By David Farrell
A sign for the times on Yonge Street
Corus reports $19.9M Q4 profit, revenue up 13% from year ago
Revenue for Q4 totalled $361.3 million, up from $318.4 million in the same quarter last year for the company behind Global Television, W Network, HGTV Canada, Food Network Canada and other specialty television services, radio stations and conventional television stations.
Television revenue rose to $335.8 million compared with $299.1 million a year ago, while radio revenue climbed to $25.4 million from $19.3 million. – The Canadian Press
There’s a more practical way to regulate Big Tech, former CRTC heads opine
The previous efforts to give the CRTC sweeping powers to integrate the internet into its system through the Broadcasting Act were archaic and fundamentally wrong. The internet is the great enabling and disrupting technology of our time, and an incredible wellspring of innovation that would have been profoundly handicapped had Mr. Guilbeault’s ambitions not been interrupted by the election. The legislation he favoured would have unleashed a decade of regulatory wrangling and constitutional challenges, and likely violated the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. – Konrad Von Finckenstein & Peter Menzies, The Globe and Mail
A Rogers family drama exposes the illusion of independent governance
He tolerates you until he doesn’t, and once he’s mentally moved on, the breakup can be brutal. It’s the Edward Rogers doctrine.
Since his father, Ted, died in 2008, the same pattern has played out at Rogers Communications with three consecutive chief executives. The latest, Joe Natale, may yet survive. But even if he does, the company’s current CEO will be forced to manage with his hands tied. Edward wants him gone – and now, it seems, Rogers family confidantes like Phil Lind do, too.
It is all a reminder that so much of what Rogers Communications presents to the public is a charade. – Tim Kiladze, The Globe and Mail
Any new bill therefore must explicitly state that it applies only to online commercial activity primarily engaged in the transmission of programs to the public. – Konrad von Finkelstein & Peter Menzies, The Globe and Mail
‘We’ll spend every penny,’ Rogers’ sister warns amid family war
The battle that’s tearing apart Rogers Communications Inc. has escalated, with former chairman Edward Rogers claiming he has regained control of the board and his sister warning that family members will “spend every penny” to stop his power play. – Scott Deveau & Derek Decloet, Bloomberg News
Struggle for control of Rogers continues as Sunday board meeting deemed ‘invalid’ by company
Edward Rogers, the chair of the family trust that controls Rogers Communications Inc. and a director at RCI, called a board meeting for Sunday, but the company says in a statement that the meeting is “invalid.”
Mr. Rogers and the telecom are currently at odds over which independent directors sit on the company’s board. – Alexandra Posadzki, The Globe and Mail
Rogers Communications posts lower profit in Q3
Rogers Communications revenue was flat in the third quarter of 2021, but its profit fell from a year ago as the pandemic continues to dampen growth.
Total revenue came in at $3.7B in the quarter ended September 30, flat from a year ago. Cable and Wireless Services revenue both grew by 3% in the quarter. Media revenue decreased by 3%.
Profit amounted to $490M, compared to a profit of $512M in Q3 2020.
On an adjusted basis, Rogers earned $1.03 per share in the third quarter, down 5% from $1.08 per share a year ago. – Ben Mahaney, Yahoo Finance
Benmergui tackles the big questions in memoir
The 263-page book is part memoir and part instruction manual on how to make the most of our final years on this planet. (We are elders, not seniors, “sage-ing” as opposed to “age-ing,” and, by the way, life can be more than just taking advantage of discount days at Shoppers.)
As a memoir, I Thought He Was Dead is a lively and often funny look at an incredibly active life that begins in Tangiers, Morocco, with Benmergui’s birth into a family of Spanish-speaking Sephardi Jews, and their subsequent move to Toronto, where he was raised.
Benmergui turned his youthful talent as a class clown into a budding career as a stand-up comedian and the occasional singing gig with a rock band.
In his late 20s, he switched to journalism, studying at Ryerson University and got a job with the CBC in Winnipeg. – Graham Rockingham, The Hamilton Spectator
Terry David Mulligan, from broadcaster to podcaster
Canadian broadcaster Terry David Mulligan has conducted some truly memorable interviews over the span of his 50-year career. The Mulligan Stew podcast features some of them. Here is one from a week ago with indigenous roots-rocker Adrian Sutherland. The podcasts can be heard on Spotify and Apple Podcast as Tasting Room with TDM.
Trump’s new social media company is his biggest scam yet
TRUTH Media claims to be built on "proprietary" source code. But Gizmodo's Lucas Ropek noticed that a number of early users discovered unmistakable similarities between TM’s code and that of the open-source social media platform Mastodon. But shares in a shell company backing the plan soared last week on the Nasdaq, giving it a market capitalization of $1.47B.
The 100 greatest TV series of the 21st Century
BBC Culture polled 206 TV experts from 43 countries in order to find the greatest TV of the 21st Century. As a tease, FYI offers the top 5 as follows:
1 The Wire (2002-2008)
2 Mad Men (2007-2015)
3 Breaking Bad (2008-2013)
4 Fleabag (2016-2019)
5 Game of Thrones (2011-2019)close and, frankly, I'd like to keep them as fucking far away from my interactions as possible.
Coca-Cola goes all human-centric
At the annual Festival of Marketing this week, Coca-Cola marketing geniuses explained how during the pandemic the brand became "human-centric." Apparently before the pandemic they were duck-centric or salami-centric or something.
Explaining this amazing insight, their director of behavioural science urged brands to "become not only more consumer-centric, but 'human-centric'". Somehow I had the mistaken idea that consumers were humans. Shows you what I know.
She then went on to say about consumers, “We want to know what the problem is to be solved for them ...so that they’re not compelled to move on to the next brand story.” You see, people don't change brands, they change brand stories.
Then she added, it is “vital” marketers still find ways to “influence in this omni-human world.” Whoa! Omni-human! How fucking human is that!
Next up was their behavioural insights manager who informed us, "We should be aiming to bring humanity in every interaction that we design.” I'm not so sure about this one. I've seen humanity up close and, frankly, I'd like to keep them as fucking far away from my interactions as possible. – Bob Hoffman, The Ad Contrarian
