Silicon Labs completed the acquisition of Sigma Designs' Z-Wave business, including some 100 employees, for $240 million cash, they said Wednesday. Silicon Labs announced in December a definitive agreement to buy Sigma for $282 million, contingent on Sigma's sale or “wind-down” of its slumping smart TV business. The companies restructured the deal for $240 million in February (see 1801310032).

Citing Comcast/NBCUniversal using NBC content as a competitive cudgel to whack broadband competition, RCN CEO Jim Holanda testified in U.S. v. AT&T and Time Warner that he fears New AT&T doing likewise. Turner content is "significantly viewed" by RCN subscribers, with three of its networks among the 10 most watched, judging by set-top box data, he said. A DOJ attorney asked Holanda about an RCN offering that pairs broadband with a video tier of only TV stations and public access, and how his company can't offer that to its entire subscriber base because Comcast contracts prohibit it in some areas without selling the entire cable giant's bundle of content due to penetration requirements. He said those limits came up after Comcast bought NBCU, and the operator has since come into some RCN markets with a roughly analogous offering. He worries New AT&T would similarly use Turner programming as competitive leverage against RCN when competing for double- and triple-play customers in markets where it overlaps with AT&T. RCN programming costs have been going up five to eight times the rate of inflation over the past five years, Holanda said. He said major MVPDs have a 25 to 40 percent price advantage for programming due to their size, which puts RCN at a $10 to $15 a month cost disadvantage. Also Tuesday, DOJ's lawyer and an AT&T/TW expert witness -- UCLA economics professor Peter Rossi -- locked horns repeatedly as Justice challenged Rossi's criticisms of research that played a big role in the government's model (see 1804160030). DirecTV filed a docket 17-2511 motion (in Pacer) Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asking that it be dismissed from the DOJ suit, as expected (see 1803190023). It said government failed to state a claim against it, since it's not a party to the challenged deal.

The viral video of Sinclair newsrooms repeating a script about "fake news" (see 1804020056) shows the inevitable result of FCC continued removal of policies that protected localism, former agency Chairman Tom Wheeler blogged Thursday for the Brookings Institution, with which he's affiliated. Axing those rules favor "a new national broadcasting powerhouse with unprecedented reach" over localism, Wheeler said, saying Sinclair, with its planned buy of Tribune Media, is "the consistent beneficiary" of the rule changes. He said the FCC has "one last chance ... to stand up for localism" by blocking Sinclair/Tribune. He said DOJ review of the deal is limited to strict antitrust statutes, but FCC broader public interest standard gives it the opportunity to point to eroding localism as a reason for opposition. The agency didn't comment Friday.

The U.K. Takeover Panel ordered that a Disney buy of Fox must be followed by a Disney bid for Sky. It said Thursday the rationale is that for Disney, buying Sky might be "a significant purpose" of its bid for Fox. The Takeover Panel also required that Disney bid at least $15.26 cash for each ordinary share of Sky. It said that price comes from Disney and Fox saying they attributed that price to the Fox shareholding in Sky. It said Disney, Fox and Sky signed off on the conditions. It said the Disney offer is mandatory within 28 days of closing on Fox unless Fox has purchased 100 percent of Sky, or Comcast or another third party has acquired at least 50 percent of Sky.

DOJ and AT&T/Time Warner counsel continued to joust Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington over Turner's alleged market power. Meanwhile, citing unspecified legal issues with confidential business information, Judge Richard Leon Monday afternoon held proceedings behind closed doors and said there wouldn't be any witness testimony until Tuesday. John Harran, Turner senior vice president-business development, digital distribution and strategic partnerships, acknowledged under DOJ questioning that he wrote a March 2016 internal Turner email indicating Turner believed it could "ignite or diminish" interest in the burgeoning field of virtual MVPDs by being in programming bundles or not. He also acknowledged writing an October 2017 internal email indicating "we have the leverage" in talks with YouTube TV, and an October 2016 internal email saying Hulu's virtual MVPD service without Turner or NBCUniversal content would be a recipe for disaster for that service. He said it was possible NBCU would pull its content from Hulu after the expiration of the Comcast/NBCU consent decree. But Harran, under AT&T/TW questioning about the October 2016 email, said he wasn't predicting Hulu's business failure but the failure of its business goal that hoped to have as many networks as possible. The sides also disagreed about AT&T Vice President-Digital Strategy and Experience Devin Merrill's emails and what they say about AT&T strategy for highlighting its DirecTV satellite service over its less profitable DirecTV Now streaming service. Merrill denied he was ever instructed to de-emphasize DirecTV Now and said with its 2016 launch he had "crystal clear" objectives to market and grow the service. DOJ and AT&T/TW have repeatedly battled over the supposed must-have nature of Turner content (see 1804020019 and 1803280025).

The FTC won't oppose Splunk buying cybersecurity firm Phantom Cyber, the agency announced Wednesday. The deal is valued at about $350 million.

Twenty-First Century Fox proposals to the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for a comprehensive "ringfencing" of Sky News and a sale of Sky News to Disney should end any of CMA's plurality concerns and guarantee Sky News' long-term future and editorial independence, Sky said Tuesday. It said a Disney/Sky News would happen only after Fox's completed buy of Sky, regardless of whether Disney's proposed buy of Fox takes place. Under the Fox proposals Tuesday (see here and here) to CMA, Disney would guarantee that at least for 10 years, Sky News would operate in a wholly owned subsidiary, Newco, with Newco's board being entirely independent officers. Fox is pledging that proposed Sky News editorial guidelines would say the head of Sky News would retain complete operational and editorial control. With the revised remedies, Fox likely still expects regulatory approval by the end of June, Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker wrote investors. The CMA in January issued a preliminary finding that a Fox buy of Sky may not be in the public interest for media plurality (see 1801230010).

President Donald Trump again tweeted in support of Sinclair and condemned broadcast networks Tuesday. Trump tweeted pro-Sinclair sentiments Monday in response to widespread online criticism of the broadcaster requiring anchors throughout the country to read on-air the same prepared remarks about fake news (see 1804020056). “The Fake News Networks, those that knowingly have a sick and biased AGENDA, are worried about the competition and quality of Sinclair,” tweeted Trump Tuesday. “The ‘Fakers’ at CNN, NBC, ABC & CBS have done so much dishonest reporting that they should only be allowed to get awards for fiction!” Later, Trump took additional aim at CNN. “Check out the fact that you can’t get a job at ratings challenged @CNN unless you state that you are totally anti-Trump?” Trump tweeted. “Little [CNN President] Jeff Zuker [sic], whose job is in jeopardy, is not having much fun lately. They should clean up and strengthen CNN and get back to honest reporting!” The Save Local Media Coalition, formed to oppose Sinclair buying Tribune, condemned the president’s tweets and the deal. “Trump’s tweet and Sinclair's requirement that anchors repeat Trump propaganda about ‘fake news’ backs up the conclusion that Sinclair and Trump and [FCC Chairman Ajit] Pai have formed an unholy alliance,” said coalition member group Herndon-Reston Indivisible in a statement. "Promulgating a centralized command and control national editorial message disguised as an authentic, locally created and believed commentary, is inherently dishonest and disgraceful,” said Computer and Communications Industry Association President Ed Black in the statement. CCIA is also a coalition member. Sinclair and the FCC didn’t comment.

Voluntary memoranda of understanding (MOU) in media mergers lack teeth and need more federal oversight, blogged George Mason University sociology Ph.D. candidate Jason Smith and New York lawyer Randy Abreu Friday for the London School of Economics and Political Science U.S. Centre. They cited a 2010 MOU between Comcast and Hispanic interest groups signed as part of that company's bid to buy NBCUniversal. But despite that MOU, they said, a Columbia University Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race study indicates it has not increased Hispanic representation off screen, that stereotyped portrayals increased on screen, and that Hispanic leaders in the company "were segregated and paid less." They said the FCC, by not adapting the language or intent of the MOU into formal conditions, "fundamentally set up a scenario in which Comcast had no obligation to support diversifying the media landscape." The agency and Comcast didn't comment.

Himax Technologies, a supplier of display driver chips and other semiconductor products, said Thursday it will exercise its options to acquire the remaining 54.9 percent share of Emza Visual Sense it doesn’t already own, Emza is an Israeli supplier of computer vision sensing algorithms. Terms of the transactions weren’t disclosed. Himax paid an unspecified sum last April to buy 45.1 percent of Emza, with yearly options to buy the rest. Himax expects the latest deal to close by the end of Q2, it said.