USA

US telco AT&T has moved to rebrand Time Warner as WarnerMedia following its $85.4bn (€72.37bn) takeover of the media company.

Comcast’s takeover bid for Sky has today (Friday) been approved unconditionally by the European Commission, setting up a multi-billion battle for the pan-European pay-television broadcaster with rival US media company 21st Century Fox.

US technology company Oculus has said it will provide live streaming of select Fifa World Cup matches through Oculus Venues, its new app for social co-viewing.

Major League Baseball franchise the New York Yankees is considering buying back US regional pay-television sports broadcaster Yes Network, according to multiple reports.

Comcast has tabled a $65bn (€55bn) all-cash offer for a significant share of rival US media company 21st Century Fox’s business assets, challenging a deal struck in December between the latter and media giant Disney.

A US federal judge has approved a takeover of US media company Time Warner by telco AT&T, rejecting an appeal by the Department of Justice against the proposed $85.4bn (€71.29bn) merger, with analysts predicting the ruling will embolden companies that are seeking major acquisitions of its type.

ESPN+, the US sports broadcaster’s subscription streaming service, has further bolstered its college sports lineup through a new, multi-year agreement with Conference USA.

Telemundo, the holder of Spanish-language rights to the Fifa World Cup in the US, has agreed deals with internet company Google and its video-sharing website YouTube to share its coverage of the national team football tournament.

Doubling up with ESPN will earn the Ultimate Fighting Championship $300m (€258m) per year from media-rights sales from 2019 to 2023 – a good result given the absence of aggressive bidding from incumbent Fox.

US golf organisation the PGA Tour has taken on a new strategy for its international rights by striking a “pioneering” strategic alliance with media company Discovery.

US college sports organisation the Atlantic 10 Conference has expanded its partnership with ESPN by striking a new multi-year rights deal focusing on the sports broadcaster’s subscription streaming service, ESPN+.

Pay-television broadcaster Fox Sports Latin America has further enhanced its portfolio of clubs from Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican club football, by agreeing a five-year rights deal with Club Rayados Monterrey.

The ‘$1bn’ joint venture between the Perform Group and Matchroom Boxing does not guarantee either company that amount in revenue. But the headline number does signal how much the joint venture is willing to spend on attracting top-level fighters

ESPN has confirmed that it has struck a deal to acquire exclusive rights to all UFC mixed martial arts programming in the US from 2019, dislodging the Fox network as a rights-holder and building on an initial agreement announced earlier this month.

Comcast confirmed today (Wednesday) that it is “in the advanced stages of preparing” an all-cash offer for a significant share of rival US media company 21st Century Fox’s business assets, challenging a deal struck in December between the latter and media giant Walt Disney.

Spanish-language sports broadcaster ESPN Deportes has struck a deal to show next season’s NFL American football Super Bowl in the US.