Liberty Global buys stake in London's ITV; DirecTV clarifies 'Sunday Ticket' a la carte rules

Cable industry news from across the Web:

John Malone's Liberty Global purchased a 6.4 percent stake in London-based commercial broadcaster ITV from Rupert Murdoch's SKY Broadcasting Group for $824 million. Story

> Comcast says it delivered 13 million World Cup lives streams over the course of the month-long soccer tournament. Blog

> DirecTV is offering its NFL Sunday Ticket package a la carte, but only to customers who aren't able to receive its satellite signals. Promotion

> Shaw Communications has contacted to the CableWiFi alliance about becoming a peer to the consortium in Canada. Story

> Turner Broadcasting has selected Christina Miller to oversee Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and Boomerang. Story

> Cox Communications has launched system upgrades that double the downstream speeds of its two most popular broadband tiers. Story

> Carrboro has become the latest North Carolina town to greenlight AT&T's rollout of its fiber-based "GigaPower" broadband service. Story

And finally...   Microsoft said it will conduct its biggest layoff round ever Thursday, eliminating up to 18,000 jobs, with most of the cuts centered around its acquisition of mobile-device maker Nokia. Story