Top News:
Karl Bode / Techdirt:
The TikTok deal is the worst of all possible outcomes, shifting ownership of TikTok to Trump's allies, while maintaining the supposed problematic links to China — There were rumblings about this for a while, but it looks like the Trump TikTok deal is done, and it's somehow the worst …
Discussion:
Daily Sabah, Nerdist, @karlbode.com, @carnage4life.bsky.social, @techdirt.com, PC Gamer, France 24 and Agence France-Presse, more at Techmeme »
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Sara Fischer / Axios:
Internal memo: TikTok has signed a deal to sell its US unit; Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX will collectively own 45% of the US entity, and ByteDance will retain ~20% — TikTok has signed a deal to sell its U.S. entity to a joint venture controlled by American investors, per an internal memo seen by Axios.
Discussion:
ABC News, Forrester, Observer, Tubefilter, CNN, @sky.skymarchini.net, San Francisco Business Times, Bloomberg, HotAir, Tom's Guide, Semafor, PR Daily, @swirlyball.bsky.social, The Shortcut, Inc, Tech Times, Music Ally, PetaPixel, Proactive, Analytics India Magazine, 9to5Google, Thurrott, Cautious Optimism, BGR, Ars Technica, AR Insider, Straight Arrow News, Gizmodo, Spyglass, Finance Magnates, Quartz, Mediaite, Entrepreneur, The Hill, @danprimack, @gordongchang, @billevanina, @pkafka, @michaelsocolow, @michaelsobolik, @rushdoshi, @acedtect, @mattwhitlock, @thestalwart, @davidshepardson, @adamscochran, @mattzeitlin, @senwarren, @peterhamby, KnowTechie, Sharecast, Pixel Envy, Marketing Brew, Benzinga, @sarafischer, Breitbart, Digit, CNBC, Nairametrics, @thebluenami.is.democrat, BMI, Hypebeast, Digital Music News, The Verge, CGTN, Fingerlakes1.com, Ukrainian National News, TRT World, UPI, TechRadar, TechCrunch, @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social, MacRumors, Telecompaper, Blockchain.News, TVREV, Dexerto, NPR, Tech in Asia, The National, @pamspaulding.bsky.social, 9to5Mac, Mashable, Wall Street Journal, The Information, Fox Business, Cord Cutters News, Reuters, Livemint, @evacide@hachyderm.io, @demguardrails.bsky.social, Sara Fischer on LinkedIn, Sinocism, @carnage4life.bsky.social, NBC News, India Today, Billboard, Washington Examiner, @dluneau.bsky.social and NewsMax.com, more at Techmeme »
Financial Times:
Memo: TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew says ByteDance's US entities will retain direct control over core US revenue drivers, including ecommerce, ads, and marketing — Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX to invest in new data security joint venture as part of Trump-brokered deal
Discussion:
The Information, Digital CxO, iPhone in Canada and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
Bloomberg:
Sources: ByteDance is on track for ~$50B profit in 2025 after generating a ~$40B net income in the first three quarters, surpassing its internal target for 2025 — ByteDance Ltd. is on track for profits of roughly $50 billion in 2025, capping a record year for a Chinese social media leader …
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Memo: the TikTok US deal is set to close on Jan. 22; terms include retraining the recommendation algorithm on US user data and Oracle overseeing data protection
Discussion:
Associated Press, Business Insider, Benzinga, Proactive, Investor's Business Daily, Engadget, CoinDesk, Investing.com, BBC, DatacenterDynamics, @bobdabalina.bsky.social, CNBC, PCMag, @warren.senate.gov, Hürriyet Daily News, iClarified, @jonathancohn.bsky.social, AppleInsider, ABC News, @sambiddle.com, @mmasnick.bsky.social, Sports Business Journal, @sarahbauerled.bsky.social, @robertscotthorton.bsky.social, The Guardian, @karlbode.com, Baller Alert, The Wrap, @nitishpahwa.com, @bencollins.bsky.social and Reuters
Paul Glynn / BBC:
HarperCollins UK drops children's author and comedian David Walliams following allegations of inappropriate behavior toward young women — Best-selling children's author and comedian David Walliams has been dropped by his publisher HarperCollins UK, the company has said.
Ken Vogel / @kenvogel.bsky.social:
Politico ends its print edition after 19 years, as its early reliance on print ad revenue fades and its audience relies more on digital platforms — Politico's print paper was always something of a contradiction for an outlet that set out to prove that political journalism could thrive in the digital world.
Discussion:
@kenvogel.bsky.social and @billkuchman.bsky.social
Natalie Korach / @nataliekorach:
Sources: VF's article by Chris Whipple featuring quotes from White House chief of staff Susie Wiles led to VF's biggest subscription signup day since 2016 — Scoop: Vanity Fair's bombshell Chris Whipple story including extensive interviews with Susie Wiles led to the biggest subscription signup day for the mag since 2016, according to people familiar, marking the first major win for editorial director Mark Guiducci
Discussion:
Status, @hangleyjr, @aliagvr and @reidenright
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Shane O'Neill / Washington Post:
Q&A with Christopher Anderson, who photographed Trump's inner circle for VF: “My job is to ... draw on my experience as a journalist and photograph what I see”
Discussion:
@susiewiles, HuffPost, Vanity Fair, @nataliekorach@threads.com, @amy_siskind, @gerardtbaker, @becketadams, @jonfavs, @jkhomestead, @silvermanjacob, @shawnmccreesh, @kbandersen, @lulumeservey, @jaheale, @pkafka, @acnewsitics, @timodc, @esotericcd, @villgecrazylady, @nothoodlum, @nprinskeep, @kstrucks, @repluna, @benryanwriter, @repjackkimble, @lepapillonblu2, @richard_harambe, @jesusrodriguezb, @vanityfair, @shannonrwatts, @dieworkwear, @gbristolphotography …, HotAir, Vanity Fair, @dieworkwear.bsky.social, Roll Call, @jonlemire, @edwardrow, @muellershewrote, @petertwinklage, @vanityfair, @ronfilipkowski, @econklin44.bsky.social, Newser, TheJournal.ie, @espiers.bsky.social, @moved2italy.bsky.social, The Hill, Daily Mail, kottke.org, Reason, People, @hofrench.bsky.social, Newsweek, @four4thefire.bsky.social, emptywheel, Cele|bitchy, @socialmedialab.ca, @kristiankiehling.bsky.social, NOTUS, IJR, @fingolas@journa.host, @fraying.bsky.social, @juliannemcshane.bsky.social, @cwarzel.bsky.social and @inaeoh.bsky.social
Kirsten Chuba / The Hollywood Reporter:
TikTok's first awards show, held on December 18, handed out 14 awards, including Creator of the Year for Keith Lee; at the event, none of the screens worked — The event, which streamed live from the Hollywood Palladium on Thursday, handed out 14 awards and battled problems with its video screens.
Discussion:
TheGrio, People, NBC News, CP24, Sandra Rose, Bossip, @crypticsanon, @popcrave, @jl3001.blacksky.app, BBC, Mashable, Variety, Us Weekly and SAMAA TV
Blake Brittain / Reuters:
Google sues data scraping company SerpApi for allegedly using hundreds of millions of fake search requests to access copyrighted material from Google products — Google on Friday sued a Texas company that “scrapes” data from online search results, alleging it uses hundreds of millions …
Discussion:
Ars Technica, Bloomberg Law, @jason_kint, The Verge, MLex, The Keyword and Search Engine Land, more at Techmeme »
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Netflix acquires avatar creation platform Ready Player Me to let its subscribers carry their personas and fandoms across games; the startup raised $72M — After shifting its gaming strategy to focus more on games played on the TV, Netflix announced it's acquiring Ready Player Me, an avatar creation platform based in Estonia.
Discussion:
MediaPost, Variety, Ray Bautista on LinkedIn, Engadget, iPhone in Canada, Jonathan Lai on LinkedIn, The Verge and GamesBeat, more at Techmeme »
Jennifer Maas / Variety:
The Kansas City Chiefs launch Foolish Club Studios, a first for an NFL team, to produce scripted and unscripted content that “might only be sports-adjacent” — The Kansas City Chiefs are the undisputed NFL team of choice for Swifties — but the team's ultimate goal is total world fandom domination.
Discussion:
Chicago Tribune and The US Sun
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Axel Springer has considered buying about a dozen media businesses in the US, including TED Conferences, TechCrunch, the 1440 newsletter, and more — Mathias Döpfner says ‘embrace AI or die’ as he looks to bolster his U.S. media holdings — Mathias Döpfner is hunting for “new gold” in media.
Ryan Glasspiegel / Front Office Sports:
Sources: Netflix will pay Barstool a yearly fee “in the eight figures” for its video podcasts; Fanatics has pitched WWE podcasts to Netflix which airs WWE Raw — Netflix is paying out meaningful sums of money in its ongoing push to entice creators to migrate the video forms …
Discussion:
Tubefilter, TechCrunch, Wrestlezone, TVNewsCheck, Awful Announcing, Awful Announcing, Barrett Media, Gridiron Heroics and The US Sun
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