Media Beat, Aug. 10, 2023

By David Farrell

Telus letting go 6,000 workers

'We have actioned meaningful cost efficiency efforts… to align our support costs with current demand to drive improvements to our bottom line'. – Human Resources Director

CRTC extends hundreds of TV broadcast licenses

The regulator is seeking more time to modernize its licensing framework as it implements the Online Streaming Act. – Josh Kolm, Media in Canada

News publishers and broadcasters call for competition bureau investigation into news blocking

The applicants ask the Competition Bureau to use its investigative and prosecutorial tools to protect competition and prohibit Meta from continuing to block Canadians’ access to news content. The applicants also request that Meta refrain from discriminating, by algorithm or by any other means, against content from Canadian news organizations on its digital platforms accessible in Canada. - BusinessWire

Broadcasters in U.S. and Canada slam Meta for pulling down news north of the border

The National Association of Broadcasters and Canadian Association of Broadcasters support the legislation they say enables news providers to negotiate with dominant digital platforms for fair terms and conditions when broadcaster content appears on their platforms. –InsideRadio

‘Disaster’: warning for democracy as experts condemn Meta over Canada news ban

The retaliatory move against Online News Act is an ‘epic miscalculation’ that will promote the spread of misinformation, analysts say. – Tracy Lindeman, The Guardian

Notable

Rosalie Trombley commemorative sculpture set for Windsor, ON – Facebook

The AI rules that US policymakers are considering, explained – Vox

‘So glad I’m not Canadian,’ Piers Morgan mocks Justin Trudeau after PM shares photo with his son at the ‘Barbie’ movie – Toronto Star

Stingray sells karaoke tech to Chinese EV maker – ChinaTechNews

After trying for three years, Paramount finally unloads Simon & Schuster for $1.6 billion – CNN

How AI will transform elections – ZDNet

Gravitas: Rise of AI and E-commerce to steal millions of jobs

Google says AI systems should be able to mine publishers’ work unless companies opt out – The Guardian

Survey: 59% willing to watch ads to cut streaming costs – tvtech