GENERAL:
Bell Let’s Talk Day 2017 was one for the record books with over $6.5 million in funding raised for Canadian mental health. Over the 28.5 hours from midnight Newfoundland time to midnight Pacific time, there were 131,705,010 total Bell Let’s Talk interactions, including texts, mobile calls and long distance calls by Bell customers, tweets using the #BellLetsTalk hashtag on Twitter, views of the Facebook Bell Let’s Talk video, Instagram posts using the #BellLetsTalk hashtag and Snapchats with the Bell Let’s Talk geofilter. Total social media interactions almost tripled to 22,008,855 this year. #BellLetsTalk was the top Twitter trend in Canada and worldwide. With Bell donating five cents per interaction the result is a further $6,585,250 in funding for Canadian mental health programs.
SOCAN announced another record year in 2016, with its 150,000 member songwriters, composers and music publishers generating $330 million in total revenue – an increase of eight per cent year-over-year. Other highlights of SOCAN’s preliminary financial results include a huge increase in music streaming revenues – jumping to approximately $13 million, an increase of more than 460 per cent over 2015.
Rogers Communications reported its results for the fourth quarter of 2016, saying it’s decision to shelve its in-house IPTV system in favour of partnering with U.S. cable giant Comcast resulted in a $484-million expense. As a result, Rogers lost $9 million in the fourth quarter. The company’s financial loss for its fourth-quarter amounted to four cents per diluted share on $3.51 billion in revenue compared with a profit of $299 million or 58 cents per share on $3.45 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2015. On an adjusted basis, Rogers said it earned a profit of $382 million or 74 cents per diluted share in its latest quarter. Revenue in Rogers wireless division rose four per cent to $2.058 billion from $1.981 billion in the same quarter last year.
Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. both survived the last quarter of 2016 with fewer customers cutting the cord than analysts had anticipated, indicating a possible slowing of the trend. The cable giants lost 13,000 and 16,000 subscribers respectively. Last year total, Rogers lost 76,000 cable subscribers, down from 128,000 in 2015. Shaw cable and satellite subscriptions fell 131,000, down from 152,000 in 2015.
The Media Technology Monitor (MTM), a research product of CBC/Radio Canada, has released its new Sneak Peek Report. Key findings include one-fifth of Canadians showing interest in cutting their landline phones. The report also finds while Netflix continues to show subscription growth, nearly three in 10 Netflix subscribers report sharing their password with someone outside of their home. MTM also released its latest Media and Technology Adoption Report which finds over half of Anglophones and a third of Francophones now connect their TV to the Internet. Podcasting also continues to see growth with 28 per cent of Anglophones and 18 per cent of Francophones reporting listening to one in the past month. Read the free version of the report here.
Google ranks No. 1 atop the Top 10 Most Influential Brands in Canada for the fifth consecutive year. The Institute of Communication Agencies, in partnership with Ipsos, studies the 100+ brands that spend the most on advertising in Canada and ranks their influence. Facebook climbed to No. 2, while Microsoft retained its No. 3 position. Apple drops to No. 4. Amazon, a new addition to the Top Ten last year, continues to grow its influence and is now among the top five. YouTube drops one spot to No. 6. Walmart remains in spot No. 7, while Visa drops to No. 8. Canadians continue to adore Tim Hortons, a consistent Top Ten performer at No. 9, while CBC slid in at No. 10, after several years hiatus.
A delegation of 20 journalists and media workers, represented by Unifor, were in Ottawa this week to meet with Members of Parliament from every party to discuss the challenges facing the industry. Unifor says it has concerns about the ad-driven model for funding production of the news as Canadian content continues to deteriorate under the pressure of cheaper digital ads from tech giants like Google and Facebook.
The Public Policy Forum has released a major report on the crisis in Canada’s media industry. Among its 12 recommendations are changes to income tax rules and the CBC revenue model to boost funding for private and nonprofit news operations. It also calls for a new “local mandate” for national wire service The Canadian Press, ensuring there are more journalistic “boots on the ground” to supplement coverage of courts, legislatures and city halls; an Indigenous journalism initiative to put more resources into communities and governments often overlooked; and the creation of a research institute that would examine news and democracy issues, including the distribution of fake news in Canada. Read the entire report here.
RTDNA Canada has extended its submission deadline for the 2017 Regional and Network Awards to today (Feb. 2). This year’s awards program includes expansion of several categories to acknowledge the growing importance of digital, live network sports programming and additional network categories which had previously been limited to the regions.
Journalists for Human Rights has announced its first ever cohort of Ambassadors for Journalists for Human Rights. They include CTV News anchor Lisa LaFlamme; Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri; Troy Reeb, head of news and local broadcasting for Corus Entertainment; Karyn Pugliese, executive director of news and current affairs for Aboriginal Peoples’ Television Network; Toronto Star editor and JHR board chair Michael Cooke; Jennifer Hollett, head of news and government at Twitter Canada; and CPAC CEO Catherine Cano. JHR says the group exemplifies the principles it stands for, at a time when the need for strengthening journalists’ ability to do their job is greater than ever.
The Canadian Journalism Foundation, together with CBC News, is accepting applications to its CJF-CBC Indigenous Journalism Fellowships program. The award allows two early-career Indigenous journalists, with one to 10 years experience, explore Indigenous issues while hosted for one month at the CBC News Indigenous Unit in Winnipeg. The application deadline is Feb. 24. The application is here.
Future You: Preparing For Your Career In Media is the focus of OAB Career Day 2017. Open to students currently enrolled in broadcasting or a related program at an Ontario post-secondary school, roundtable discussions provide an opportunity for students to speak candidly with experienced broadcasters. The Ontario Association of Broadcasters is also inviting educators from Ontario broadcasting schools to submit nominations online for the Michael Monty Scholarship Award. Nominees will be judged on strong academic marks and on their efforts to make a difference by getting involved in extracurricular activities, like volunteering with student groups or organizations. The deadline for nominations is Feb. 24.
