TikTok is eyeing an expansion of its local services business to the U.S., according to job postings and sources familiar with its plans.

Why it matters: TikTok has routinely cited its positive impact on local businesses as part of its defense for remaining available in the U.S., despite a law that requires the app to be banned unless it sells to a U.S. owner.

• Last April, the company released a U.S. economic impact report that claimed there are more than 7 million businesses on TikTok that depend on the platform to grow.
• It claimed local businesses' use of TikTok for advertising and marketing generated $5.3 billion in taxes paid to the U.S. government in 2023.

Catch up quick: TikTok began experimenting with local services last year in Southeast Asia.

• The program, which lets creators give users vouchers for restaurants, hotels, etc., was tested in markets like Singapore and Indonesia.

State of play: TikTok is currently hiring people based in Seattle, Los Angeles and New York to evaluate opportunities to connect local merchants and vendors with TikTok creators and users, according to nearly two dozen jobs posted online.

• "The immediate focus will be on top local services partners in travel to further accelerate service offerings on TikTok," one job listing says.
• Other listings note TikTok is looking to onboard lifestyle creators across topics like food and travel to help drive local services adoption and monetization opportunities.
• A spokesperson declined to comment.

Zoom out: TikTok has been leaning further into commerce as its business reaches maturity in the U.S. and globally,

• TikTok officially launched TikTok Shop in the U.S. in September 2023. It's added shopping to its livestream product, boosting sales.
• The company has projected that TikTok Live would generate $77 billion in sales revenue globally by 2027, per Bloomberg.

The big picture: While Google and Apple have brought TikTok back to their app stores, the law banning TikTok still remains and the app's future is uncertain.

• Google, for example, only plans to keep TikTok available in its app store until the end of President Trump's 75-day extension of the ban on the app, a source familiar with the company's efforts told Axios.
• In the interim, TikTok continues to post hundreds of new jobs in the U.S.

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Victor Morales has been named acting CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, the body that oversees U.S. government-funded news organizations, according to an email to staff from new USAGM special adviser Kari Lake sent Monday night and obtained by Axios.

Why it matters: USAGM has wasted no time probing journalists at Voice of America, the largest U.S. international broadcaster, for what it says are possible violations of its social media rules.

• Sources inside VOA worry the new Trump administration will try to turn the broadcaster into a vehicle for its agenda. NPR reported similar concerns last week.
• Morales started working at USAGM in 2016 and was a longtime VOA journalist before that.

State of play: USAGM has opened HR investigations into VOA journalists for reporting on criticism of President Trump, sources confirmed to Axios.

• One of the broadcaster's most visible journalists, chief national correspondent Steven Herman, was placed on "excused absence" last Friday pending an HR investigation, Herman confirmed to Axios.
• A source familiar with the situation said Herman was cut off from all email and internal communications about an hour after receiving the notice.
• The New York Times reported about the HR investigations Friday.
• USAGM said, "This agency does not respond to media inquiries involving personnel matters."

Between the lines: Trump selected L. Brent Bozell III, a conservative activist and media critic, to lead USAGM during his second term. Bozell has yet to be confirmed by the Senate.

• Trump also tapped former Arizona senate candidate and newscaster Lake to lead VOA.
• Lake can't technically be named to lead VOA until Bozell is confirmed by the Senate and then her appointment is approved by a nonpartisan board. Elon Musk has called for VOA to be shut down.

The big picture: The first Trump administration tried to go after VOA and other government-funded foreign broadcast groups, but was met with serious bipartisan backlash from Capitol Hill.

• VOA, the most famous of the five news agencies overseen by USAGM, was created more than 80 years ago to combat Nazi propaganda during WWII. It's supposed to represent the interests of America abroad.
• A legal firewall is supposed to protect it from any government interference.

Flashback: Michael Pack, the conservative filmmaker who was nominated by President Trump to lead USAGM during his first term, was accused of fraud, as well as misuse of office, during his short tenure during 2020 and 2021.

• Pack targeted Herman and the VOA's longtime White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara during his tenure. He resigned at the request of former President Biden when he took office in January 2021.
• Widakuswara was told she was being involuntarily reassigned to another beat, the New York Times reported last week. She will remain an editor, overseeing domestic and foreign policy, but not covering the White House, a source confirmed to Axios.

Patch, the hyperlocal digital news platform, has expanded its editorial presence to nearly every town in the U.S. using AI, per CEO Warren St. John.

Why it matters: The AI newsletters, which are trained to pull information from vetted sources — including from Patch — have expanded Patch's reach from 1,100 U.S. communities to 30,000 in just a few months.

• Of Patch's 3 million newsletter subscribers nationally, 400,000 subscribe to its new AI newsletter products, per St. John.

The big picture: The AI newsletters shift Patch's business from a local publisher to a hyperlocal information platform.

• It makes Patch more of a competitor to a company like Nextdoor, which is also introducing local news content to its customized user feed.

Follow the money: The 120-person bootstrapped company, which was sold by AOL in 2014, is profitable and has been for many years.

• Asked whether Patch is looking for a buyer, St. John said, "We just want to run a sustainable business on our own terms."

How it works: The free newsletters are created using AI built on Patch datasets that are human-curated, St. John said.

• The newsletters include top stories with links to the original articles on local publisher websites that are vetted by Patch. They also include lists of upcoming local events pulled from multiple sources, including hundreds of Patch's own hyperlocal event calendars.

Zoom in: The tech and infrastructure used to deploy the newsletters were developed internally by Patch engineers late last year, leveraging large language models from various generative AI platforms.

• St. John said the newsletters supplement the original reporting of its 85 full-time newsroom staffers and won't replace the work of any of Patch's journalists.

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E.W. Scripps is laying off staff across multiple local news stations, employees were told on Monday.

Why it matters: The cuts are the latest blow to shrinking local TV newsrooms across the U.S.

• Tegna laid off members from its fact-checking team in February.
• Nexstar said in December it would lay off 2% of staffers.
• Gray Television announced cuts amid a restructuring in November.

Zoom in: The Cincinnati, Ohio-based company operates 61 stations in 41 markets, including KMGH in Denver, WXYZ in Detroit and WTVF in Nashville.

• The company informed some local station employees Monday of newsroom layoffs and said that it would not fill any open positions, a source familiar with the cuts told Axios.
• Local station groups will determine how they wish to implement the layoffs, they noted.
• Scripps declined to comment.

Zoom out: Scripps cited active refinancing negotiations, including its term loan and revolving credit facility, when it delayed its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings report on Feb. 27.

• The company previously said it paid down $115 million of debt during the third quarter of 2024 and expected to pay down $300 million in total for the year.
• Scripps CEO Adam Symson announced in September that the company was shuttering its 24/7 national, over-the-air broadcast news channel and cutting about 200 staffers. He cited financial challenges stemming from brands and agencies not wanting to advertise around national news.

What we're watching: Scripps said it will release its next earnings report on March 11.

Indie movie studios dominated the Oscars Sunday, with Neon's "Anora" taking home five awards, including best picture, and A24's "The Brutalist" winning three.

Zoom in: Indie films largely dominated major categories at the Academy Awards over hits from traditional studios.

• "Flow," a Latvian film, was the first indie film to ever win best animated picture, beating traditional studio films such as Universal Pictures' "The Wild Robot" and Disney's "Inside Out 2."

The big picture: The Oscars are selected by thousands of voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Winning awards often comes down to politics and marketing, as much as it does the quality of a film.

• Neon is known for its creative marketing tactics that allow it to drum up excitement and curiosity on a lower budget.

What to watch: Ratings for the 97th Oscars were up around 1% compared to last — a five-year high, according to final Nielsen ratings.

• ABC parent Disney experienced some technical difficulties in airing the show live for the first time ever on Hulu.
• The Academy has had informal conversations about possibly moving on from its distribution relationship with ABC after its contract lapses in 2028, Bloomberg reports. ABC has aired the Oscars for more than 50 years.

Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming service Max and Lionsgate's Starz both have more bundled offerings in the U.S. than any other service — 11 times as many as Paramount+, nearly triple Netflix and twice Peacock, according to an Axios analysis.

By the numbers: There are 46 bundles among 11 of the major streaming services available in the U.S. The tally includes bundles offering a streaming service for free, or at a discount, for at least six months.

Go deeper: Get the full breakdown and analysis by subscribing to Axios Media Trends Executive, our new membership offering for media professionals.

• Sign up here
• Email me for a special Media Trends discount code ([email protected]).

Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch says Fox Nation, the subscription streamer from Fox News, has between 2 and 2.5 million subscribers since its launch in 2018, per Variety.

Why it matters: That figure provides valuable new context about the appetite for paid news streaming services.

Flashback: CNN+ had forecasted nearly 30 million global subscriptions by 2030, before it was shuttered in 2022.

• It made projections based on subscriber growth at companies like ESPN, which includes live sports rights, and the New York Times, which offers a bundle of news and lifestyle services content.

Between the lines: Fox Nation includes original shows and programming from its Fox News talent, as well as scripted entertainment content.

• Murdoch, for example, cited a documentary series from Kevin Costner and director Martin Scorsese as a successful part of Fox Nation's subscriber acquisition strategy.
• The service could be used to transition Fox News cable subscribers to streaming, if and when the cable bundle becomes obsolete.

What to watch: Fox Corp. plans to introduce a broad, new subscription streamer at the end of this year.

• The unnamed service, which will feature existing sports, entertainment and news content from its brands, will be priced "relatively low," to attract non-cable viewers, Murdoch told investors last month.
• Fox Corp. named Pete Distad CEO of the upcoming platform. Distad was previously set to lead Venu, a joint streaming service with Fox, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery that would be catered to sports fans, but the service shuttered before it was to launch in January.