TGIF. Don Lemon is expecting the DOJ to try to charge him again. Alex Honnold is about to climb the Taipei 101 skyscraper live on Netflix. Substack is launching a TV app. And the White House says "the memes will continue." But first... |
TikTok, reworked for Trump |
The complex deal securing TikTok's future in the US has finally closed. And it's a top story almost everywhere — a testament to the app's extraordinary growth and extremely addictive algorithm.
"Under the terms of the deal negotiated by the Trump administration, the popular video-sharing app will be operated by a new US entity controlled by investors seen as friendly to the US," the WSJ's Amrith Ramkumar wrote.
Friendly to the US — and to President Trump personally. Larry Ellison's Oracle "will oversee storage of Americans' data," CNN's Clare Duffy wrote. Other key investors also have Trump ties.
Oracle and the other non-Chinese investors will own about 80% of the new entity, with Beijing-based ByteDance keeping the rest. "The new entity plans to retrain TikTok's algorithm on US user data," and "will also be responsible for content moderation for US users," Duffy wrote.
>> Here's a helpful rundown by the NYT's Emmett Lindner: "Who Owns TikTok in the U.S. Now?"
>> The US TikTok "will still have links to China," Kristie Lu Stout added on CNN this morning. ByteDance "will still manage the TikTok shop, as well as advertising and marketing."
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Fears of foreign ➡️ domestic propaganda |
It is "unclear how much, if anything, the deal would change for TikTok’s users in the US," the NYT's David McCabe and Emmett Lindner wrote overnight.
But the joint venture's Trump-adjacency has been "raising concerns for some TikTok users that the app could start showing more content aligned with the president’s views or the positions of the US government," they wrote.
This is the most striking quote in the story: "My worry all along is that we may have traded fears of foreign propaganda for the reality of domestic propaganda," said Anupam Chander, a law and tech professor at Georgetown.
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Judge blocks DOJ attempt to charge Don Lemon |
A criminal charge against Don Lemon, who live-streamed a provocative protest inside a Minnesota church last weekend, would have been a big deal. Frankly, I think the failed attempt to charge him is an even bigger deal. It's yet another example of the Trump administration targeting a Trump foe — and another effort that comes up short.
Yesterday, a federal magistrate judge rejected the DOJ's "initial attempt" to charge Lemon, CNN's Hannah Rabinowitz and Kara Scannell reported. A source said AG Pam Bondi was "enraged at the magistrate judge's decision." Last night, Fox's Laura Ingraham put the face of the purported judge on screen, and you don't have to look far on X to see venomous posts about the man.
Lemon emphasized, even during his live coverage, that he was at the church as a journalist, not an activist. But the MAGA loyalists who want Lemon to be arrested have highlighted the fact that he knew something was going to happen in advance. This morning, Trump-aligned podcaster Benny Johnson said his "DOJ sources" told him "multiple alternative legal paths are already in motion," adding, "Don Lemon is not off the hook, this is just the beginning." Lemon assumes the same...
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Lemon: 'They're going to keep trying' |
"I stand proud, and I stand tall. This is not a victory lap for me because it's not over. They're going to try again, and they're going to try again. And guess what? Here I am," Lemon said on his YouTube show last night. "Keep trying. That's not gonna stop me from being a journalist. You're not gonna diminish my voice."
"None of this is about justice. This is about power," Lemon added.
Lemon has retained Abbe Lowell, the DC mega-lawyer who's been "defending many of Trump's perceived enemies," as this CNN story noted last fall. Yesterday, Lowell said, "Should the Department of Justice continue with a stunning and troubling effort to silence and punish a journalist for doing his job, Don will call out their latest attack on the rule of law and fight any charges vigorously and thoroughly in court."
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'The memes will continue' |
"So apparently the White House is now officially in the business of fake news," Jake Tapper said yesterday.
The White House's X account shared an arrest photo of Nekima Levy Armstrong, one of the church demonstrators, and the photo was apparently manipulated using AI. When CNN's Daniel Dale asked for comment, the WH sent a link to a rep's post that said, "Enforcement of the law will continue. The memes will continue."
>> Before moving on from Minnesota news, I want to highlight the front page of today's Star Tribune, which features a stunning photo of a protester being sprayed with a chemical irritant while being pinned to the ground by federal agents. It is a Pulitzer-worthy photo by Richard Tsong-Taatarii.
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NYT responds to Trump's latest tirade about its poll |
"Few Say Return of Trump Has Improved Life in U.S." is the top story on Page One of today's NYT. It's the main takeaway from the NYT's latest poll with Siena University, which came out online yesterday morning. Trump saw it and raged about it right away, claiming the poll "will be added to my lawsuit" against the Times.
The Times responded calmly: "Trump likes polls that appear favorable to him and dislikes polls that do not. But whether a poll is good or bad for the president has no bearing on our methodology. We aim to produce the most reliable survey of public opinion possible, and our polls have been widely cited for their rigor."
And FIRE, which is defending J. Ann Selzer in Trump's existing lawsuit over a poll, reacted by saying, "Here we go again. This is America. We do not use the legal system to suppress opinion polls."
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Big night of sampling for Dokoupil |
"NBC Nightly News" was preempted on MLK Day due to NBA basketball. This gave CBS a big opportunity for NBC regulars to sample Tony Dokoupil's new "Evening News" broadcast. And some did: CBS netted 6.4 million viewers, up from an average of 4.2 million last week.
CBS said it was the newscast's highest-rated day since 2021. Sampling is obviously crucial for Dokoupil right now since he's in his third week as anchor.
>> ABC benefited even more from the NBC preemption: "World News Tonight" added "nearly 3 million viewers Monday vs. its recent averages, jumping to 10.9 million viewers," Joe Adalian noted.
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Bari puts her podcast on hold |
CBS News boss Bari Weiss is still all anyone in the TV biz wants to talk about. For the time being, Weiss is going to do a bit less talking. Yesterday she shared that she's taking a break from her Free Press podcast, "Honestly."
Weiss said the "pause" will last for "a few short months." She didn't say why, but did cite her "huge responsibility" at CBS, calling it an "extraordinary opportunity to bring the values that drive this show and that drive The Free Press into a much bigger arena."
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New process at '60 Minutes' |
I reported earlier this week that Sharyn Alfonsi's contract is coming due in just a few months. Now the NY Post's Alexandra Steigrad is out with a story saying Alfonsi and Scott Pelley's "jobs are on the line after pushing back" against Weiss.
Weiss has instituted a new "60 Minutes" process in the wake of the "Inside CECOT" debacle: Weiss "now takes part in a new Monday meeting with the show's executive producer Tanya Simon," Steigrad writes. "That’s a sharp departure from the '60 Minutes' tradition of operating as a kingdom unto itself for decades..."
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Sarandos to testify next month |
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos "is planning to testify in February at a US Senate committee hearing looking into his company's proposed $82.7 billion purchase of the streaming and studio operations of Warner Bros. Discovery," Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw and Josh Sisco report. Of note: "Paramount executives aren't expected to testify."
>> Re: Paramount extending its offer deadline again, Shaw added on X, "Only 7% of Warner Bros. Discovery investors have tendered shares. Paramount is playing the waiting game, hoping regulators voice enough opposition to Netflix to make Warner Bros. reconsider."
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Peters ridicules Paramount's play |
Netflix's other co-CEO, Greg Peters, is on a PR blitz right now. In a new interview with the FT, Peters said of his Paramount competition, "without Larry Ellison independently financing this thing, there's no chance in hell Paramount would ever be able to pull this off" given Paramount "already is saddled with quite a lot of debt."
"It doesn't pass the sniff test in my mind," Peters said of David Ellison's gambit, “and that's what the Warner Brothers board determined. And I think that’s where the Warner shareholders are at too."
>> Peters also sat down with Stratechery's Ben Thompson. Here's the podcast and transcript.
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How CPB's final $12 million will be spent |
Liam Reilly writes: In its final act before dissolving itself, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is disbursing $12 million directly to stations. In a note, CEO Patricia Harrison said the interconnection funds will go "directly to eligible public media stations," a decision that "reflects both CPB's statutory responsibility and our confidence in local stations and national organizations working together to ensure a strong and collaborative public media ecosystem."
>> Meantime, a Democratic motion to restore some funding for stations "failed on partisan lines" in a House Rules Committee vote yesterday, PBS's Lisa Desjardins reported. Rep. Don Bacon said he had been promised a floor vote for public media funding, but 🤷🏻. Desjardins called it a "perfect example of why some members have had problems with Speaker Johnson and what they believe are his promises."
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>> This is a wild story about a reality-TV deal that's gone sideways: "NYC sues Dr. Phil's son to block release of 'life-threatening' behind-the-scenes NYPD footage." (NBC4 New York)
>> Yesterday, Disney reaffirmed that it will name Bob Iger's successor sometime "early" this year. (THR)
>> More upheaval at Business Insider: "A string of executive departures is raising fresh questions about the health of the digital outlet," Oliver Darcy reports. (Status)
>> "NFL Divisional Round weekend saw the networks claim a slew of historic viewership highs." (Sports Media Watch)
>> Harry Styles enlisted Steve Kornacki and his NBC Big Board to announce his 2026 world tour. See? TV news personalities can be cool! (YouTube)
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Substack rolls out TV app |
The latest evidence that "everything is television": Substack has introduced a big-screen TV app that will "give viewers access to any live and on-demand video content that they can already access via their Substack subscriptions," The Ankler's Natalie Jarvey reports.
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'Skyscraper Live' streams tonight |
It's almost time for Alex Honnold's climb. The world-renowned rock climber, featured in the 2018 film "Free Solo," will attempt to scale Taiwan's tallest building, Taipei 101, without the aid of ropes and safety equipment. Netflix will live-stream the climb as a global special event, "Skyscraper Live," beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
Before Elizabeth Wagmeister took maternity leave (hi, baby Harry!) she down with Honnold to ask why he's doing it and how he's been preparing. Here's the excellent 18-minute interview.
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Entertainment notes & quotes |
>> Warner Bros. "led all studios with 30 Oscar nominations" yesterday. (LAT)
>> David Zaslav celebrated the noms: "This is a truly golden moment for our company and also a powerful validation of our strategy: to believe in movies, to believe in original storytelling, and to believe in the theatrical experience." (TheWrap)
>> "Heated Rivalry" stars Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams "have been named as official torchbearers for the upcoming Winter Olympics." (CNN)
>> Matt Webb Mitovich wonders: Will Tony Dokoupil "uphold tradition" by visiting "The Late Show" with Stephen Colbert? "The clock is ticking." (LateNighter)
>> Speaking of Colbert, he used his "Meanwhile" segment last night "to denounce the FCC's new guidance on political guest appearances, framing the move as a direct attempt to silence him and his fellow late-night hosts." (LateNighter)
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