• Marquee Brands LLC purchased Martha Stewart’s brand empire, which includes home furnishings and kitchenware lines, for $215 million, $140 million less than what Sequential Brands Group Inc. bought it for in 2015. Sequential, which also owns celebrity brands such as Jessica Simpson and Ellen Tracy, had been looking to sell Stewart’s brand due to skyrocketing costs of her perks and pay. (New York Post)

• Apple Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. settled their years-long dispute over the use of Qualcomm chips in iPhones, an agreement which includes a six-year licensing deal, a multiyear supply arrangement and a payment from Apple to Qualcomm for an undisclosed amount. The agreement comes after opening arguments in what was expected to be a three-week trial in a San Diego federal court. (The Washington Post)

• Netflix Inc. had its strongest quarter for new subscriptions, adding 9.6 million users worldwide in 2019’s first quarter — but as the streaming market becomes more saturated, the company’s forecast for second quarter growth, an additional 5 million net subscribers, is lower than analyst predictions of 6 million. Netflix’s revenue jumped 22 percent to $4.52 billion, roughly matching forecasts of $4.5 billion, while net income rose 19 percent to $344 million. (Financial Times)

Amid Ad-Industry M&A, Omnicom Says It Isn’t Looking for Big Deals
Alexandra Bruell, The Wall Street Journal

Recent large deals on Madison Avenue wouldn’t have made sense for Omnicom, says CEO John Wren.

‘We own the contracts’: Hershey’s is taking control of its ad tech
Seb Joseph, Digiday

After consolidating its programmatic buying into one ad tech vendor, Hershey’s is starting to see the benefits.

Brands Donate Millions to Help Rebuild Notre Dame
Olivia Raimonde, Ad Age

Apple, Louis Vuitton, LVMH and more pledge to help the Parisian landmark.

Brands Paid Hefty Prices To Send Micro-Influencers Dancing In The Desert At Coachella
Tina Mulqueen, Forbes

At Coachella, 250,000 music lovers descended upon the California desert, bringing $704 million in economic activity throughout the week.

Like most media, podcasting is pivoting to paid (with complications)
Max Willens, Digiday

Podcasting looks poised for a major infusion of consumer revenue in the next few years. The question is whether audio platforms, rather than individual creators or studios, will reap all the benefits.

Sony Cracks Down on Sexually Explicit Content in Games
Takashi Mochizuki, The Wall Street Journal

Move reflects concerns in the U.S. about the depiction of women, but it angers developers in Japan.

Uber says it fixed its e-bikes with similar brake problems as Lyft, but some riders were still injured
Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge

Rachelle Kuebler-Weber had only been riding the Jump pedal-assist electric bike for about 15 minutes when the front wheel locked up, sending her flying over the handlebars.

Pinterest Doesn’t Want to Be Called a Social Media Company
Selina Wang and Olivia Zaleski, Bloomberg

But that comparison could help it stand out in a crowded tech IPO market.

T-Mobile-Sprint Deal Runs Into Resistance From DOJ Antitrust Staff
Drew FitzGerald and Brent Kendall, The Wall Street Journal

DOJ staff told wireless rivals deal is unlikely to be approved as structured, according to people familiar with the matter.

Bezos Disputes Amazon’s Market Power. But His Merchants Feel the Pinch
Spencer Soper, Bloomberg

In recent years, third-party sellers have found it harder to compete and are paying Amazon a bigger chunk of their take.

PepsiCo’s Sales Rise on Boost From Snacks
Kimberly Chin, The Wall Street Journal

PepsiCo Inc.’s revenue rose in the latest quarter, boosted by the company’s Frito-Lay division in North America, but foreign-currency effects weighed on international operations.

Energy-Drink Upstarts Are Sapping Monster’s Strength
Jennifer Maloney, The Wall Street Journal

Beverage industry analysts say Monster has struggled to address a particular consumer shift.

Best Buy Expected to Look for Tech-Savvy CFO to Advance Turnaround
Nina Trentmann, The Wall Street Journal

Best Buy Co. will likely seek out a transformation expert to fill its finance chief vacancy as the consumer electronics retailer aims to maintain its growth pace after a successful turnaround.

Meal Kits Struggle to Reach Customers at the Supermarket
Deena Shanker, Bloomberg

Blue Apron, HelloFresh and Home Chef have all tried a brick-and-mortar strategy only to encounter the same old challenge: fickle consumers.

Consumers around the world are spending less on almost everything. Even booze.
Abha Bhattarai, The Washington Post

Consumers around the world are likely to spend more cautiously in the coming months amid political and economic uncertainty, according to a new report that surveyed shoppers in 64 countries.

Nike’s fix for boosting sales at home: Women
Lauren Thomas, CNBC

Women’s apparel still represents less than 25 percent of Nike’s total sales. But the overall market for women’s shoes and clothing in the U.S. is much larger than that of men’s.

Boy Scouts Are Just Scouts Now, and That’s Making Girl Scouts Mad
Claire Suddath, Bloomberg Businessweek

The 100-year-old organizations are prepared to take their battle over self-identity to court.

Timex Is Celebrating 165 Years With a New Watch Collection That Brings Production Back to the U.S.
Diana Pearl, Adweek

The 4 American Documents watches will all be handmade in America.

Fashion capital New York considers banning sale of fur
David Klepper and David R. Martin, The Associated Press

A burgeoning movement to outlaw fur is seeking to make its biggest statement yet in the fashion mecca of New York City.

Destination Divorce Parties Are a New Las Vegas Trend
Sarah Firshein, Bloomberg

In October 2015, Ariel Khawaja traveled to Cozumel, Mexico, to say “I do” before a group of 55 wedding guests.

Don’t Panic Over Netflix’s New Rivals
Elizabeth Winkler, The Wall Street Journal

Netflix has new competition from Apple and Disney, but its international growth should be enough to keep the stock humming.

What Brands Need To Know About Developing An OTT Strategy
Bob McKay, Forbes

“We’re down with OTT — yeah, you know me!”