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Media Beat: July 06, 2018

By David Farrell

A visit to the CBC archives, on the eve of destruction

Film degradation and antiquated film equipment are behind a move to transfer and destroy a portion of CBC’s archives. The thought of destroying anything has a chorus of protestors clamoring for a halt, but at what cost? The Globe and Mail’s Simon Houpt sweeps away the dust storm of nay-sayers and gets to the facts, and they are worth knowing. — Subscription


Did you really buy Corus stock for the dividend­?

The fact that Corus Entertainment Inc. cut its dividend June 27 by almost a loonie shouldn’t come as a surprise to any investors in its stock.

Fool contributors Matt Litalien and Joey Frenette both alluded to the potential for a dividend cut in articles they wrote in June prior to the recent announcement, and most analysts were already calling for a reduction in its annual payout.

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I’m not sure anyone could have predicted an 80% cut, but in hindsight, Corus’s business did look awfully troubled, providing plenty of warning signs. — Will Ashworth, The Motley Fool

A corus of Corus criticisms

Summary

  • Corus's management obliterated the company's longstanding dividend.

  • The company massively wrote-down goodwill on TV assets, somewhat dubiously.

  • Reduced dividend obligations mean the company will meet its long-debt targets easily next year.

  • Management is not working in the best interest of existing shareholders.

Free cash flow generation is still in place and provides room for a pivot. — Seeking Alpha

Bay Bloor Radio pulls the plug on JAZZ.FM

The long standing advertiser on JAZZ.FM91 has pulled its sponsorship dollars as the not-for-profit, listener-supported Toronto radio station continues to grapple with the fallout of a workplace investigation into allegations of bullying and sexual harassment by its former CEO and president, Ross Porter. BBR’s annual ad buy is pegged at about $70K. — Marc Bryan-Brown, The Globe & Mail

Polemicist Christie Blatchford’s CBC tirade

She works for a man who is frugal in every way save when it comes to his pay packet, and she’s known for her take-no-hostages style of news reportage. From her soapbox stand at the Financial Post she pulls no punches in venting about the national pubcaster, but one senses a degree of envy in having a newsroom that is staffed with people reporting about news events.

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Domhnall Gleeson & Taylor Swift
@taylorswift (Instagram)

Domhnall Gleeson & Taylor Swift

Pop

Taylor Swift Drops Two Extended Versions of ‘Opalite’ Video With Hilarious Behind-the-Scenes Outtakes: ‘Never Want to Forget a Single Detail’

The bonus versions include Swift describing the genesis of the throwback clip.

A week after dropping the hilarious, retro ’90s video for “Opalite,” Taylor Swift is doubling down with two extended versions of the star-studded clip. In an Instagram post announcing the bonus footage on Friday morning (Feb. 13), Swift shared a series of behind-the-scenes screen grabs from the set, writing, “I never want to forget a single detail of this hysterical shoot, and now I don’t have to! Excited to share more of the ‘Opalite’ Music Video with two extended versions full of dance lessoning, our phenomenal cameos, camcorder footage, gigantic scrunchies & fanny pack angles!”

In the first extended cut, after the full official video featuring dance partner Domhnall Gleeson, as well as Lewis Capaldi, Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith, Graham Norton and Cillian Murphy unspools, Swift pops up on old school TV explaining the genesis of the clip that had a real-life inspiration. “For like a year I was like, ‘what would I do for the ‘Opalite’ video?’,” Swift says, explaining that the idea for the visual she wrote and directed was hatched when she appeared on Norton’s British chat show in October with a panel that became the cast of the video.

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