Media Beat: November 16, 2020

By David Farrell

The $100,000,000 Glitch

LinkedIn announced a little "glitch" this week.

You may remember that last week in this space we had a piece about the farce that is online media and audience measurement. We wrote, "measuring online media has turned out to be a nightmare... After 25 years...we're not any closer to being able to verify the horseshit we're being fed by online media." 

Right on cue this week, social media giant LinkedIn announced that they had been overcharging their advertisers for video advertising for two years based on inflated video metrics. They called it a "glitch." According to AdAge, this glitch affected over 400,000 advertisers and may have netted LinkedIn over $100 million dollars.

One bitch of a glitch. – Bob Hoffman, The Ad Contrarian

Commercial radio policy review

The CRTC is keen to hear from a wide range of Canadians about their radio listening habits, behaviours and views as part of its review of commercial radio.

“This information will help the CRTC better understand how the radio industry can meet the needs and interests of Canadians in both official languages,” the regulator said in a media statement issued last week. It will also help the CRTC determine how best to update its regulations to ensure Canada’s commercial radio industry remains competitive in a digital environment.

Canadians are encouraged to share their opinions by completing an online survey by November 26. – CRTC

How American electioneering could shape Canada’s next election messaging

Political strategists in Canada have generally refrained from adopting the more extreme U.S.-style political ads, but they have sought inspiration and guidance from top Democratic and Republican strategists. Leading up to the 2019 election, for example, the Liberals got advice from Barack Obama's chief campaign strategist David Axelrod, who told them they needed to persuade voters they still represented change. Karl Rove, the architect of George W. Bush's two presidential victories, spoke at last year's Manning Networking Conference, where he advised Canada's most influential conservative thinkers, strategists and politicians to go beyond simplistic, bumper-sticker sloganeering.

What can the Liberal party learn from Barack Obama's presidential campaigns? Re-election campaigns hang on a party's ability to convince voters they have brought change and will continue to do so, David Axelrod tells CBC Radio's The House.

All this suggests that election campaigning in Canada is increasingly being modelled after strategies in other countries. Here's a sampling of what we might expect should Canadian political strategists adopt advertising and social media tactics used in the U.S. to grab attention during the pandemic. Éric Blais, CBC News

Trump wants to start a digital media channel

President Trump has told friends he wants to start a digital media company to clobber Fox News and undermine the conservative-friendly network, sources tell Axios.

Some Trump advisers think Fox News made a mistake with an early call (seconded by AP) of President-elect Biden's win in Arizona. That enraged Trump, and gave him something tangible to use in his attacks on the network. "He plans to wreck Fox. No doubt about it," said a source with detailed knowledge of Trump's intentions. – Mike Allen, Axios