Media Beat: March 23, 2023

By David Farrell

Biden urged to raise Canadian bills’ impact on Google, Facebook, Netflix, Disney

President Joe Biden has been urged to escalate U.S. concerns about the impact of two Canadian bills on Google, Facebook and Netflix during his visit to Ottawa this week after tensions grew between the tech giants and the federal government over the measures. – Marie Woolf, The Globe and Mail

Maclean’s Power List: Ranking 100 Canadians shaping the country in 2023

… We’ve selected the top 10 changemakers in 10 categories. There’s Kris Collins, a former hairdresser who entertains some 48 million Gen Zers with her bite-sized TikTok sketches. Mindy Wight and Khelsilem of the Squamish Nation are in charge of a revolutionary $3-billion housing development in Vancouver. And tech whiz Raquel Urtasun is teaching cars how to drive themselves. Some of the people on our list are already household names. The rest are about to be.

Here’s why Canada’s film and TV industry had a record-breaking year during the pandemic

Canada’s film, television and video production industry recorded operating revenue of $11.3 billion in 2021, a 20.2 percent increase from 2019. – Joshua Chong, Toronto Star

Are Meta’s C-18 threats a bluff? News publishers don’t think so

If losing Big Tech would be bad for The Globe, arguably the country’s most recognized private news publisher, it would be outright devastating for titles without the paper’s brand recognition and promotional heft. Big Tech may well be a vampire squid sucking the news industry dry of advertising dollars. Nonetheless, this squid is particularly effective at getting the industry’s content in front of eyeballs. Even with that risk, my queries to assorted legacy publishers reveal they remain more or less solidly in favour of C-18. – Martin Patriquin, The Logic

Notable

Triton Digital has released its latest podcast ranker for Canada: The top three Canada-originated English-language podcasts included Front Burner (CBC/Radio-Canada) again at #1, The Current (CBC/Radio-Canada) again at #2, and CBC News: The World This Hour (CBC/Radio-Canada) again at #3.

The Biden visit to Canada: Why digital policy is emerging as a serious trade tension – Michael Geist

DNA from Beethoven’s hair reveals a surprise almost 200 years later – Mike McRae, Science Alert

How to tell the AI images of Trump’s arrest are deepfakes – Reece Rogers, Wired

AM/FM reaching 85 percent of key demo weekly, says Numeris: … Reflecting the 13-week period from Nov. 28, 2022, to Feb. 26, 2023, weekly reach among those 25-54 was highest with Franco Montreal listeners at 91.7%, followed by Calgary and Edmonton which both saw reach of 86.2%. – Connie Thiesen, Broadcast Dialogue

RTL Group Revenues Soar to $7.6B, Streaming Subscribers Up 45%: The RTL Group has interests in 56 television channels, nine streaming services and 36 radio stations. The group’s content business, Fremantle, is one of the world’s largest creators, producers and distributors of scripted and unscripted content, including “American Idol,” “Britain’s Got Talent” and “The X Factor.”  – Naman Ramachandran, Variety

What does TikTok know about you? What should you know about it? Canada joins the U.S., and EU in banning app from government-issued devices. – Nick Logan, CBC

Murdoch ties the knot…again: Less than a year after divorcing Jerry Hall, the 92-year-old Fox mogul is hearing wedding bells again. He’s engaged to Ann Lesley Smith, a 66-year-old San Francisco police chaplain. – Brent Lang, Variety

With $1.6B at stake, Fox News is suddenly interested in freedom of the press: “There will be a lot of noise and confusion generated by Dominion and their opportunistic private equity owners,” said a recent company statement, “but the core of this case remains about freedom of the press and freedom of speech, which are fundamental rights afforded by the Constitution and protected by New York Times v Sullivan.” – Margaret Sullivan, The Guardian UK

The sad truth about the homeless in Rio de Janeiro

Toronto Star investigation "Unchartered" wins 2023 Canadian Hillman Prize – CNW Group

US demands China’s ByteDance sell TikTok or face ban: The Biden administration is threatening to shut down the popular social media app stateside. – Tina Daunt, The Wrap

NBA wants billions more in sports deals: Media and tech firms are resistant: The NBA is one of the most popular sports leagues in the world. It also has high hopes for squeezing far more money out of media outlets in negotiations for future TV broadcast rights... According to two people who have recently spoken with the NBA, the league wants to triple its current revenue from TV deals. – Sahil Patel, The Information

Are awards shows bouncing back from the pandemic viewership lows? The Wrap crunched the numbers. – Loree Seitz, Wrap PRO

KFC doubles down on cheesiness in new ad spot

Pornhub parent company acquired by Canadian private equity fund: Ethical Capital Partners has agreed to buy MindGeek, owner of a variety of pornographic streaming platforms and studios, according to a statement from the companies. Terms were not disclosed. – Ari Altstedter, Bloomberg