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A new coronavirus variant, C.1.2, has been detected in South Africa and a number of other countries, with concerns that it could be more infectious and evade vaccines, according to a new preprint study by South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases and the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform. The study is awaiting peer review. – The Jerusalem Post (via Warren’s network)
The specialty channel has a heavy schedule of live concerts, music docs and the like this month, heralded by the premiere of Metric: Dreams So Real, a concert doc filmed on the band’s 2016 global tour. Other billings include Coldplay Live in São Paulo, The Sapphires, Detroit Rock City, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Buddy Holly Story, Elvis…on Tour, Blue Hawaii and King Creole, Jailhouse Rock, Viva Las Vegas, Love Me Tender, Purple Rain, Paul Simon in Concert, Bona Vista Social Club, and Creem: America’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Magazine. The full schedule can be found here.
Telus has been on a tear over the past year, relatively speaking. The stock is up about 21 per cent since last August, a substantial figure for a utility like Telus which has delivered a gain of about 140 per cent over the past ten years, not including the always attractive dividend which currently sports a yield of 4.3 per cent.
That 21 per cent return over the past 12 months compares favourably to rivals BCE and Rogers Communications who have returned about 14 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively, over that time span.
But Bill Harris, partner at Avenue Investment, who spoke on BNN Bloomberg, sees growth potential in Telus, even though the stock may not be a buy at the moment.
“The interesting thing is in this particular window — we think it’s actually already priced into the market, as Telus has done well and it’s priced in — is where BCE and Rogers felt that they had to have content and then you’re selling your content on your platform, Telus has gone out and said that data analysis and AI are going to be part of the future,” Harris said. – Jason MacLean, CanTech Letter
Interested creators are invited to pitch a locally reflective original idea for a short documentary, web pilot series or digital short for the opportunity to receive a grant. Online applications are open September 1 to October 6, 2021.
In addition to the funding, successful creators will receive customized career training, filmmaking mentorship, and distribution of their projects on select Telus platforms. No previous experience in film production or other creative endeavours is required to submit an application.
Large Canadian broadcasting and telecommunication enterprises collected significant amounts from the federal government’s Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and Canada Recovery Hiring Program (CRHP) in 2020 and will likely receive more for 2021. According to CRA, Rogers and BCE alone received more than $200M in wage subsidies. – Denis Carmel, CARTT
On September 20, Canadians will be going to the polls: Here are the positions of the major parties on arts, culture, and heritage. – BC Alliance for Arts + Culture
VaxiCode Verif is a reader application that scans data contained in the QR code, including a cryptographic signature to verify the code’s authenticity. That reader could scan a QR code uploaded to the VaxiCode application or to a paper version of the code, or to a photograph or PDF of the code. – The Canadian Press
Last week, it was Charlie Watts, the Rolling Stones’ dapper drummer. Unlike so many of these events that have suddenly occurred during “inconvenient” hours – over weekends, at night, etc. – the announcement that Watts had succumbed at age 80 came during the noon hour ET this past Tuesday. Perfect, right?
But as usual, I saw the outrage on Twitter and Facebook, aimed at Classic Rock stations that made no announcement about Watts’ death, nor played any Stones songs. Stations that heavily voicetrack and/or use midday talent from out of the market, were especially likely to have missed the moment. – Fred Jacobs, Jacobs Media
The most recent Share of Ear study from Edison Research finds that 12% of all AM/FM radio listening is via streaming, while 88% of listening is done to a traditional, over-the-air radio signal.
AM/FM radio content in the U.S. is now available through a variety of digital apps and devices, making radio listening possible on computers, smartphones, smart speakers, and through radio station websites, apps, and third-party apps. Although streaming AM/FM content continues to see small amounts of incremental growth each year, and at 12% is the highest measure yet, the largest amount of listening goes to the over-the-air (OTA) signals from devices such as car radios and clock radios.
Vice Media officially nixed plans to go public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), at least for now, The Information reports. However, Vice did raise an additional US$85M from existing investors. A portion of those funds are earmarked for costs associated with the company’s 2016 acquisition of UK-based studio Pulse, since it must continue investing to retain a majority share of the company. Vice co-founder Shane Smith will no longer control a voting majority of Vice, though he’ll remain as board chairman. The digital media company was $20M in the red last year, down from a $100M loss in 2018. So investors hope the new round will be a bridge to sustainable profitability. – AdExchanger
Capital flows out of Hong Kong banks reaching Canada rose to their highest levels on record last year, with about C$43.6B in electronic funds transfers (EFT) recorded by FINTRAC, Canada’s anti-money laundering agency, which receives reports on transfers above C$10,000.
The outflows represent only 1.9 per cent of Hong Kong’s total bank deposits in 2020. But, at the same time, the FINTRAC data captures only a fraction of total legal inflows into the Canadian economy because many transactions are not included, such as transfers via cryptocurrencies, between financial institutions. – Sarah Wu & Nicholas Saminather, Reuters
Over half (53.9%) of businesses reported that they could continue operating at their current level of revenue and expenditures for 12 months or more before considering closure or bankruptcy, compared with over two-thirds (68.5%) of businesses that reported the same in the second quarter. Similar to the second quarter, 6.8% of businesses reported that they could continue for less than 12 months. Less than one-fifth of businesses in accommodation and food services (16.9%) reported that they could continue to operate at their current level of revenue and expenditures for less than 12 months before having to consider closure or bankruptcy, down from the previous quarter (22.8%).
Almost half (49.4%) of businesses reported that they could continue to operate at their current level of revenue and expenditures for 12 months or more before considering laying off staff, down from the over three-fifths (61.6%) of businesses that reported the same in the second quarter. Meanwhile, more than one in six businesses (17.7%) reported that they could continue for less than 12 months before considering laying off staff. Businesses in accommodation and food services (34.5%), in arts, entertainment and recreation (33.7%), and in manufacturing (24.3%) were most likely to report that they could continue operating at their current level of revenue and expenditures for less than 12 months before considering laying off staff. – Statistics Canada
Over one-quarter (27.8%) of businesses anticipated that some of their workforce would continue to primarily telework once the COVID-19 pandemic is over. The businesses most likely to anticipate having some of their staff primarily telework were those in information and cultural industries (53.4%); professional, scientific and technical services (51.5%); and finance and insurance (44.8%). Of the businesses anticipating staff to telework, almost one in six (14.7%) foresaw reducing their office space because more of their workforce would be teleworking.
In the hours after Kabul fell to the Taliban, swathes of the mainstream US news media instantly savaged President Biden for losing Afghanistan. In the week since then, he has stayed under an intense spotlight. News organizations have disputed the accuracy of many of his claims about the situation on the ground—a “credibility gap,” Politico’s Playbook newsletter wrote over the weekend, “that is dominating the coverage right now and could threaten Biden’s standing with the public.” The credibility-gap narrative has extended overseas, with American commentators and foreign outlets alike stating that Biden has taken a wrecking ball to global perceptions of US prestige and reliability. – Jon Allsop, Columbia Journalism Review
Fox News is driving political violence in the US, a media watchdog warned, after the primetime host Tucker Carlson predicted “revolt” against the Biden administration.
In a Monday night monologue targeting the White House and military leaders over the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Carlson demanded resignations. He also said: “When leaders refuse to hold themselves accountable over time, people revolt. That happens.
“We need to change course immediately and start acknowledging our mistakes. The people who made them need to start acknowledging them or else the consequences will be awful.” – Martin Pengelly, The Guardian
America’s media giants in March hitched their wagons to the NFL for another decade. Next week, they’ll find out whether that US$105B was money well spent.
The new NFL season, which begins Sept. 9, will provide a crucial stress test of the popularity of TV’s biggest attraction. Last year, NFL regular season viewership fell 7%, marking the first drop in three years. But it was hard to tell if fewer people watched because of declining interest in the sport or due to Covid-related disruptions, including an unusually crowded sports calendar, games played without fans and players sidelined by the coronavirus.
Now, CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN and Amazon.com Inc. will get a clearer picture of what they will be paying for through 2033: an entertainment property largely immune to the pressures facing the rest of TV or one that’s also starting to slip. – Gerry Smith, Bloomberg News
New York Times Co. is putting 18 newsletters behind a paywall, going toe to toe with rival offerings from Twitter, Facebook and Substack Inc. in an effort to boost subscribers.
The company leads the newspaper industry, with more than 8M total subscriptions. – Gerry Smith, Bloomberg
It’s another smart move for Liberty Media which owns 77% of SiriusXM, a third of Live Nation and some 7M shares of iHeartMedia, so it’s expected that further cross-pollination between the two media platforms will materialize. In short, it’s not just about the music.
Both parents and adult children often fail to recognize how profoundly the rules of family life have changed over the past half century. – Joshua Coleman, The Atlantic
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Jon Stewart blasted the media for covering the “banal” details of former President Trump’s first of four criminal trials, which began with opening statements Monday following a week of jury selection.
In his Monday night broadcast of “The Daily Show,” Stewart poked fun at the TV news media for tracking Trump’s traffic route from Trump Tower to the courtroom, compiling footage from various outlets, as they tracked each turn his car made.
“Seriously, are we going to follow this guy to court every f‑‑‑ing day? Are you trying to make this O.J. [Simpson]? It’s not a chase. He’s commuting,” Stewart said. “So the media’s first attempt — the very first attempt on the first day — at self-control failed.”
Media outlets have closely covered Trump in recent days, as he makes history as the first U.S. president to stand trial on criminal charges. Trump is also the presumptive GOP nominee for president this year.
Trump currently faces 34 criminal counts of falsifying business records in connection to reimbursements to his then-fixer, Michael Cohen, who paid adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 ahead of the 2016 election to stay quiet about an alleged affair she had with the former president a decade prior. It is the first of four criminal trials Trump will face, and perhaps the only one that will go to a jury before the November election.
Stewart, in his broadcast, took aim at TV news outlets, suggesting they were covering small news alerts as significant breaking news developments.
Stewart pretended a producer was talking in his earpiece and paused midsentence, saying, “Hold on. We’re getting breaking news,” and cut to a clip from an earlier interview conducted by CNN’s Jake Tapper, who similarly cut off his guest momentarily to identify a photo displayed on screen to his audience.
“I’m sorry to interrupt. Just for one second. I apologize,” Tapper said in the clip. “We’re just showing the first image of Donald Trump from inside the courtroom. It’s a still photograph that we’re showing there. Just want to make sure our viewers know what they’re looking at.”
Stewart shot back, saying, “Yes, for our viewers who are just waking up from a 30-year coma, this is what Donald Trump has looked like every day for the past 30 years. Same outfit.”
Stewart ripped CNN again for analyzing the courtroom sketches so closely, saying, “It’s a sketch. Why would anyone analyze a sketch like it was — it’d be like looking at the Last Supper and going, ‘Why do you think Jesus looks so sad here? What do you think? It’s because of Judas?’”
“Look, at some point in this trial, something important and revelatory is going to happen,” Stewart said. “But none of us are going to notice, because of the hours spent on his speculative facial ticks. If the media tries to make us feel like the most mundane bullshit is earth-shattering, we won’t believe you when it’s really interesting.”
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Russian media praises MTG for trying to derail Ukraine aid bill
CNN’s Fred Pleitgen reports that Ukrainians are hopeful that with the US passage of an aid bill, soldiers can turn things around in their fight against Russia.
‘This year will be the first time that we’ll see a global ad spend of over a trillion’ U.S. dollars, says Charles Etienne Morier
Published Apr 23, 2024 • Last updated 26 minutes ago • 5 minute read
Like their partners in the Canadian news industry, the country’s media agencies are undergoing unprecedented transformation. The National Post is holding conversations with leaders of Canada’s largest agencies on the fast-changing fundamentals. This week, Charles Etienne Morier, chief operating officer of Touché! & Omnicom Media Group Montreal, speaks to writer Rebecca Harris.
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It has dramatically changed with technological advancement and shifts in consumer behaviour. Now, more than 80% of digital ad spend is transacted through digital buying platforms, so it has become increasingly important for our workforce to have a good understanding of the algorithms and how to maximize them.
The process has changed also. It’s no longer about creating a 30-second spot and then selecting a media channel to distribute the message. We start with the audiences, the channels where we need to reach them, and then tailor a message that will be appealing. And so, we need to work even more closely with our creative partners.
And we think 2024 will change even more. It’s going to be an inflection point despite all the changes we have gone through over the last three years. This year will be the first time that we’ll see a global ad spend of over a trillion (U.S. dollars). It shows the responsibility that we have as advertisers and agencies to spend that money wisely and ensure we make every ad dollar count, and that we are engaging consumers in a way that speaks to them in an age where there’s a lot of uncertainty about how they share their data and private information.
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The team now needs to be proficient in so many areas. We used to have strategy, media buying and planning, and optimization and reporting. Now, we need to be able to help our clients navigate within this complex digital ecosystem with clean rooms (environments where brands, publishers and advertisers share data), the deprecation of cookies, and dynamic creative optimization. Our agency has changed dramatically in the sense that we offer much more depth in our services now. So, our leaders need to be proficient in being able to discuss those subjects with clients. We have a strong learning system in place and it’s part of our value, to make sure that our teams stay curious because it’s changing so much by the day.
Brands that are breaking through are able to prioritize authenticity, relevance and creativity in their messaging and their approach to media. Consumers are bombarded with messages every day and there’s ad blocking, so we have to find new ways of capturing consumer attention… We need to make ads relevant to consumers and bring more value into their lives. And leverage the data we have at our disposal to tailor the message to specific audience segments and engage the consumer in multiple touchpoints.
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We’ve been working for almost two years on educating our clients, making sure that they are prepared. So, we are doing assessments to make sure we have everything in place to prepare for the impact of the deprecation of cookies. It will change a lot for measurement because we will not be able to measure the same things the same way. We will not be able to target in the same way. But I see it as an opportunity somewhat, to be able to come back to (advertising) that is more creative and more around content and context… and more in relation to targeting the right people in the right moment instead of relying too much on the data.
Retail media (platforms that allow retailers to sell ads to brands) will be expanding. Now, the stat is one in five dollars will be spent in retail media globally and 20 per cent of the commerce ecosystem will be done online. So, it’s going to be more important to have a strong omnichannel approach and deliver a positive consumer experience.
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There’s also social commerce… There are so many influencers – there are 50 million creators globally. So how, as an agency, we’re able to harness that and power that at scale is crucial, and how we can partner with creators effectively. It’s changing a lot in media planning on that front. There is a real shift from curation to generation of content.
Television as well is changing a lot, from linear to connected TV. There is a streaming war at the moment, so we need to create new standards, overcome walled gardens (where the platform provider controls the content and data) and figure out measurement.
And obviously automation will play a bigger role. The way I see it is (artificial intelligence) will bring more value to what we do to bring smarter, faster and more effective work. For me, it’s not just about AI itself. It’s more about connected intelligence with the human at the centre of it. So, it’s how we can use the tool to amplify what we are doing.
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