Trump Tosses A Lifeline To TikTok

For many of America’s 170 million TikTok users, US President Donald Trump’s move to delay a legal ban of the popular social media platform was cause for celebration.

But in China, where TikTok’s parent company is based, the reception has been less positive, largely because Trump has suggested he could require the company to give up a 50% stake to avert a shutdown and suggested tariffs on Chinese goods could hinge on whether Beijing approves a potential future deal.

When asked about Trump’s vision for the future of TikTok, China’s Foreign Ministry said the “operation and acquisition of companies” should be “decided by companies” and in line with Chinese law.

The US should “earnestly listen to the voice of reason” and “provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment” for companies from all countries, spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Tuesday.

CNN reports hours after his inauguration Monday, Trump issued an executive order delaying for 75 days the enforcement of a controversial law, which requires that TikTok be banned in the US unless it sells to a buyer from America or one of its allies.

The executive action followed a pledge from Trump on Sunday that he would delay enforcement. TikTok said that assurance allowed it to come back online after going dark for more than 12 hours over the weekend.

The delay will help the Trump administration “determine the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans,” the order said

REPORTER: Why did you change your mind about TikTok?

TRUMP: Because I got to use it. And remember, TikTok is largely about kids. Young kids. If China is gonna get information about young kids, I don't know -- to be honest with you, I think we have bigger problems than that. pic.twitter.com/uHtje6EEQb

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 21, 2025

Trump in recent days has repeatedly suggested that he could be open to an American buyer purchasing half of the company and running it as a 50-50 joint venture with its current Chinese owner ByteDance.

A joint venture involving a US firm with a 50% stake in TikTok would soften the letter of the controversial law, though it’s unclear whether US lawmakers or TikTok, which denies that it poses a national security risk to Americans, would accept it.

At Least 33.6M Watched Commanders Win On Fox Sports Platforms

The Washington Commanders pulled off a stunning upset victory against the No. 1-seeded Detroit Lions on Saturday night, securing their spot in the NFC Championship Game. 

The game averaged 33.6 million viewers across FOX, FOX Deportes, and FOX Sports streaming platforms, making it the fourth most-watched Saturday NFC divisional game in FOX history. The audience peaked at 35.7 million viewers between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m. EST.

Despite the impressive viewership, the Commanders-Lions game saw a 10.5% decrease compared to last year's late-window NFC divisional game between the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers, which averaged 37.54 million viewers. However, it was up by 17.3% compared to the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles game in the same window two years ago.

The lead NFL on FOX broadcast team, consisting of play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt, analyst Tom Brady, and sideline reporters Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi, called the game. Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels made headlines by becoming the sixth rookie quarterback in NFL history to play in a conference championship game1. Unfortunately for the Lions, their hopes of returning to the NFC Championship Game and qualifying for the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history were dashed.

ABC Scores With NFL Division Playoffs

• Viewership Expected to Exceed 33 Million Viewers When Nielsen Reports Final 
• AudienceAudience Already Surpasses Every NFL Game – Regular Season or Playoffs – on ESP
• Dating Back to 1987Across All Networks, NFL’s Best Viewership for a Divisional Saturday Afternoon 
• Kickoff in 10 SeasonsThird Consecutive Season ESPN Punctuates Season-Long NFL Campaign with 
• Its Most-Watched NFL Game Ever

ESPN’s 2025 NFL Divisional Round presentation delivered a record-breaking audience across ESPN platforms, as the Houston Texans at the Kansas City Chiefs (Saturday, Jan. 18, 4:30 p.m. ET) is the company’s most-watched NFL game of all-time. The 32.7 million viewers surpass each NFL on ESPN game, playoffs and regular season, since 1987 (38 seasons), the first year when the network aired NFL games.

ESPN’s Texans-Chiefs viewership is expected to surpass 33 million viewers when Nielsen reports the final audience this week. The current viewership of 32.7 million viewers includes the vast majority, but not all audiences from ESPN, ABC and ESPN+.

Providence Radio: Steve Scarpetti To Exit 94 HJY

Steve Scarpetti is stepping down from his full-time roles at WHJY/Providence after 24 years with iHeartMedia Providence and a decade co-hosting the "Doug & Scarpetti Show". 

Steve Scarpetti

His last day as Promotions Director and co-host will be Friday, January 24. Scarpetti shared that he has accepted an amazing opportunity outside of radio, which he couldn't pass up.

Scarpetti has been with the iHeartMedia Providence cluster since 2001, starting as Promotions Coordinator and rising to Promotions Director in 2007. He began hosting overnights on WHJY in 2012 and joined Doug Palmieri in the afternoons in 2015. 

Although he is stepping away from his full-time duties, Scarpetti will continue to be involved with WHJY in a part-time/fill-in role and will host "The Metal Zone" on Saturday overnights.

Prince Harry Takes Murdoch To Court

Prince Harry's legal battle against Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper group goes to trial at the High Court in London on Tuesday with the royal seeking a ruling that senior figures knew about and covered up widespread wrongdoing.

Reuters reports Harry, along with former senior lawmaker Tom Watson, is suing News Group Newspapers over alleged unlawful activities carried out by journalists and private investigators working for its papers, the Sun and the defunct News of the World, from 1996 until 2011.

The prince says his mission is not money but to get to the truth, after other claimants settled cases to avoid the risk of a multi-million pound legal bill that could be imposed even if they won in court but had rejected NGN's offer.

"One of the main reasons for seeing this through is accountability, because I'm the last person that can actually achieve that," Harry, who is set to appear as a witness himself in February, said last month.

NGN has paid out hundreds of millions of pounds to victims of phone-hacking and other unlawful information gathering by the News of the World, and settled more than 1,300 lawsuits involving celebrities, politicians, well-known sports figures and ordinary people who were connected to them or major events.

Harry's legal team has said in earlier court documents that his older brother Prince William, the heir to the throne, had settled his own case against NGN in 2020 for "a very large sum of money".

BFoA To Honor Industry Veteran Dan Mason

The Broadcasters Foundation of America, the charity that provides aid to broadcasters in acute need, will recognize Dan Mason for his notable

success in broadcasting with the 2025 Edward F. McLaughlin Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is given annually to an individual who has made invaluable contributions to the broadcast industry and will be presented to Mason during the BFOA Golden Mic Award Gala and Fundraiser at the Plaza Hotel in New York City on Monday, March 10.

Mason is a widely respected broadcast executive and radio programmer known for initiating an aggressive growth strategy at CBS RADIO, including launching new formats and acquiring major market properties. He also is credited with leading the expansion of CBS RADIO’s digital presence with audio streaming platforms and mobile applications. He has served on the BFOA Board, including as Chair and Vice Chair.

“I am honored to receive this distinction from the Broadcasters Foundation,” stated Mason. “Broadcasting gave me a career that I love on the air and in the boardroom. There are many broadcasters across our country who feel the same way, but tragedy struck their lives, leaving them in need of help. That’s why I served on the Board of the Broadcasters Foundation and continue to support its charitable mission.”

R.I.P.: Tom Kutza, Longtime Radio Personality At WISL Shamokin, PA

Tom Kutza

Shanokin radio personality Tom Kutza has died at age 82. For decades, his voice filled homes throughout the Shamokin and Northumberland County areas of Pennslyvania. During his 38 years as a radio DJ at WISL 1480 in Shamokin, Kutza became a staple in the Coal Region. 

"You couldn't believe how one person affects so many generations. It's like, oh my, how is this, not back in the time or back now? It's like throughout all these years," said Mike Raymond, Tom Kutza's son-in-law. 

Kutza started at WISL in October of 1960. Throughout his career, he hosted talk shows, kept everyone up to date on what was going on in Shamokin, and would wake up those listening in during the morning, getting the nickname "Morning Mayor." 

"Because of that radio station he made himself a personality in the area he loved talking to people, he loved making them feel like they were important, didn't matter if they were a ceo of a company of the janitor of that company."

Kutza enjoyed making people happy and learning their life stories. His daughter, Lorena, says radio wasn't his only passion.

"This was his pride and joy. It was just so much fun for him to be a little kid with it," said Kutza.

He also loved collecting trains. 

"He loved it; it was kind of the start of the Christmas season for us. He just had friends that had, oh, my husband passed away, and we have these houses here. Would you want it? Would you want this train and he really got a lot of it that way," said Kutza.

Radio History: Jan 21

➦In 1919...actress/radio-TV host Jinx (Eugenia) Falkenburg was born in Barcelona Spain. She was a movie actress & popular model before & during World War II , after which she and her husband Tex McCrary were hosts of “Meet Tex and Jinx” a local radio talk show on WEAF, WNBC they conducted from Peacock Alley in New York’s Waldorf Astoria. They also hosted NBC TV’s At Home show, while she was a regular on TV’s charades show Masquerade Party. She died a month after her husband Aug 27, 2003 at age 84.

➦In 1927...the first opera broadcast on a national Radio network occurred. Radio listeners in Chicago, Illinois heard music from Faust.

➦In 1935...WFI-AM in Philadelphia merged with WLIT to become WFIL.

WFIL was formed by a merger of two stations that were launched in 1922. One used the call letters WFI, the other was originally WDAR. Each was owned by a major Philadelphia department store; WFI was operated by Strawbridge and Clothier, while WDAR was run by Lit Brothers.

While operated independently of each other, the two were able to work out amicable share-time agreements (hundreds of other American stations at the time were unable to do so, and frequently engaged in "jamming wars"). Around 1924, WDAR applied for and received the custom call-sign WLIT. By the late 1920s, the two stations were working jointly on various programs, promotions, and sponsorship efforts. In 1935, the two operators agreed to merge with each department store having representation on the new board of directors.

The new call-sign became WFIL, a combination of the two previous identifiers (the fact that the new call letters were close to a phonetic spelling of "Philadelphia" was merely a happy coincidence).

➦In 1938...the legendary deejay known as Wolfman Jack was born Robert Weston Smith in Brooklyn. His unique radio style made him an icon of ’60s radio, broadcasting from XERF, then XERB in Mexico and heard throughout a major part of the U.S.; On TV he was announcer for NBC’s The Midnight Special. He died following a heart attack July 1, 1995 at age 57.

Cool and Calm Carrie Triumphs At Trump Inauguration

Not only did Carrie Underwood display her musical chops to the world at the inauguration of President Donald Trump on Monday, but she also flaunted her professional prowess.

Tapped to perform "America the Beautiful" at the inauguration, held inside the Rotunda at the U.S. Capitol, Underwood was escorted inside and awaited her musical cue to begin singing in front of Trump, his family, distinguished politicians and other celebrities.

But no cue would come.

Underwood quickly ascertained that the accompanying instrumental track was not working, leaving her to improvise. "If you know the words, help me out here," she prefaced before singing a cappella.

Carrie Underwood, incredible. pic.twitter.com/PmEOw1ZDna

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) January 20, 2025

The "American Idol" winner and now judge was showered with praise on social media, with several applauding how she handled the situation. "This pretty much sums up the spirit of America. When you're faced with a problem, you don't stop. You keep moving ahead -- proudly. Kudos to @carrieunderwood. Well done!" one person wrote to X.

Last week, Underwood, who is known to be removed from the political scene, confirmed she would be performing at Trump's inauguration. "I love our country and am honored to have been asked to sing at the inauguration and to be a small part of this historic event," the country superstar said in a statement.

Donald Trump Pledges Change

Trump At Sunday Rally

President-elect Donald Trump pledged during a rollicking rally in the nation’s capital to enact far-reaching change in his second term, promising to oversee mass deportations, challenge progressive culture and slash government spending. 

“Starting tomorrow, I will act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country,” Trump said.

Trump’s pre-inauguration rally capped one of the most tumultuous and unlikely political comebacks in American history with a celebration less than a mile from where he will take the oath of office Monday as the country’s 47th president. Trump used his speech to take another victory lap over his election victory. “We won!” Trump said as he stepped on stage.

TRUMP: “I have assembled an all-star cabinet of patriots, visionaries and reformers who will fight for America and together we will win, win, win!” pic.twitter.com/4RTUrkbEuy

— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) January 19, 2025

The president-elect’s roughly hourlong speech before thousands of supporters at the Capital One Arena was reminiscent of the rallies that fueled his political rise. Trump, who is constitutionally barred from running for a third term, relishes speaking before large crowds and is likely to continue holding large rallies throughout his presidency.

The president-elect argued that he was already changing the country, even before he steps into the Oval Office, touting what he called the “Trump effect.” He said companies are lining up to expand their operations in America, adding that Apple CEO Tim Cook told him he was planning “massive investments” in the U.S. Apple declined to comment. And he took credit for reviving TikTok just hours after the company went dark in the U.S. and for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

How News Media Has Changed Inauguration Coverage

President-elect Donald Trump will be formally sworn in today, becoming the 47th president of the United States. The ceremony comes eight years after he was sworn in for his first term and makes Trump only the second US president to serve nonconsecutive terms alongside Grover Cleveland (1885-89, 1893-97). Former Ohio Sen. JD Vance will become the third-youngest vice president in history at 40 years old.

President-elect Donald Trump will call for a “revolution of common sense” during his inaugural address, according to prepared remarks, as he caps a historic comeback and embarks on an agenda that includes mass deportations, steep tariffs and slashing the size of the federal government.

 The event—typically held on the US Capitol's West Front, overlooking the National Mall—will be moved inside to the building's rotunda as a polar vortex brings plunging temperatures to most of the country. It marks the first time the ceremony has been held indoors since Ronald Reagan's second term in 1985.

All four living presidents—Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden—are expected to attend.

'Special Report' host Bret Baier looks back on the evolution of media technology in covering inaugurations dating back to George Washington.

WATCH: “This is history, real time” — Fox’s @BretBaier on how media coverage of presidential inaugurations has changed over the decades pic.twitter.com/PBu9H8fZqf

— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) January 20, 2025

FOX News Media will present extensive, multiplatform live programming for the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance,

On Inauguration Day, (January 20) FNC’s live Washington-based programming will kick off with FOX & Friends, America’s Newsroom and The Faulkner Focus followed by Inauguration of Donald Trump, from 11:30 AM-5 PM/ET. Chief political anchor Special Report’s Bret Baier and anchor and executive editor of The Story Martha MacCallum will helm the special as the 47th president and vice president of the United States are sworn into office. FNC’s Dana Perino, chief political analyst Brit Hume, The Five’s Harold Ford Jr., and anchors Harris Faulkner, Bill Hemmer and Sandra Smith will contribute to the network’s coverage. Additionally, Outnumbered co-host Kayleigh McEnany, The Five’s Jessica Tarlov, Sunday Night in America’s Trey Gowdy and FOX & Friends Weekend co-host Charlie Hurt as well as FNC contributors Karl Rove, Kellyanne Conway, Ben Domenech and Marc Thiessen will break down the developments throughout the day.

Beginning at 7 PM/ET, FNC’s entire primetime lineup will broadcast live from Washington kicking off with The Ingraham Angle (7-8 PM/ET) and Jesse Watters Primetime (8-9 PM/ET) at the Commander in Chief Ball  followed by Hannity at 9 PM/ET live from the Liberty Inaugural Ball. At 10 PM/ET, FNC’s late-night show Gutfeld! will broadcast live from Washington’s DAR Constitution Hall in front of a studio audience followed by FOX News @ Night with Trace Gallagher from the network’s Washington bureau at 11 PM/ET.

Day One: Trump Expected To Sign Scores Of Executive Orders

President-elect Trump is expected to sign more than 200 executive actions on Inauguration Day—a massive, first wave of policy priorities focused on border security, energy, reducing the cost of living for American families, ending DEI programs across the federal government, and more, Fox News Digital has learned. 

A senior administration official who is familiar with the executive actions and authorized to brief Fox News Digital said Trump on day one will end "Catch and Release;" pause all offshore wind leases; terminate the electric vehicle mandate; abolish the Green New Deal; withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord; and take several major steps to assert presidential control over the federal bureaucracy.

Executive orders are expected to include orders to:

• Begin deportation raids
• Declare national emergency at the Southern border
• Jan. 6 pardons
• 'Deep state purge'
• End Biden's DEI directives
• Roll back limits on offshore drilling
• Suspend security clearances of the 51 intelligence officials who claimed reporting tied to Hunter Biden’s laptop had “the classic earmarks” of Russian disinformation ahead of the 2020 election

The official said Trump will sign multiple "omnibus" executive orders that each contain dozens of major executive actions.