Media Beat: July 28, 2022

By David Farrell

Rogers profits jumped 35% in the three months prior to the recent outage

The telecom giant posted quarterly results before stock markets opened on Wednesday, and the numbers painted a picture of a company whose business was booming.

Wireless service revenue increased by 11 percent to just shy of $1.8 billion "primarily as a result of higher roaming revenue associated with significantly increased travel," the company said. Rogers added roughly 122,000 new wireless customers during the quarter, roughly twice the number it added a year ago.

As well, cable revenues increased by 3 percent to just over $1.03 billion, "primarily as a result of service pricing changes," the company said. – Pete Evans, CBC News

Another “outage”: Rogers lawyer shuts down CBC interview after Shaw merger question

The shut-down happened after the CBC’s Vassy Kapelos probed about the proposed merger with Shaw Communications and then asked how it monopolizes telecommunications in Canada. Prigg first responded by saying that he cannot get into questions on the merger with Shaw. He then attempted to bring back the conversation to the original topic of the outage but Kapelos pushed further by asking about the “degree to which the market is monopolized.” This was when the woman’s voice is heard off-camera, telling Kapelos that the interview needs to end.

Study finds 1 in 3 US listeners under 40 discover new music on Twitch

1-in-3 music listeners in the U.S. discover new music through Twitch. 54% have discovered new music from streamers actively calling out songs or artists / recommending them in the middle of a live stream.  However, while the survey was conducted by a trusted source – Luminate (formerly MRC) which provides all the Billboard chart data – it was funded by Twitch–Bruce Broughton, Hypebot

Social media user info for sale on the dark web

According to HackerOne, the database allegedly consisted of 5.4 million users and included the datasets for celebrities, politicians and businesses. The owner of Breach Forums reportedly verified the authenticity of the leaked data. – Peter Suciu, Forbes

US mid-term elections an advertising windfall

Forbes interviewed Kantar CMAG Vice President Steve Passwaiter who says Broadcast TV will once again get the bulk of the money in this election with over $4 billion of the $8.4 billion on the table. “The growth story in 2022 really comes with the emergence of ad-supported streaming platforms. Projections for this form of media are likely to be close to or equal to cable TV’s totals this year. – Radio Ink