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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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Not By Choice on MuchOnDemand on MuchMusic in 2002.
Courtesy Photo

Not By Choice on MuchOnDemand on MuchMusic in 2002.

FYI

Obituary: Mike Bilcox of Ajax, Ontario Pop-Punk Band Not By Choice

Former drummer and now head of Round One Sports & Entertainment Liam Killeen pens this tribute to his former bandmate, with words from The Feldman Agency's Jeff Craib, Sum 41's Dave Baksh, Simple Plan's Chuck Comeau and more.

Mike Bilcox, lead singer and guitarist of Ajax, Ontario’s second most famous pop-punk band, Not By Choice, passed away on June 21, at age 48.

Mike started Not By Choice with his Ajax High School friend Glenn ‘Chico’ Dunning back in 1997. They had initially played a few shows under different names that may or may not be suitable for print, but our moniker came from Mike bothering his younger sister Chrissy at the dinner table. When she couldn’t take any more of his taunting, she promptly told her Mom, Pat, that he was annoying her – Pat yelled ‘Well, he’s your brother!’ to which Chrissy quickly replied ‘Yeah, not by choice!’. With that, a real band was born.

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