Byers Market: Daniel Ek eyes The Ringer; Adam Mosseri gets NYT profile

Plus: Tim Cook hits bumps in Hollywood, Joe Biden slams Mark Zuckerberg and Bob Iger drops 'Fox.'

View in browser January 21, 2020   By DYLAN BYERS in Los Angeles &  AHIZA GARCÍA-HODGES in San Francisco Good morning. 🏔️  The World Economic Forum's annual meeting kicks off today in Davos. Andrew Ross Sorkin says President Trump is likely to get a warmer reception from the C-Suite crowd this year.   🎞️  Reed Hastings reports Netflix Q4 earnings after the bell. The streamer missed growth targets in both Q2 and Q3.   🛫  Dylan is en route to New York. Ahiza is back in the Bay.   Join the Market. Sean Zanni/Getty The (Audio) Streaming Wars Daniel Ek eyes The Ringer   Moving the Market: Spotify's Daniel Ek and Dawn Ostroff are in talks to acquire The Ringer, Bill Simmons' popular sports and pop-culture podcast network, in a move that would further fuel the company's ambition of dominating the podcast space, sources familiar with the talks tell the Market, confirming a WSJ report.   • The big picture: Spotify is investing aggressively in podcasting to help differentiate itself from Apple and other audio streaming services. It spent $400 million last year acquiring Gimlet Media and Parcast, as well as the Anchor podcast distribution platform.   • The Ringer acquisition would give Spotify exclusive rights to "The Bill Simmons Podcast," the most downloaded sports podcast of all time, and the Ringer podcast network, which boasts 100 million monthly downloads and more than $15 million in annual ad revenue.   The latest: WSJ's Anne Steele and Ben Mullin reported late on Friday that Spotify was in "early talks" to buy The Ringer, but that it was too soon to say whether those talks would result in a deal. That's where things remain as of this morning, according to our sources.   • On Monday, Front Office Sports' Michael McCarthy reported that Simmons was seeking "roughly $200 million" for The Ringer. Our sources tell us it's way too early to be talking price. Bloomberg/Getty Future of Social Adam Mosseri kills 'likes'   Moving Menlo: Instagram chief Adam Mosseri is the subject of a new New York Times profile. The piece, by Amy Chozick, is pegged to Instagram's plan to eliminate public "likes" in order to combat one of the more negative aspects of the platform: the pressure to be popular.   • The big picture: The profile is really about the relationship between Instagram, portrayed here as the cool kid, and Facebook, cast as the very uncool parent. The question posed and never really answered is, "how does Instagram stay cool under Facebook?"   The story in two grafs: "While Mr. Zuckerberg has been cast by critics as defensive and closed off to criticism and the news media, Mr. Mosseri, 36, projects the opposite. He's affable and easygoing, exuding the laid-back intensity of a Bay Area tech executive who was born in the East Village."   • "This charm offensive, combined with Mr. Mosseri's efforts to stop bullying, remove photos of self-harm and other safety and integrity measures that Facebook may have been late to, has won him respect. But it has not quieted the larger concerns about the mother ship." Snap ❤️ TikTok   Big in L.A.: Snap chief Evan Spiegel said over the weekend that he's "a big fan" of TikTok and believes the Chinese social network could become bigger than Facebook's Instagram, which boasts more than a billion monthly users.   • People on TikTok "are really making media to entertain other people," Spiegel said at the DLD Conference in Munich. "This talent-based content is often more interesting than status-based content." Sean Rayford/Getty Facebook 2020 Joe Biden vs. Zuckerberg   Big in the Bay, big in the Beltway: Joe Biden railed against Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg in an interview with The New York Times editorial board, calling the CEO "a real problem" and recommending that he be liable for all content on Facebook.   • "I've never been a fan of Facebook," Biden said. "I've never been a big Zuckerberg fan. I think he's a real problem."   • Biden also called for the removal of Section 230, which protects online platforms from bearing liability for the content that users post. As NYT's Charlie Warzel told Biden, it's one of the "foundational laws of the modern internet."   • Facebook "is not merely an internet company," Biden argued. "It is propagating falsehoods they know to be false. ... There is no editorial impact at all on Facebook. None. ... It's totally irresponsible."   The big picture: Beating up on Facebook continues to be popular politics for Democrats. Biden's attack came one day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the company "shameful" and accused it of being complicit in "misleading the American people." Market Links   • President Trump accelerates U.S.-China tech war (NYT)   • Sundar Pichai calls for artificial intelligence regulation (FT)   • Taemoon Roh is Samsung's new smartphone chief (Bloomberg)   • Randy Smith faces revolt from Tribune Publishing staff (CNN)   • Ted Sarandos acquires 21 films from Studio Ghibli (Verge) Bloomberg/Getty No Fox Given Bob Iger drops 'Fox'   Big in Burbank: Bob Iger is dropping the word "Fox" from the 21st Century Fox assets that Disney acquired last year. The move is intended to distance Disney from the Murdochs' Fox Corporation, which includes Fox News.   • What's next: 20th Century Fox will become 20th Century Studios; Fox Searchlight Pictures will become Searchlight Pictures. Noah Berger/Getty Apple TV, Pluses & Minuses Tim Cook's Hollywood trouble   Talk of Tinseltown: Tim Cook and Eddy Cue are fast learning how fraught the business of Hollywood can be, having been forced to scrap two high-profile projects in as many months due to scandal or controversy.   • Apple and Oprah Winfrey recently pulled out of a documentary about sexual harassment allegations against hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. Winfrey cited creative differences with the film's directors but also told The New York Times that Simmons tried to pressure her into ditching the project. (Simmons has denied all accusations of nonconsensual sex.)   • Back in November, Apple was forced to cancel the premiere of "The Banker," starring Samuel L. Jackson, due to sexual harassment allegations against one of the film's co-producers. Apple has dropped the co-producer's name from the film and plans to release the movie on Apple TV+ in March.   The big picture: Art is harder than AirPods. That said, if any company can sustain a few unforeseen setbacks, it's Apple.   • On the plus side: Apple landed its first major Hollywood win last night as Jennifer Anniston, co-star of "The Morning Show," took home the SAG Award for best female actor in a drama. 🏈  What's next: San Francisco will face Kansas City in Super Bowl LIV on Feb. 2. But... ratings for both the AFC and NFC championship games were down from last year, and the combined audience was the lowest it's been since 2009.   See you tomorrow. Follow Dylan Byers Get the NBC News Mobile App Privacy Unsubscribe

Trump defense team gets reinforcements, battle over Senate impeachment trial witnesses, ground rules to begin

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Tuesday, January 21, 2020 Good morning and welcome to Fox News First. Here's what you need to know as you start your Monday ... Trump defense team gets last-minute reinforcements as Senate impeachment trial is set to begin After an opening salvo of back-and-forth arguments from President Trump's attorneys and Democrats' impeachment managers on Monday, Senate impeachment trial proceedings are set to begin at 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday with the expectation they will stretch well into the night on Capitol Hill -- even as key procedural questions, including the timeline for debate and whether additional witnesses will testify, remain undecided and hotly contentious. In a surprise move Monday night, a group of high-profile House Republicans announced that they would formally join the president's legal team, including Reps. Doug Collins, Mike Johnson, Jim Jordan, Debbie Lesko, Mark Meadows, John Ratcliffe, Elise Stefanik and Lee Zeldin. The last-minute show of force underscored the fluid nature of the Senate trial, which is also set to feature full-throated arguments against impeachment from constitutional scholar Alan Dershowitz and Bill Clinton independent counsel Ken Starr. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell revealed Monday that he wanted a condensed, two-day calendar for each side to give opening statements, at 12 hours per day. After the four days of opening arguments, senators would be allowed up to 16 hours for written questions to the prosecution and defense, followed by four hours of debate. Only then would there be votes on calling other witnesses, likely next week. Much of Tuesday's proceedings will focus on debate over McConnell's proposed resolution for the parameters for the impeachment trial. Click here for more on our top story.  Stay with Fox News for complete live team coverage of President Trump's impeachment trial on all platforms. Other developments in Trump's impeachment: - Giuliani 'heartbroken' by Lev Parnas' 'stupid lies,' says he's trying to avoid jail - Alan Dershowitz: Trump impeachment is a 'motion-to-dismiss' case - Jenna Ellis: Here are four legal problems House Democrats have to face Trump, climate activist Greta Thunberg set to cross paths at World Economic Forum conference in Davos The World Economic Forum [WEF] meeting in Switzerland opened Tuesday, and it could play host to a potential round two of the public fight between President Trump and teen climate activist Greta Thunberg. Following tensions at last fall's United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York – which included icy glares toward the president by Thunberg and mocking tweets by Trump – the two are expected to cross paths once again in Davos with climate change and its effects on the global economy being major discussion points of the summit. WEF founder Klaus Schwab said he welcomed both Trump and Thunberg at the summit, calling it "reassuring" and adding that both were set to speak Tuesday on the meeting's opening day. Click here for more. China coronavirus claims 4th victim, screening of travelers heightened A fourth person has died in an outbreak of a new coronavirus in China, authorities said Tuesday, as more places stepped up medical screening of travelers from the country as it enters its busiest travel period. The increased control measures followed a sharp rise in the number of infections to more than 200 people since last month, with epidemiologists still uncertain of its nature and mode of transmission. Chinese health authorities confirmed late Monday that some cases had been transmitted person-to-person, a development that means the illness could spread faster and more widely, particularly at the start of the Lunar New Year travel rush. Click here for more.    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP TODAY'S MUST-READS Biden accepts Sanders's apology over unofficial surrogate's blistering op-ed. AOC declares Democrats a 'center-conservative' party. Super Bowl LIV will feature 49ers coach Katie Sowers' historic appearance. THE LATEST FROM FOX BUSINESS Macron tweets he and Trump reach truce on taxing tech companies. Boeing's 737 Max jet crisis has company seeking loans: report. Here are the most and least educated states in America.   #TheFlashback: CLICK HERE to find out what happened on "This Day in History."   SOME PARTING WORDS Tucker Carlson warns President Trump and Republicans not to get overconfident about the 2020 election. Not signed up yet for Fox News First? Click here to find out what you're missing. Click here to find out what's on Fox News and Fox News Radio today!   Fox News First is compiled by Fox News' Bryan Robinson. Thank you for making us your first choice in the morning! Enjoy your day! We'll see you in your inbox first thing Wednesday morning.

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WATCH LIVE: President Trump delivers opening remarks at the World Economic Forum President Trump speaks at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he will meet with world leaders and business executives. More on this For more news, please go to FoxBusiness.com and watch Fox Business Network.