Approval of AT&T's planned $7.8 billion spinoff of its DirecTV and U-verse video distribution business (see 2102240046) should be conditioned on New DirecTV providing local-into-local service in all 210 designated market areas, ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC affiliates told the FCC International Bureau Monday. Applications "are entirely silent" on viewers' access to local programming and the 12 DMAs where DirecTV doesn't provide local-into-local even after years of promises, they said. All other MVPDs, including Dish Network, provide this and if that's not sufficient incentive, "the market won't provide one" and the FCC needs to step up, they said. AT&T didn't comment.

Voxx, which distributes Onkyo, Integra and Pioneer audio products under a distribution agreement signed last summer (see 2007300027), inked a letter of intent to acquire Onkyo’s Home Audio/Video business, along with Sharp, which manufactures products for Onkyo in Malaysia. The companies “have a strong working relationship” and are working toward reaching a definitive agreement by May 20, Voxx said Monday. Voxx expanded its alliance with Onkyo and Pioneer to distribute the Onkyo, Pioneer, Pioneer Elite and Integra brands in the Americas in July. The previous year, Onkyo became the distributor of Klipsch audio products in Japan. Distribution of AV receivers, hi-fi equipment, mini systems, smart speakers, turntables, sound bars, home theater systems and optical disc players has been handled through subsidiary 11 Trading Co., since July. At the time, Klipsch CEO Paul Jacobs said Klipsch will become an “innovative and complete audio solutions provider in consumer technology and better equipped to address consumer demand with state-of-the-art AV solutions.” A Voxx spokesperson told us Monday the company is currently distributing Onkyo, Integra and Pioneer products and will continue to do so while discussions are underway. He didn’t address questions on how brands would be affected under the acquisition or the size of Sharp’s share of the business, saying more details will be available at signing of the definitive agreement. If an agreement is reached, it will be presented at the Onkyo shareholder meeting scheduled June 25. In a statement, Voxx CEO Pat Lavelle said, "For the past two years, we've worked well with the Onkyo team, expanding our relationship, and most important, serving the needs of our customers. It is our hope that we can reach an agreement shortly as they have strong brands, and through our Premium Audio Group, led by the Klipsch management team, we have widespread distribution and a global infrastructure to support our growth."

Verizon is exiting the media business, selling most of Yahoo, AOL and its other media assets to funds managed by Apollo for $5 billion, the telco said Monday. Verizon will retain 10% of the company, which will be known as Yahoo at close and continue to be led by its CEO (see personals section, this issue). Verizon bought AOL in 2015 for $4.4 billion, Yahoo in 2017 for $4.5 billion. “Verizon Media has done an incredible job turning the business around over the past two and a half years and the growth potential is enormous,” but “the next iteration requires full investment and the right resources,” said Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg. The companies hope the deal will close in late 2021. “Strategically this is the right thing for Verizon to do,” New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin told investors. “The Media business has no material value to its other businesses,” he said: “It allows Verizon mgmt. to focus attention and resources on Wireless. The transaction also creates a strong strategic contrast with AT&T, who is doubling down on investments in its media properties and walking off the field in wireless.”

Congress should be cautious about legislative proposals that threaten to ban transactions from companies of a specific size, FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips told a U.S. Chamber of Commerce livestream Wednesday. Citing $100 billion in market capitalization as a recent example (see 2104120033), he said such bans could end up applying to companies attempting to compete with those often cited in antitrust conversations. Phillips also criticized attempts to ban Hart-Scott-Rodino mergers, acquisitions and transactions due to the pandemic. The stated rationale was an increase in filings, he said, with the expectation that agencies would be “overwhelmed” and anticompetitive deals would go unnoticed. “The strong would prey upon the weak, and the government would sit there and watch it happen,” he said. When economic fortunes decrease, equity values decrease, companies have less money, and they spend less on M&A, he said, meaning less work for the FTC. “The notion of the overwhelmed agency and the wave of mergers and acquisitions simply wasn’t true,” he said. “It speaks volumes to the kinds of extreme skepticism that certain aspects of our political class apply to M&A generally.”

Cox Communications is buying fiber provider Segra and its commercial carrier business as part of its increasing push into broadband infrastructure, the company said Tuesday. It said Segra parent EQT Infrastructure will keep Segra's fiber-to-the-home residential and small business segment in Virginia and North Carolina. Segra CEO Timothy Biltz said the Cox deal will let it scale up operations and accelerate growth. Cox said the Segra brand will remain and operate as a stand-alone business, with Segra's existing management running its enterprise and carrier organization.

SiriusXM bought 99% Invisible, the podcast company owned by Roman Mars, said SiriusXM Monday. Mars and his production team will continue operating 99% Invisible podcasts as part of SiriusXM subsidiary Stitcher, it said. SiriusXM reports Q1 results Wednesday.

Panasonic will pay $5.6 billion to buy the remaining 80% of shares of digital fulfillment platform Blue Yonder that it didn’t buy in July, said Panasonic Friday. This will speed development of what Panasonic calls the “autonomous supply chain,” it said: “The need for more intelligent, autonomous and edge-aware supply chains has been dramatically heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of e-commerce and the proliferation of data.”

Roku completed the purchase of Nielsen’s Advanced Video Advertising business, announced last month (see 2103020047), including its video automatic content recognition and dynamic ad insertion (DAI) technologies, which will accelerate Roku’s launch of end-to-end DAI with TV programmers. Combining technologies will allow Roku to deliver benefits of TV streaming advertising to traditional TV, it said. Nielsen and Roku also formed a long-term strategic partnership to integrate complementary Nielsen ad and content measurement products into Roku's platform.

Strand Consult questioned whether T-Mobile is keeping a commitment to add jobs, made as part of its buy of Sprint, in a report Friday on four-to-three combinations. Carriers sometimes oversell what they can do after a combination, Strand said. “When mobile operators fail to keep their promises, this reflects poorly on future consolidations,” the firm said: “Consider how T-Mobile promised to increase jobs following the merger. While there may be hiring in specialized areas, the total employment of the new entity is well below the total number of jobs of the two parties before.” T-Mobile didn’t comment.

Belgium-based management consultancy Arthur D. Little acquired U.S.-based management consultancy MAG as part of the expansion of its telecom, IT, media and electronics practice and its U.S. presence, Little said Tuesday. Terms weren't disclosed.