USA Today
Buzz says Miley Cyrus may show up in a commercial to air during the Super Bowl. The Fox broadcast audience is expected to exceed 100 million. Her management team isn't talking. "Miley's name automatically gets a brand media coverage," says David Schwab of Octagon First Call, which represents celebrities. Schwab suggests the biggest hoot would be for Cyrus to show up as her former Disney character. "Everyone would be waiting for Miley to twerk, and out comes sweet, ol' Hannah Montana."
San Francisco Chronicle
Netflix, in an effort to get people to watch more content online, is launching a new interface, it's most extensive redesign ever. The company has 31.1 million online streaming customers in the U.S. and nearly 10 million more in 40 other countries, all streaming about 1 billion hours of video. Subscribers will see the new look on devices attached to their TVs like PlayStation 3 and 4, Xbox 360 and the Roku 3 media player, as well as newer-model Internet-connected smart TVs and Blu-ray players.
Detroit Bureau
General Motors is moving its international headquarters from Shanghai, China, to Singapore. Stefan Jacoby, an executive vice president, will oversee about 120 employees in the new location, GM said in a statement. The move, which expected to be complete in the second quarter of 2014, is part of the maker's recently announced plans separate China operations from its international unit.
The New York Times
After months of setbacks and delays, the merger of American Airlines and US Airways to create the world's largest airline became all but certain on Tuesday after the airlines reached a settlement with the Justice Department just two weeks before a scheduled trial. The deal paves the way for the creation of a third major global airline that can compete with United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, which completed their own mergers in recent years, and sets the structure for the domestic airline industry for years to come.
Consumerist
Over 180,000 pounds of chicken and ham salads sold in outlets like Walgreens, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe's have been recalled due to possible contamination with E. coli bacteria. Atherstone Foods announced that they're recalling packaged veggie wraps and salad kits that are meatless, but still potentially contaminated. Possibly contaminated items were distributed under the Trader Joe's, Delish, and Atherstone Farms brands at Trader Joe's, Walgreens, and Whole Foods stores in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington state.
Advertising Age
MillerCoors cutting Miller Chill, the lime-flavored beer, because of slow sales. The beer competed with Bud Light Lime, but will be discontinued next year as the brewer focuses on other priorities, including the upcoming launches of higher-alcohol Miller Fortune and Smith & Forge Hard Cider. "We have been very vocal about our desire to evolve our portfolio to the fast-growing and higher margin segments of the beer business," said a spokesman in an email, referencing brands such as Redd's, Third Shift and Leinenkugel Summer Shandy.
Detroit Bureau
Despite three recalls and a potential investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Tesla Motors founder and CEO Elon Musk insists "there definitely won't be a recall" of the maker's Model S battery-electric vehicle. Speaking at a conference in New York also broadcast on CNBC, Musk decried as "extremely inaccurate and unreasonable" the reaction to reports of fires that have occurred in three Model S sedans since late September. Concerns about the vehicle's safety, along with a series of negative reports by analysts following Tesla, have led to a sharp plunge in the maker's stock.
Adweek
Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, is proposing slimming the advertising tax deduction. Sources say the measure, which could cost advertisers millions and reduce revenue for ad-supported media, has been written into a working draft of a tax reform bill. It would allow advertisers to deduct only 50% of all ad expenses in the first year and amortize the remaining 50% over the next 10 years.
Kotaku
Sony is introducing the Amazon Playstation Network Store, an alternate venue to purchase digital Playstation content for Playstation 3, Playstation 4, and Playstation Vita. This eliminates the issue that a digital sales platform might have presented: restricting sales to only one storefront for potential deals. Amazon is offering $5 PSN credit on some purchases and an extra $5 PSN for those who do a buy two get one free program starting yesterday.
NickBilton.com
Twitter was almost called "Smssy" and even when Twitter was settled upon the logo ideas were pretty crappy. Nick Bilton writes that while researching for his book "Hatching Twitter" Bilton he stumbled on internal emails that showed early names and logos: "Twitch," "Friendstalker" and "Smssy" among them. Check out the logo ideas at the jump.