Mediagazer: Employer.com founder Jesse Tinsley says his US investor group vying to buy TikTok has secured $20B+ and recruited the CEOs of Roblox and Anchorage as investors (Alexandra S. Levine/Bloomberg)

5:40 PM ET, January 29, 2025

Top News:

Meta reports Q4 revenue up 21% YoY to $48.4B, net income up 49% YoY to $20.8B, and family daily active people up 5% YoY to 3.35B on average for December 2024 — Meta Platforms, Inc. (Nasdaq: META) today reported financial results for the quarter and full year ended December 31, 2024.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CNBC, Reuters, Quartz, Yahoo Finance, @lizdye.bsky.social, @mariopro.bsky.social, @brianfung.me, Bloomberg and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Fox EVP of Ad Sales Mark Evans says there is an increase in Super Bowl ad buys from AI companies, while ad buys from movie studios and streamers are down — AI-focused ads are up, and movie spots are down, Fox says, as 30-second ads hit an eye-watering $8 million.

Discussion: Gizmodo, The US Sun, Awful Announcing, @mousterpiece.bsky.social, Ad Age, The Verge and Adweek

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Sources: Fox has sold at least ten 30-second Super Bowl ad spots for $8M+, a record; pre and post-game ad prices have also increased, reaching $4.5M and ~$4M — Super Bowl LIX is still days away, but someone has already scored a key Big Game touchdown.

Discussion: CNBC, CNN, Sports Business Journal, Awful Announcing, Associated Press, The Mirror US, Bloomberg, Forbes, The Wrap, Us Weekly, @alexweprin, Deadline, TVNewsCheck, @jason_kint, Adweek and Just Jared

Gene Maddaus / Variety:

The US Copyright Office says using AI tools to assist in creative processes doesn't compromise copyright protections as long as the content has human authorship — The U.S. Copyright Office declared Wednesday that the use of artificial intelligence tools to assist in the creative process does not undermine the copyright of a work.

Discussion: Billboard, Music Business Worldwide, Peter Csathy on LinkedIn, Nem Perez on LinkedIn, @cpaxton.bsky.social, Yahoo Finance, @rainisto, @brianmcbrearty, US Copyright Office, @c_valenzuelab, @lewisdsorokin, @copyrightoffice and Bloomberg Law, more at Techmeme »

Alexandra S. Levine / Bloomberg:

Employer.com founder Jesse Tinsley says his US investor group vying to buy TikTok has secured $20B+ and recruited the CEOs of Roblox and Anchorage as investors — - Tinsley's group has recruited Roblox CEO among investors — Unclear if TikTok parent ByteDance will consider Tinsley bid

Dan Kennedy / Media Nation:

The co-founder of the nonprofit National Trust for Local News, Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro, is stepping down as the organization's CEO after four years — Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro, who co-founded the National Trust for Local News four years ago, is stepping down as the organization's CEO.

Discussion: Press Herald, The Maine Wire and NTLN

Zaheer Kachwala / Reuters:

Trump Media unveils fintech brand Truth.Fi with an investment of up to $250M, which can be allocated to various investments, like BTC and other cryptocurrencies — Truth Social parent Trump Media and Technology Group (DJT.O) said on Wednesday its board of directors has approved the launch …

Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:

US Rep. Zoe Lofgren introduces the Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act that would require US ISPs to make “a good faith effort” to block foreign-run piracy sites — U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (Dem-CA) has introduced H.R. 791, the Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act (or FADPA) …

Discussion: CMU

Aisha Counts / Bloomberg:

The NFL plans to let retired players use official game footage on their YouTube channels, part of its strategy to draw in younger, more diverse audiences — - NFL, YouTube expand partnership ahead of Superbowl LIX — Brandon Marshall, Cam Newton to use league footage on YouTube

Discussion: Tubefilter and Fast Company

Elsa Keslassy / Variety:

Disney+ agrees to invest 25% of annual sales in France into French and European shows; in return, it can access new films nine months after theatrical release — As a payoff for this commitment, the streamer will be allowed to access newly released films nine months after their theatrical release …

Discussion: Deadline and @revan.social

Todd Spangler / Variety:

David Field steps down as Audacy's president, CEO, and a member of its board; board member Kelli Turner will become interim President and CEO — Board member Kelli Turner appointed interim CEO as company commences executive search … The board has appointed Kelli Turner …

Discussion: Radio & Television …, Inside Radio, The Desk, Barrett Media, RADIO ONLINE, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Audacy, Inc., Billboard, Radio Ink, Philadelphia Business Journal and RadioInsight

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Netflix now lets iPhone and iPad app users download an entire TV show season with one tap, a much-requested feature that launched on Android in 2021 — The new feature lets users download an entire season of a show with one tap.

Discussion: Variety, TVNewsCheck, TechCrunch, The Wrap, MacRumors, Streaming Better, 9to5Mac, BGR, The Verge and Media Play News, more at Techmeme »

Brian Stelter / CNN:

In her first White House press briefing, Karoline Leavitt criticized legacy media, encouraged digital content creators, and cast Trump as a savior for the US — Karoline Leavitt's first White House press briefing reaffirmed a truism about the Trump White House: His aides perform for an “audience of one.”

Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announces dedicated “new media” seating and restoration of credentials for 440 people “wrongly revoked” under Biden

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More News:

Taylor Lorenz / User Mag:
Candace Owens launches Club Candace, a women-focused media platform featuring YouTube videos, podcasts, exclusive content, a fitness app, a book club, and more

Discussion: @mmmccarthy.bsky.social, @taylorlorenz.bsky.social, @the-k-syndicate.bsky.social, @taylorlorenz, @sarablade.bsky.social, @bcc_mitchell and @taylorlorenz

Matthew Keys / The Desk:
Apple partners with DirecTV and Comcast to offer the MLS Season Pass through their platforms, starting with the 30th season kickoff on February 22, 2025

Discussion: Awful Announcing, TV Tech, Sports Business Journal, @tvgrimreaper, USA Today, Apple, The TV Answer Man!, @tvgrimreaper, BGR, @great_katzby, 9to5Mac, Media Play News and @matthewkeys.net

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Prime Video signs a deal with Lionsgate to get exclusive streaming rights to Lionsgate films after an initial run on Starz, starting with its 2026 slate

Discussion: The Verge, The Wrap, IndieWire, @tvgrimreaper, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, WORLD SCREEN and Media Play News

Bill Donahue / Billboard:
A US judge dismisses the MLC's lawsuit against Spotify accusing it of illegally cutting royalties by bundling audiobooks, saying Spotify's bundle is legal

Discussion: Rolling Stone, Music Business Worldwide and Bloomberg

Katie Robertson / New York Times:
The Marshall Project names Katrice Hardy as its next CEO, effective March 2025; Hardy is currently the executive editor of The Dallas Morning News

Discussion: The Marshall Project, Dallas Morning News and TVNewsCheck

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
The Jewish Chronicle appoints Daniel Schwammenthal as editor, replacing Jake Wallis Simons, and unveils a revamped website and reader membership program

Discussion: @jewishchron, @jakewsimons and @dschwammenthal

Earlier Picks:

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
The BBC says BBC World Service will cut a net 130 jobs, including in the UK, to save £6M/year; the UK announced an extra £32.6M in World Service funding in 2024

Discussion: Advanced Television, RTÉ, The Independent, @josiah.writes.news, The Mirror and BBC

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
Sony names CFO Hiroki Totoki as CEO, succeeding Kenichiro Yoshida, and PlayStation co-CEO Hideaki Nishino as CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, from April 1

Bloomberg:
Sources: 3 Arts, the film production and talent-management company majority-owned by Lionsgate, seeks to raise up to $250M to expand into sports, news, and more

Discussion: @lucas_shaw

Ray Schultz / MediaPost:
Mississippi-based Carpenter Media Group acquires the assets of Salem Publishing Company, a family-owned company based in Missouri

Discussion: pulaskicountyweekly.com

Justin Baragona / The Independent:
In a short video, Jim Acosta says he's “going independent, at least for now” and launching a new show on Substack

From Techmeme:

Financial Times:
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says consumer electronics exempt from tariffs may be included in semiconductor tariffs likely coming in “a month or two”

Bill Toulas / BleepingComputer:
A look at slopsquatting, a supply chain attack where threat actors create malicious packages on indexes using AI-hallucinated names resembling popular libraries

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is working on a lighter and cheaper Vision Pro and a Mac-tethered model with ultra-low latency; iPadOS 19 overhaul will make it more like macOS

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