Media Beat: January 11, 2019

By David Farrell

Quoted

“I think my great fear is that journalists as a whole get too used to this unusual time. Trump is having his first Oval Office address. That is a very normal, common move. Television networks know how to do that. They have their graphics packages already ready. The anchors know what to say. Everyone knows how to run that play, so to speak, but this is such an unusual time. Look, maybe he will wake up tomorrow and stop lying, but, if this behavior continues, if we stop covering him as the Misleader-in-Chief, we have stopped covering the story. As Daniel Dale [the Washington correspondent for the Toronto Star] often says, the lying is the story. Especially on the topic of immigration, the lying is the story. But if we stop prioritizing it, and making it front and center, and if we seek out false equivalencies between a Democrat who lies once a day and a President who lies ten times a day, I think we are doing a disservice to the audience.” – CNN’s chief media correspondent, Brian Stelter, The New Yorker

A message from Save Jazz FM91 Founder, Brian Hemming

The outline of the case to support requisition for a general meeting of Members of Toronto’s JAZZ.FM91

CBC alleges former manager engaged in “destructive” misconduct

Among the allegations against former the former CBC manager is treating 12 employees poorly, from discouraging employees from taking vacation to making a subordinate do her child’s homework. The alleged statements include remarks made to employees like “If you get pregnant, I will push you down the stairs” and “One day your daughter is going to jump in front of the train and kill herself.”

None of the statements has been proven in a court of law. – Jaren Kerr, Canadaland

Netflix interested in creating Toronto production hub, says Mayor John Tory

“Their message to us has been very consistent in the four years I’ve been there: Don’t mess with the money, meaning the tax credits; build more studio space; get us an even deeper pool of talent by working to have more people available behind and in front of the camera; and give us good customer service,” Tory said. – Victoria Ahearn, The Canadian Press

AM 640’s phones go down at the most ironic moment

It's embarrassing enough when they try to go to the lines on a major market talk station and there's no one there. But just when I thought it couldn't get any stranger, John Oakley tried to interview Julian Fantino Wednesday afternoon. When the phones didn't cooperate, his producer had the rather odd idea of calling him on her cell phone, putting it on speaker and holding the thing up to the mic!

And guess what - they either lost the signal or the cell battery died because as soon as Fantino said "Hello" he was gone. 

Talk about hang-ups. 

It's starting to get chronic, and I really think Corus should have a chat with their phone provider.

But they may have to call them from a different location. – SOWNY board

CRTC asks for authority to regulate online service providers like Netflix

Citing its report Harnessing Change: The Future of Programming Distribution, the CRTC says a new approach should place emphasis on the promotion and discoverability of Canadian content from music, podcasts, and short‑form video, to feature-length film, regardless of what platform it’s offered on.

“All stakeholders should be obligated and incented to promote and make content by Canadians discoverable, including government funding supports. Government should contribute to this effort as well through funding and tax-based supports of promotion and discoverability.” – Connie Thiessen, Broadcast Dialogue

Who’s ready to step up and fix commercials on radio?

Radio’s commercial problems continue. The ads have been horrible for a while now. But it’s becoming a crisis. And at some stations, the ads make up nearly 25% of programming time.

Listeners know we have to play some. They accept that. They’re actually quite forgiving. Even millennials are okay with putting up with some commercials, as I proved in my study on 18-30-year-old listeners.

But do the ads have to be so painful? Do the stop sets have to be so long? Does every station have to break at the same time? It’s time to fix the commercial problems.  – Tracy Johnson, Tracy Johnson Media Group

One fee for Netflix, Amazon and Hulu? Digital TV bundling gains momentum

While the Big Three — Netflix, Hulu and Amazon — were absent from the list of streamers available on a single bill at Roku, observers increasingly believe it is inevitable that the era of bundled streamers is near as households tire of paying an average $107 a month for cable, Leichtman Research Group estimates. – Paul Bond, The Hollywood Reporter