Raphael Stevens

Charter Communications said Monday it is changing up its cable TV offering and will allow customers to opt into a cheaper, sports-lite tier without regional sports networks.
The move comes as sports TV networks, particularly regional sports channels, contend with cord-cutting and streaming options. Diamond Sports Group, the largest portfolio of these networks, recently sought bankruptcy protection.
The packages will launch on a market-by-market basis in the third quarter.

In this photo illustration, the Charter Communications logo is displayed on a smartphone screen.
Rafael Henrique | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

A change-up is coming to Charter Communications’ cable TV packages — particularly for sports networks.
The cable and broadband company said Monday that it plans to start offering a new, two-tier cable package system that will allow customers to select a cheaper, sports-lite TV option without regional sports channels.

The pivotal move comes as the industry has been contending with more people opting to cut cable in favor of streaming services. That’s weighed heavily on sports channels and has hit regional sports networks, which have which have long provided lucrative fees to leagues and teams, especially hard.
Diamond Sports Group, the owner of the largest regional sports networks portfolio, filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year. Other networks have been launching direct-to-consumer streaming options that come at price points that won’t upend the longtime lucrative pay-TV model. But they’re often considered expensive for consumers and could turn off potential streaming customers.
Charter, which owns two regional sports networks of its own, is looking to change the formula. Beginning in the third quarter, the company said its Spectrum-branded cable TV business will be relaunched as two new services.
Spectrum Select Plus will include the provider’s full slate of sports programming and regional sports networks, while Spectrum Select Signature will exclude certain sports programming for a reduced rate.
The two options will launch on a market-by-market basis throughout the majority of Charter’s U.S. footprint.

Customers who pick the option with certain sports programming will receive direct-to-consumer streaming apps for the local sports networks in their area for free. Charter will also be able to market and sell these regional sports networks app to its broadband-only customers. Major networks like ESPN and FS1 will still be available on Spectrum Select Signature.
“This new model paves the way for a more flexible approach to the outdated packaging model for sports, and it puts the focus where it should be, on the customer,” said Tom Montemagno, Charter’s executive vice president of programming acquisition, in a news release.
The company noted that, historically, sports networks’ agreements require distributors to pay for the rights to the content and make their programming available to a large majority of subscribers — typically more than 80%. That’s the case even if many of those customers never turn on the channel.
Pay-TV bills usually break down the cost of regional sports network fees. National sports networks, such as Disney’s ESPN, are known to be some of the most expensive for pay-TV distributors such as Charter and DirecTV to carry.
Charter noted that the new two-tier system still gives sports fans what they want while giving non-sports viewers a more affordable option. The company also said the model supports the sports networks that are pursuing streaming options.
As both a distributor and owner, Charter is exposed to the issues sports networks are facing. The company inherited two regional sports networks — Spectrum SportsNet and SportsNet LA, which air Dodges and Lakers games — when it acquired Time Warner Cable in 2016. Charter is also planning to launch a streaming alternative for those channels.
In addition, Charter and DirecTV on Monday announced a new distribution agreement for those regional sports networks.
As part of the deal, Charter agreed to a “significantly lower penetration threshold,” which will allow DirecTV to “better target their subscribers who want Lakers and Dodgers programming.” It will also allow DirecTV to provide cheaper and more flexible options for customers who are uninterested in sports.
Spectrum Networks executive Dan Finnerty said in a news release earlier Monday that while viewing habits are shifting, regular season sports programming is still popular.
“That said, given these customers represent a relatively small percentage of the overall video subscriber base, and recognizing the marked increase in direct-to-consumer choices, the model for RSNs needs to evolve to reflect the realities of the current marketplace,” said Finnerty, the senior vice president and general manager of Spectrum Networks. “With this agreement, we are taking a step to shift the business model so that customers have more control.”
Correction: This story was updated to reflect that Charter’s Spectrum Select Signature tier will still offer some sports networks. More

Spacecraft engine manufacturer and small rocket builder Astra plans to conduct a reverse stock split at a 1 to 15 ratio.
Astra also seeks to raise up to $65 million through an “at the market” offering of common stock.
The company previously outlined a reverse split as part of its plan to avoid delisting by the Nasdaq exchange.

Astra CEO Chris Kemp speaks inside the company’s headquarters during its Spacetech Day, May 12, 2022.
Brady Kenniston / Astra

Spacecraft engine manufacturer and small rocket builder Astra plans to conduct a reverse stock split at a 1 to 15 ratio, the company disclosed in a securities filing Monday.
Astra also seeks to raise up to $65 million through an “at the market” offering of common stock, the filing said.

Shares of Astra were little changed in after-hours trading from their close at 40 cents a share. The company went public in July 2021 via a SPAC deal, at a near $2 billion valuation, before the stock began to tumble after launch failures and development setbacks.

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Astra’s filing said the reverse stock split is expected to take place on or before October 2, after its board approved the plan July 6. The company previously outlined a reverse split as part of its plan to avoid delisting by the Nasdaq exchange.
A reverse split does not affect the fundamentals of a company, as it is not dilutive to the stock and does not change the company’s valuation, but it would lift the stock price by combining shares. A reverse split can be seen as a sign a company is in distress and is trying to “artificially” boost its stock price, or it can be viewed as a way for a viable company with a beaten up stock to continue operations on a public exchange. Functionally, a reverse split, often done as a 1 for 10, would mean a $3 stock, for example, would become $30 a share. More

Novavax’s stock price jumped after the embattled biotech company said Canada has agreed to pay $350 million for forfeiting Covid vaccine doses that were previously scheduled for delivery. 
The settlement is part of an amended coronavirus shot purchase agreement between Maryland-based Novavax and the Canadian government.
The announcement is another sign of hope for investors after the Maryland-based company raised doubts about its ability to stay in business earlier this year. 

Nikos Pekiaridis | Nurphoto | Getty Images

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Novavax shares jump on news of a settlement payment from the Canadian government.

It’s unclear how many doses of Novavax’s jab – its only commercially available product after 35 years – went unused. Under the amended agreement, Novavax will also provide Canada with fewer doses of its vaccine on a revised delivery schedule. 
However, Canada can terminate the contract if Novavax fails to receive regulatory approval for vaccine production at the Canadian government’s biomanufacturing facility by Dec. 31, 2024, according to the agreement.
The announcement is another sign of hope for investors after the cash-strapped company raised doubts about its ability to stay in business earlier this year. 

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In May, Novavax adopted a more positive outlook and announced a sweeping cost-cutting plan alongside its first-quarter earnings report. The company said it expects 2023 revenue of between $1.4 billion and $1.6 billion.

Novavax’s stock price jumped around 30% on that news. The company’s stock price is down 4% since the start of the year after after shedding more than 90% of its value in 2022.
Novavax still faces a number of challenges ahead, including competing with Pfizer and Moderna in the commercial Covid vaccine market and a pending $700 million arbitration over a canceled vaccine purchase agreement. More

The PGA Tour is defending its proposed deal with LIV Golf ahead of Tuesday’s Senate hearing.
“That future for the PGA Tour is significantly brighter thanks to this agreement,” Chief Operating Officer Ron Price said in an op-ed Monday.
Price and another PGA Tour official will testify Tuesday during a hearing called by Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Ron Johnson, chairman and ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, respectively, regarding the merger between the PGA Tour and Public Investment Fund’s LIV Golf.
The hearing comes shortly after former AT&T chief Randall Stephenson resigned from the PGA Tour’s policy board, citing “serious concerns.”

A PGA TOUR logo is seen after play was suspended due to severe storms during the third round of THE PLAYERS Championship held at THE PLAYERS Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass on May 14, 2011 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Streeter Lecka | Getty Images

The PGA Tour has begun its public defense of its deal with Saudi-backed LIV Golf ahead of a key Senate hearing slated for this week.
The tour’s chief operating officer, Ron Price, who is set to testify Tuesday, released an op-ed in The Athletic on Monday defending the deal and explaining why it was the best outcome for the future of golf. He also argued the agreement should not be considered a merger.

“Given the well-chronicled legal disputes that have existed between the PGA Tour and PIF, we understand the fair and valid questions raised by PGA Tour members, Tour partners, media, fans and now Congress,” Price said in the op-ed.
The piece comes days after a shake-up at the PGA Tour’s policy board that added another wrinkle to what could be a rocky road toward approval of the deal.
Former AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson on Saturday resigned from the PGA Tour’s policy board, which he served on since 2012. Stephenson stepped down as lawmakers appeared likely to start a broad probe into the merger between the PGA Tour and LIV, beginning with Tuesday’s Senate hearing.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Sen. Ron Johnson, the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, respectively, called the meeting on Tuesday. The senators requested officials from the tour and Saudi Public Investment Fund to appear before the panel.
While the senators requested testimony from PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, Price and policy board independent director Jimmy Dunne will instead appear, the tour said in a statement last week. Monahan has been on a leave of absence due to an unspecified medical situation, but recently announced he will return to his role on July 17.

Jay Monahan, PGA TOUR Commissioner, speaks during the trophy ceremony during the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 12, 2023 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Richard Heathcote | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

“We look forward to appearing before the Senate Subcommittee to answer their questions about the framework agreement that keeps the PGA TOUR as the leader of professional golf’s future and benefits our players, our fans, and our sport,” a PGA Tour representative said in a recent statement.
The tour did not comment beyond Price’s op-ed on Monday.
The senators had said in an earlier letter that the subcommittee would examine the proposed deal and the Saudi fund’s “investment in golf in the United States, the risks associated with a foreign government’s investment in American cultural institutions, and the implications of this planned agreement on professional golf in the United States going forward.”
It is unknown whether representatives for the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund will testify. Representatives for PIF have not responded to multiple requests for comment.

Defending the deal

Last month, the PGA Tour and PIF’s LIV Golf, as well as Europe’s DP World Tour, agreed to merge. While specific terms and the valuation of the deal have not been announced, an early framework of the proposed transaction shows it would create a for-profit subsidiary of the PGA Tour, and the new entity would manage commercial assets for all the tours. The PGA Tour would manage competitions.
The proposed deal came as a shock to the sports world — including the tour’s own players — following months of tensions between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, which led to both entities filing antitrust claims against each other. All litigation between the two has been squashed as part of the proposed deal.
Price, in Monday’s op-ed, acknowledged the deal was a surprise after two years of “unprecedented conflict.”
Negotiations are still ongoing and the framework ends litigation between the two entities. Price contended that due to the confidential nature of the deal, “much of the initial reaction has been negative, colored by misinformation or misunderstanding.”
“That’s something we take full ownership of and deeply regret. Moving forward, we firmly believe that the more the facts are discussed and understood, the further our constituents can support a potential definitive agreement — if reached — and look forward to the positive and lasting impact on all levels of our game,” Price said in Monday’s op-ed.
The two entities had been embroiled in antitrust lawsuits since last year. LIV had sued the tour, alleging anti-competitive practices for banning its players, while the tour countersued, claiming LIV was stifling competition.
Price defended the framework agreement so far as a favorable outcome not only for the tour, but also for professional golf as a whole. He said the agreement “provides clear, explicit and permanent safeguards that ensure the PGA Tour will lead the decisions that shape our future, and that we’ll have control over our operations, strategy and continuity of our mission.”
He added if the sides reach an agreement, it will allow further investment in players, events, venues, communities and technology. The PIF has said it would invest billions of dollars into the new entity.
Price also contended the deal “is not a merger.” He wrote that the tour would remain intact, and that the newly formed subsidiary will include PIF as a noncontrolling, minority investor, as it is in “many other American businesses.” The majority of the board that leads the PGA Tour Enterprises will be appointed by the tour and run by Monahan.
Following the announcement, top player Rory McIlroy — who repeatedly slammed LIV Golf during the years of acrimony — expressed agitation about the proposed deal being referred to as a merger.

LIV controversy

Controversy has surrounded LIV since its inception in 2022. The PIF is not publicly held and is a sovereign wealth fund controlled by bin Salman. Critics have accused the fund of “sportswashing,” or using LIV and other sports investments to improve the image of the oil-rich nation and distract from the kingdom’s history of human rights violations.
Stephenson in his resignation letter on Saturday to fellow board members pointed to one of those alleged violations.
The tour notified its members on Sunday evening of Stephenson’s departure from the policy board, according to a memo viewed by CNBC. It noted there “is no specific time frame in which a successor independent director has to be appointed.” The four remaining independent directors, in consultation with the board’s five player directors and PGA director, will work together to fill the position.
In the memo, he wrote that he had “serious concerns” about the proposed deal and whether he could objectively evaluate or support it due to the U.S. intelligence report assessing Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. The memo was earlier reported by the Washington Post.
Stephenson’s concerns about accepting Saudi investment are similar to those voiced by others in the tour, along with politicians. Stephenson didn’t respond to requests for comment.
A U.S. Intelligence report from 2021 showed that the Saudi crown prince had approved an operation to capture or kill the journalist Khashoggi in 2018. It cited bin Salman’s control of decision-making in Saudi Arabia, as well as the involvement of a key advisor and members of the prince’s protective detail in the operation that killed Khashoggi, a critic of the royal family.
Lawmakers have raised doubts about the merger since the golf tours announced it. Top Senate Democrats have called out antitrust concerns and have pressed for an inquiry into the merger.
“Fans, the players, and concerned citizens have many questions about the planned agreement between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf,” Johnson said in a release last month.
While the Subcommittee on Investigations has broad jurisdiction to probe matters including corporate abuses, committee hearings are relatively rare and typically mark the early phase of a longer investigation. The hearing on the merger is the committee’s second this year.
Before scheduling the meeting, Blumenthal had announced his intention to investigate the deal in light of Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses.
When the deal was announced, Monahan acknowledged the shock and anger it triggered among players.
LIV Golf events were met with protests, particularly from the family members of those who perished in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers on that day were from Saudi Arabia, and Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the attacks, was born in the country. U.S. officials concluded that Saudi nationals helped to fund the terrorist group al-Qaeda, although the investigations didn’t find that the Saudi officials were complicit in the attacks.
Members of the group 9/11 Families United slammed the deal. They have also called out Monahan for remarks in an interview last summer, when he said he discussed the 9/11 connections with PGA Tour players and suggested the organization stood on a higher moral ground than LIV.
“I think you’d have to be living under a rock not to know there are significant implications,” Monahan said during the interview with CBS Sports. “I would ask any player who has left or any player who would consider leaving, ‘Have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA tour?'” More

Wholesale used vehicle prices last month experienced their largest decline since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Cox Automotive reported a 4.2% decline from May to June in its Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index to 215.1.
The fall is the third consecutive monthly decline, according to Cox.

Pre-owned vehicles are seen at the Roger Beasley South dealership lot in Austin, Texas, June 7, 2023.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images

DETROIT — Wholesale used vehicle prices posted their largest decline last month since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, as prices are set to stabilize during the second half of this year.
Cox Automotive reported Monday a 4.2% decline from May to June in its Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index to 215.1. It marks the third consecutive monthly decline and one of the index’s largest monthly drops on record, according to Cox.

“Buyers at auction look to have taken an early summer break, and while used retail inventory has been improving over the last several weeks, we are expecting less volatility in wholesale price movements through year-end,” Chris Frey, Cox senior manager of economic and industry insights, said in a release.
The index, which tracks vehicles sold at its U.S. wholesale dealership auctions, remains elevated from historical levels but is down 10.3% compared with June 2022.
The decline could help bring used vehicle pricing down for consumers in the months to come, as retail prices traditionally follow changes in wholesale prices.
The retail used vehicle market remains strong but was estimated to be off 6% last month compared with June 2022, according to Cox. The decline was led by rising availability of new vehicles and high interest rates, Cox senior economist Jonathan Smoke said Monday during a conference call.
“We are now at a turning point where the market returns to more balance and that balanced market is likely to deliver small but predictable changes in sales and less news about big changes in prices,” Smoke said.

Used vehicle prices have been elevated since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, as the global health crisis combined with supply chain issues caused production of new vehicles to sporadically idle. That led to a low supply of new vehicles and record-high prices amid resilient demand. The costs and scarcity of inventory led consumers to the used vehicle market, boosting those prices as well.
Cox expects wholesale used vehicle prices to be down roughly 1.1% at the end of this year compared with December 2022. That’s down from the company’s initial forecast of a 4.3% decline, as pricing and demand were more resilient than expected to begin the year.
“The consumer is hanging in there,” Smoke said. “We do not expect the remaining months of the year to deliver declines like we saw in the spring.”
Cox expects the used vehicle wholesale market to experience a “slow and gradual recovery” in prices to pre-pandemic levels by 2028. More

Home prices hit a record high in May, according to Black Knight.
Even with rates still high, home prices are setting new records in some markets.
New listings are down about 25% from a year ago, as homeowners with sub-4% mortgage rates are reluctant to sell their homes.

A for sale sign is posted in front of a home for sale on February 20, 2023 in San Francisco, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Home prices hit a record high in May, rising 0.7% nationally compared with April at a seasonally adjusted rate, according to the Black Knight Home Price Index.
Prices, which have been rising since January, were 0.1% higher in May than a year earlier.

The sharp jump in mortgage interest rates last year threw cold water on an overheated housing market, but it didn’t last long. Even with rates still high, home prices are now gaining again, and the gains are accelerating with each new month.
“There is no doubt that the housing market has reignited from a home price perspective,” said Andy Walden, vice president of enterprise research at Black Knight.
“Though the backward-looking annual growth rate dipped to 0.1%, May’s exceptionally strong +0.7% month-over-month gain would equate to an annualized growth rate of 8.9%, suggesting the annual home price growth rate would remain at or near 0% for only a short time before inflecting and trending sharply higher in coming months,” Walden added.
Prices began dropping last summer, after the average interest rate on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage more than doubled in just six months. They continued to fall until January, when buyer demand returned but came up against very tight supply. Buyers may have simply gotten used to higher rates.

“Earlier this year I shared that I believed 6% mortgage rates were accepted as the new normal. I think now we’re in an environment where 7% mortgage rates are now the new normal, and people are accepting it,” Robert Reffkin, CEO of Compass Real Estate said last week on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”

By May, just over half of the nation’s 50 largest housing markets, mostly in the Midwest and Northeast, had either returned to their prior price peaks or set new highs.
Home prices are still weaker in the West and in many of the cities deemed pandemic “boom towns,” which had an influx of remote workers finding new homes during the earlier days of Covid.
But those prices are starting to firm up. Homes in San Jose, California, lost 10% of their value last year, but inventory is starting to fall again, and prices there are now reheating. They rose 1.4% in May, the second largest month-to-month increase of any market on a seasonally adjusted basis. San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle also saw price growth in May, as well.
The one exception is Austin, Texas, one of the biggest pandemic boom towns.
“Inventory there continues to run above pre-pandemic levels, putting downward pressure on prices, which have fallen to -13.8% below peak, the largest gap of any market. Just eight of the top 50 markets are currently more than 5% below their 2022 peaks,” Walden said.
In general, though, supply is declining again. New listings are down about 25% from a year ago, as homeowners with sub-4% mortgage rates are reluctant to sell their homes and potentially pay a much higher interest rate on another home. Total inventory is now about half of what it was just before the pandemic, which caused a massive housing boom.
Sales of pre-owned homes are still much weaker than they were a year ago, but that has less to do with higher costs and more to do with less supply. The median price of a pre-owned home in May was $396,100, according to the National Association of Realtors. Redfin, a real estate brokerage, reported last week that the average home is now selling just above its list price for the first time in nearly a year.
Bidding wars are clearly coming back, even if affordability is taking a hit. As of June 22, with 30-year rates at 6.67%, it required $2,258 per month in principal and interest to make the monthly payment on a median-priced home with 20% down and a 30-year mortgage, according to Black Knight. That is the highest such payment on record, marginally higher than the $2,234 required back in October. More