Media Beat: July 24, 2019

By David Farrell

Punk docuseries on Bell Media’s Crave

Musicians profiled in Punk, a four-part docuseries Punk include co executive producer Iggy Pop, Johnny Rotten (Sex Pistols), Henry Rollins (Black Flag/Rollins Band), Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day), Joan Jett (Runaways/Joan Jett & the Blackhearts), Marky Ramone (Ramones), Debbie Harry and Chris Stein (Blondie), Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses), Wayne Kramer (MC5), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys/Alternative Tentacles), Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Dave Grohl (Nirvana/Foo Fighters). – Alison Skilton, TVREAL.ws

Canada to invest in satellite technology to connect rural, remote areas

The head of Ottawa-based Telesat will join Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains for an event that appears to be part of the government's commitment to invest $100M over five years into a technology known as low-Earth-orbit satellites.

In its spring budget, the Liberal government said low-Earth-orbit satellite capacity would be part of its $1.7-billion vow to help rural and remote areas gain access to reliable, high-speed Internet. – Andy Blatchford, CBC News

U.S. Justice Department opens an antitrust investigation of tech companies

The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a sweeping antitrust investigation of big technology companies and whether their online platforms have hurt competition, suppressed innovation or otherwise harmed consumers. – The Associated Press

Mixhalo raises $10.7M to bring better sound quality to live events

The company’s initial goal was to bring better sound quality to concerts. Instead of hearing music blasted out of speakers, users can connect their smartphone to a network (the startup creates its own wireless channel that doesn’t rely on the venue’s potentially overloaded Wi-Fi or cell networks). Then, through their earbuds, they’ll hear the same sound mix that the musicians receive through their in-ear monitors. – Anthony Ha, TechCrunch

Saudi state part-owns Evening Standard and Independent, court told

The Evening Standard and the Independent have been explicitly accused by the British government of being part-owned by the Saudi Arabian state, with a series of “unconventional, complex and clandestine” deals used to hide the sale of stakes in the London-based news outlets to a Saudi government bank. – Jim Waterson, The Guardian

Media’s blame game

Earlier this week, the New York Post reported that the cover of the July 29th issue of Time magazine, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Apollo mission to the moon, is “brought to you by Jimmy Dean” and features a front cover flap with “an ad on its underside ‘celebrating 50 years of quality sausage.’” The decades have certainly been kinder to sausage than they have to magazines. This is just the latest indignity to be suffered by a former property of Time Inc., which itself has been dismantled and sold off like pieces of scrap metal to other publishers, who are now primarily in the business of strip-mining for consumer profile data. – Om Malik, Om

Audio today: How America listens

Advertisers are also keen to realize that no one type of media can do the job alone anymore. New advanced analytics and powerful media planning tools are helping radio capitalize on its mass appeal by delivering incremental reach when used in combination with other channels. Understanding this cross-platform dynamic is more important than ever, and both buyers and sellers of media are developing an appreciation for how radio can supplement, augment, and amplify TV advertising. The combination of radio and TV make for a potent mix. – The Nielsen Co. (US)

Facebook, Amazon set lobbying records

Each company spent a little more than $4 million on lobbying in the second quarter, the first time either firm has spent that much on their influence operations in the capital.

The surge in spending comes as Congress and regulators are scrutinizing tech giants’ market power and handling of user data. – Harper Neidig, The Hill

Jeffrey Epstein’s finally being publicly shamed — Could Trump be next?

Not so long ago, there was no public shame in being a dirty old man. While political pundits proclaimed 1992 the Year of the Woman, Donald Trump was manhandling an NFL cheerleader on camera, with pedo-predator Jeffrey Epstein snickering right next to him.

…But while Epstein sports prison duds in New York, down in Washington, D.C., Trump, accused of sexual predations by 17 women, is not only a free man, but Leader of the Free World, with the bully pulpit to shame them as “liars” from the White House. – Nina Burleigh, Rolling Stone

RCA's 100th anniversary: How a Russian immigrant changed our communication methods forever

RCA, originally known as the Radio Corp. of America, was the firm that 100 years ago helped give birth to radio, and later paved the way for television, broadcasting, and recorded music. Back in the day it also popularized VCRs. – Jefferson Graham, USA Today

Elvis biopic taps Austin Butler to play the King

The 27 year-old Shannara Chronicles alum will star in a biopic that spans 20 years in Elvis’s life, tracing his rise to stardom. It will focus on the singer’s relationship with his shrewd manager, Colonel Tom Parker, who will be played by Tom Hanks. – Yohana Desta, Vanity Fair

Headlines worth investigating

Touring goes beyond the grave: Behind the business, technology and ethics of the hologram concert revolution – Synchtank

Original Apollo 11 landing videotapes sell for $1.8M – TechCrunch

Grocery store employee missing for 10 years found behind store's cooler – CNN

How Warped Tour led the consumerist music festival revolution – Vox

RIP

Bill Luxton, best-known as the first half of the Willy and Floyd comedy team, died in Ottawa at age 92.

Luxton had a long, varied career and worked with generations of television personalities and reporters, including one-time American anchor Peter Jennings and legendary impressionist Rich Little. He did a great deal of voice-over work, was active in local theatre and was deeply involved in the heyday of in-house production at CJOH. – Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen