Category Archives: Uncategorised

Comcast Bid 16% More Than Disney for 21st Century Fox, Filing Shows

Comcast Bid 16% More Than Disney for 21st Century Fox, Filing Shows Photo The 21st First Century Fox board accepted Disney’s bid after Comcast refused to agree to a breakup fee in case federal regulators rejected a deal, according to a filing on Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Credit Lucy Nicholson/Reuters LOS ANGELES — Rupert Murdoch sold most of 21st Century Fox to Disney in December for $52.4 billion, spurning a proposal from Comcast that was 16 percent higher on a per-share basis, in part because Comcast refused to offer protections in the event of regulatory rejection.
Although Comcast’s interest in 21st Century Fox was previously known, details of Comcast’s proposal — and Fox’s reasoning for rebuffing it — were disclosed for the first time on Wednesday as part of a 456-page filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The paperwork, required under securities law, also disclosed that senior Fox executives, including Mr. Murdoch and his two sons, James..

Time Warner C.E.O. Testifies That AT&T Deal Is Needed to Battle Silicon Valley

Time Warner C.E.O. Testifies That AT&T Deal Is Needed to Battle Silicon Valley Photo Jeffrey Bewkes, chief executive of Time Warner, center, testified Wednesday, becoming the first top executive of either his company or AT&T to testify in the Justice Department’s lawsuit against the merger of the companies. Credit Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters WASHINGTON — Time Warner’s chief executive, Jeffrey Bewkes, vigorously defended his company’s $85.4 billion merger with AT&T on Wednesday, saying the deal was necessary to confront “tectonic changes” in entertainment caused by internet competitors like Netflix and Amazon.
Entering the fifth week of a trial that will decide the deal’s fate, Mr. Bewkes was the first top executive from Time Warner and AT&T to take the stand in federal court to argue against the Justice Department’s lawsuit to block the merger. The Justice Department had sued to stop the deal in November, arguing that a union of the two companies would harm consumers and weaken competit..

Facebook’s Current Status With Advertisers? It’s Complicated

Facebook’s Current Status With Advertisers? It’s Complicated Photo Carolyn Everson, Facebook’s vice president of global marketing solutions, and her team have been in constant communication with ad agencies and the world’s biggest marketers. Credit John Lamparski/Getty Images Advertisers are the lifeblood of Facebook, and the vast, personal reach of the social network has been a marketer’s dream. But now, some companies are taking a harder look at how they work with it and hunting for skeletons in their own data closets.
Brands are on high alert for how they might be impacted as the social network navigates the fallout from revelations that a British data firm improperly harvested the personal information of up to 87 million of its users. With more people expressing concerns about privacy — and Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, appearing in front of Congress to answer questions on the subject — ad agencies are facing concerns on several fronts.
Users are complaining that agencies ha..

Tech We’re Using: Following the Trail of Online Ads, Wherever It Leads

Following the Trail of Online Ads, Wherever It Leads Photo A Bose wireless speaker allows Sapna Maheshwari, a reporter who covers advertising, to listen to podcasts while cooking. Credit Jeenah Moon for The New York Times How do New York Times journalists use technology in their jobs and in their personal lives? Sapna Maheshwari, a reporter who covers advertising for The Times, discussed the tech she’s using.
What tech tools do you use to monitor what advertisers are doing with our data on websites, apps and gadgets?
Digital advertising can be tough to track because so much of it is automated and personalized. But I use Ghostery, a browser extension that shows you the data collection tools that companies are using to track your activity on any given site, along with the option to block them. Often, these companies are building robust pictures of your habits, sometimes across devices, which can ultimately be used to sell ads.
I’ve also used services like Moat Pro and Pathmatics, which m..

Inside Cambridge Analytica’s Virtual Currency Plans

Inside Cambridge Analytica’s Virtual Currency Plans Photo Alexander Nix oversaw Cambridge Analytica’s effort to develop its own virtual currency when he was the company’s chief executive. Credit Joshua Bright SAN FRANCISCO — The embattled voter-profiling firm Cambridge Analytica quietly sought to develop its own virtual currency in recent months through a so-called initial coin offering, a novel fund-raising method that has come under growing scrutiny by financial regulators around the world.
The planned coin offering and a broader push into the world of virtual currencies were an indication of Cambridge Analytica’s willingness to expand into risky, new technological realms. But much like its acquisition of Facebook data to build psychological profiles of voters, the new business line also took the firm into murky ethical and legal situations.
Documents and emails obtained by The New York Times show that Cambridge Analytica’s efforts to help promote another group’s digital token, the D..