Business/Finance
Following the Mon dissolution of Comcast and Insight‘s Midwest partnership, Fitch Ratings placed several ratings assigned to Insight and certain subsidiaries on ‘Rating Watch Negative.’ Insight "will emerge as a much smaller cable MSO lacking the size and scale that Fitch believes is necessary to sustain longer term revenue, margin and free cash flow growth," said Fitch, adding that the MSO’s "operating margins will be pressured somewhat as the company will no longer benefit from the access to Comcast’s programming rates, equipment pricing and other cost synergies." — More than 99% of News Corp shareholders approved Tues to swap the conglomerate’s 38% DirecTV stake with Liberty Media for $550mln in cash and Liberty’s approx $11bln stake in News Corp. The transaction still must gain FCC approval. — Level 3‘s operating subsidiary bought from AT&T several assets ordered divested when the telco merged with SBC. They include indefeasible rights of use for dark fiber connections to over 200 buildings and more than 1600 metro fiber route miles in 6 of the 11 markets where AT&T was required to divest certain assets, including Detroit, Hartford, Kansas City, Milwaukee, San Francisco and St. Louis.