against Detroit, also in Tampa. … Boone plans to start most of his regulars in the first few exhibition games except for Stanton and Gardner, who probably will be held out of the first few games.

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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

TikTok owner ByteDance to pay $92M in US privacy settlement

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance has agreed to pay $92 million in a settlement to U.S. users who are part of a class-action lawsuit alleging that the video-sharing app failed to get their consent to collect data in violation of a strict Illinois privacy law.

The federal lawsuit alleged that TikTok broke the Illinois biometric privacy law, which allows suits against companies that harvest consumer data without consent, including via facial and fingerprint scanning. Illinois is the only state with a law that allows people to seek monetary damages for such unauthorized data collection.

“While we disagree with the assertions, rather than go through lengthy litigation, we’d like to focus our efforts on building a safe and joyful experience for the TikTok community,” TikTok said in an emailed statement.

Facebook agreed to a $550 million settlement under the same law last February. The TikTok settlement must still be approved by a federal judge.

Privacy advocates have praised the law as the nation’s strongest form of protection in the commercial use of such data, and it has survived ongoing efforts by the tech industry and other businesses to weaken it.

Illinois is one of three states that have laws governing the use of biometric data. But the other two, Texas and Washington, don’t permit individual lawsuits, instead delegating enforcement to their attorneys general.

Top US diplomat ‘visits’ Mexico, Canada on virtual trip

WASHINGTON (AP) — Diplomats sat beside stacks of briefing papers, flanked by flags and emphasized their closeness. But they were geographically far apart Friday as Secretary of State Antony Blinken, because of the pandemic, started a new chapter in North American relations with virtual visits to Mexico and Canada in what was billed as his first official trip.

Though symbolically important in any administration, the decision by President Joe Biden to dispatch Blinken to Mexico and Canada for the first visits, even virtually, is part of a broader effort to turn the page from a predecessor who at times had fraught relations with both nations. The three nations signed a revamped trade accord last year after then-President Donald Trump demanded a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“The United States has long-standing relationships with both Mexico and Canada,” Blinken said afterward. “Today’s meetings were an opportunity to dive deeper into shared priorities.”

Biden will engage himself with his counterpart, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, on Monday when the two leaders are scheduled to hold their own virtual meeting. The two leaders are expected to discuss migration, the COVID-19 recovery and economic cooperation, according to the White House.

The secretary began his virtual visits with Mexico, a country Trump repeatedly disparaged in his campaign and early in his presidency, though relations turned more cordial under López Obrador.

“I wanted to ‘visit,’ in quotation marks, Mexico first to demonstrate the importance that we attach, President Biden attaches, to the relationship between our countries,” Blinken told his counterpart, Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard.

Blinken’s meetings with Mexico and Canada, two of the largest U.S. trading partners, covered economic issues as well as well as efforts to confront climate change and fight COVID-19, which prompted the countries to close their borders to all but essential traffic.

Biden last week made his first bilateral meeting, also virtual, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who at times had a frosty relationship with Trump. Biden disappointed some in Canada with his decision upon taking office to reverse Trump and revoke the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline, which President Barack Obama’s administration determined had only limited energy and economic benefits to the U.S. and conflicted with efforts to curb climate change.

That didn’t come up in the public portion of Blinken’s meeting with Foreign Minister Marc Garneau, who welcomed Biden’s commitment to “renew U.S. leadership and diplomacy.” The secretary later met privately with Trudeau.

Ebrard, for his part, welcomed Biden’s decision to reverse his predecessor and rejoin both the Paris climate accord and the World Health Organization. He also praised the “initiatives” of the new administration, an apparent reference to the decision to set a new course on some immigration and border policies.

“We understand that these are being done in recognition to the Mexican community,” he said, without mentioning any specific policy. “We are receiving them with empathy.”

Biden ended Trump’s policy of requiring migrants seeking asylum to wait in Mexico or to pursue their claims in Central America. He also restored protection for people without legal status in the U.S. who were brought to the country as children, many of whom are Mexican, and is backing legislation that would enable them to seek citizenship.

The Biden administration has begun processing the asylum claims of about 25,000 migrants who had been in Mexico, often in unsanitary and dangerous conditions, but has not lifted a policy, imposed at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, of quickly expelling people captured along the border and has sought to discourage illegal migration.

Blinken told reporters the administration is working to develop a “more rational” asylum process.

Just before his visit with Ebrard, Blinken conducted a virtual tour of the busy border crossing at El Paso, Texas, and said the administration is working with Mexico and Central American nations to ease the conditions that drive people to try to illegally reach the United States.

“To anyone thinking about undertaking that journey, our message is: Don’t do it. We are strictly enforcing our immigration laws and our border security measures,” he said.

Facebook signs pay deals with 3 Australian news publishers

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Facebook announced on Friday preliminary agreements with three Australian publishers, a day after the Parliament passed a law that would make the digital giants pay for news.

Facebook said letters of intent had been signed with independent news organizations Private Media, Schwartz Media and Solstice Media.

The commercial agreements are subject to the signing of full agreements within the next 60 days, a Facebook statement said.

“These agreements will bring a new slate of premium journalism, including some previously paywalled content, to Facebook,” the statement said.

Schwartz Media chief executive Rebecca Costello said the deal would help her company continue to produce independent journalism.

“It’s never been more important than it is now to have a plurality of voices in the Australian press,” Costello said.

Private Media chief executive Will Hayward said the new deal built on an existing Facebook partnership.

Australia’s Parliament on Thursday had passed the final amendments to the so-called News Media Bargaining Code.

In return for the changes, Facebook agreed to lift a six-day-old ban on Australians accessing and sharing news. Access to Australian news sites did not appear to be fully restored until Friday.

Google, the only other digital giant targeted by the legislation, has already struck content licensing deals, or is close to deals, with some of Australia’s biggest news publishers including Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. and Seven West Media.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the new Australian law was critical to the deals that Australian media businesses were negotiating with the two gateways to the internet.

Under the law, if a platform can’t reach agreement with a news business, an arbitration panel can be appointed to set a legally binding price for journalism.

“Global tech giants are changing the world, but we can’t let them run the world,” Morrison told reporters.

“People in free societies like Australia, who go to ballot boxes and who go and they vote, that’s who should run the world,” Morrison added.

Facebook Vice President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg on Wednesday took a veiled swipe at News Corp. in a social media post criticizing Australia’s law, which is aimed at setting a fair price for the Australian journalism that the digital platforms display.

“It is ironic that some of the biggest publishers that have long advocated for free markets and voluntary commercial undertakings now appear to be in favor of state sponsored price setting,” the former British deputy prime minister wrote.

News Corp. Australia executive chairman Michael Miller said last week that his company had pay negotiations with Facebook.

“Having been someone who’s dealt with Facebook over the past months, we have some weeks where we’re getting good engagement and think we’re progressing and then you get silence. I think the door is still open,” Miller told a Senate inquiry into Australian media diversity.

News Corp. owns most of Australia’s major newspapers, and some analysts argue the U.S.-based international media empire is the driver for the conservative Australian government making Facebook and Google pay. News Corp. has announced a wide-ranging deal with Google covering operations in the United States and Britain as well as Australia.

Archives for February 2021

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