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7:35 AM ET, January 14, 2025

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 Top News: 
Bloomberg:
Sources: Chinese officials are evaluating an option involving Elon Musk acquiring TikTok US; X would take control of TikTok US and run the businesses together  —  - ByteDance's preferred strategy is to fight ban, people say  — Trump has said he would like to delay ban to seek resolution
RELATED:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
TikTok denies a report that China is looking at potentially facilitating a sale of the app to Elon Musk, calling it “pure fiction”  —  TikTok denied a report that China is looking at potentially facilitating a sale of the app to tech billionaire Elon Musk to keep TikTok operational …
Hannah Miller / Bloomberg:
DirecTV launches MySports, a sports streamer featuring games from NFL and other major leagues, and access to 40 channels, in 24 US metro areas for $70/month  —  - $70 package will offer content from ESPN, Fox Sports and NBC  — The Venu sports streaming service was scrapped last week
Ryan Browne / CNBC:
The UK CMA opens a probe to assess Google's position in search and search ads business and how it impacts consumers, advertisers, publishers, and its rivals  —  Britain's competition watchdog on Tuesday said that it's opening a formal antitrust investigation into Google's search and search advertising services.
Erik Hayden / The Hollywood Reporter:
WBD commits $15M to LA fire relief efforts while Amazon, Comcast, and Netflix donate $10M each, and Sony $5M; SAG-AFTRA pledges $1M for impacted workers  —  Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery commit $15 million while Amazon, Netflix and Comcast add $10 million, Sony chips in $5 million and Paramount contributes $1 million.
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Memo: Susan Zirinsky, CBS News president from 2019 to 2021, will return as interim “executive editor” to oversee the unit's editorial standards  —  The veteran producer, who served as the unit's president from early 2019 to the end of 2021, has been asked to return to CBS News as an interim …
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
NBCUniversal plans to shut down Universal Kids on March 6, 2025, as NBCU prepares to spin off most of its cable networks into a new, publicly traded company  —  NBCUniversal, which has already been evaluating its stake in the declining pay-TV business, plans to shut down cable network Universal Kids.
Bloomberg:
Filing: Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick to lead the DoD, earned at least $6.2M over the last two years, including $4.6M from his job as a weekend host on Fox News  —  Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to run the Pentagon, earned more than $6 million over the last two years thanks …
Zeyi Yang / Wired:
Ahead of a likely US TikTok ban, users flee to Chinese apps Xiaohongshu, aka RedNote, and ByteDance's Lemon8, currently the top two apps in the US App Store  —  Some say they joined Xiaohongshu, which translates to “little red book,” to spite the US government after a ban on TikTok became more likely.
Richard Nieva / Forbes:
Jimmy Wales, Mark Ruffalo, others debut Free Our Feeds to raise $30M by 2028 to “billionaire-proof” AT Protocol, by making it easier for users to leave Bluesky  —  Free Our Feeds, which includes support from the Mozilla Foundation, is working with Bluesky to make sure …
Dominic Preston / The Verge:
Mastodon CEO Eugen Rochko plans to transfer Mastodon's ownership to a new non-profit, saying it “should not be owned or controlled by a single individual”  —  Mastodon says the decentralized network ‘should not be owned or controlled by a single individual.’
 
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 More News: 
Ashifa Kassam / The Guardian:
A look at Begum TV, a Paris-based satellite channel that is broadcasting educational and entertainment shows for Afghan women living under strict Taliban rule
Discussion: spiked
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Research: climate change scepticism “almost entirely disappeared” from UK national newspapers over the past decade but they increasingly oppose taking action
Max Tani / Semafor:
Sources: Chuck Todd has told top editors and leaders from other media organizations that he plans to leave NBC when his contract is up this year
 Earlier Picks: 
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Rachel Maddow, who scaled back anchoring duties to Mondays in 2022, will return to five nights a week as part of MSNBC's plans for Trump's first 100 days
Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Will Cain will replace Neil Cavuto on Fox News, aiming to bring his “signature podcast style” to the 4pm slot
Brian Stelter / CNN:
Opinion columnist Jennifer Rubin leaves WaPo to launch The Contrarian on Substack, to combat the “authoritarian threat” with the tagline “Not owned by anybody”
 

 
From Techmeme:

Kashmir Hill / New York Times:
Texas sues Allstate and its subsidiary Arity, accusing the insurer of illegally collecting and selling data about people's driving behavior through mobile apps

Bloomberg:
Sources: Databricks secures $5B+ in its largest debt raise to date, from lenders including Blackstone and Apollo, after raising $10B in equity in December 2024

Niket Nishant / Reuters:
Sygnum, a Switzerland and Singapore-based digital asset bank and crypto trading platform, raised $58M led by Fulgur Ventures at a $1B valuation
 
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