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Media Beat: January 14, 2019

By David Farrell

Broadcasting review hears renewed calls for online streaming services to do more to fund Canadian content

CRTC chairman Ian Scott says the regulator needs a different approach to regulations that would require foreign players to put more money into the Canadian system.


"It doesn't mean more regulation. It means smarter, better, flexible regulation. A new toolbox," Scott told The Canadian Press. – Eli Glasner, Nigel Hunt, CBC News

'Smarter' rules would ensure all digital players pay for CanCon, panel told

 Federal lawmakers need to make foreign content providers, such as Netflix, YouTube and Amazon Prime, pay their fair share into producing Canadian content, Canada’s broadcast regulator and its public broadcaster argued this week.

What that share looks like, however, remains uncertain as the federal government moves to tear down and rebuild the country’s broadcast and telecom regulations. – Terry Pedwell, The Canadian Press

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Corus reports Q1 profit down, TV ads help revenue edge higher

Corus Entertainment Inc.'s earnings came in below estimates as its first-quarter profit fell from a year ago due to an accounting change related to its TV brand assets, but revenue edged higher due to gains in television advertising.

The television, radio and production company says its profit attributable to shareholders fell to $60.4N or 28 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Nov. 30 as amortization charges rose due to the accounting change. The result compared with a profit of $77.7M or 38 cents per diluted share a year ago. – Bloomberg News

The Best of CES

Publication bans apply to social media too

While publication bans are observed by all members of the media, such as journalists and their editors, it's often forgotten that social media is also included in the ban.

"The laws apply regardless of what media you're talking about," Dalhousie professor Wayne MacKay says. "The information is getting out there, and in fact given the prevalence and wide audience for social media, it's getting much more publication by having it on social media."

He says because so many users post on social media without thinking, there is no realization of the possible consequences, such as serious penalties and charges of breaking the law. – Danielle McCreadie, Halifax Today

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Don’t believe the hype: the media are unwittingly selling us an AI fantasy

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a term that is now widely used (and abused), loosely defined and mostly misunderstood. Much the same might be said of, say, quantum physics. But there is one important difference, for whereas quantum phenomena are not likely to have much of a direct impact on the lives of most people, one particular manifestation of AI – machine-learning – is already having a measurable impact on most of us.

The tech giants that own and control the technology have plans to exponentially increase that impact and to that end have crafted a distinctive narrative. Crudely summarised, it goes like this: “While there may be odd glitches and the occasional regrettable downside on the way to a glorious future, on balance AI will be good for humanity. Oh – and by the way – its progress is unstoppable, so don’t worry your silly little heads fretting about it because we take ethics very seriously.”

Critical analysis of this narrative suggests that the formula for creating it involves mixing one part fact with three parts self-serving corporate cant and one part tech-fantasy emitted by geeks who regularly inhale their own exhaust. – John Naughton, The Guardian UK

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This Morning Show Host Is So Annoying..."Singing" With the Song?

Link to the headline for a good chuckle and some mixed comments about BOOM FM's comedic on-air personality.

RIP

Famed B.C. sports columnist Jim Taylor died on Monday, Jan. 7 at age 82. He started his journalism career in 1955 at the Times Colonist and worked there until 1965 when he moved to The Vancouver Sun’s sports department for 13 years and then The Province for 17 years. In the mid-1990s Taylor worked for the short-lived Sports Only magazine, before writing a syndicated column for the Calgary Sun. He retired in 2001, at the top of his game.

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As well as a newspaperman of great wit, Taylor was a prodigious author of books. – David Carrigg, The Province

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Streaming

Nine Canada-Based Music 'Streaming Manipulation' Sites Taken Down After IFPI Complaint

IFPI and Music Canada filed a legal complaint with the Canadian Competition Bureau, stating that the nine sites were selling fake streams to boost play counts on streaming services.

Nine sites that were selling fraudulent streams have been taken offline, according to IFPI and Music Canada.

IFPI, the worldwide recording industry association, and Music Canada, a trade group that represents major Canadian labels, filed a legal complaint with the Canadian Competition Bureau against the sites, accusing them of selling false plays and streams to manipulate streaming service data. The nine connected sites, the most popular of which used the domain name MRINSTA.com, have since gone offline (though you can still see them via the Wayback Machine).

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