By David Farrell
Bell follows Rogers ‘unlimited’ data in promotion plans, Telus on different path
Bell has responded to a new Rogers $75 per month 10 gigabytes wireless data plan that also doesn’t charge overage fees once the cap is exceeded. However, Bell’s program differs in that it is offering it as a limited-time promotion.
Telus is taking a different approach from the other two national carriers, with a promotion that effectively charges $75 per month for 15 gigabytes of data full-speed data usage per month, followed by the standard overage fee.
The new plans signal at least a temporary shift for Canada’s three national wireless networks, which have been slower to adopt “unlimited” data plans than U.S. carriers. – Canadian Press
CMF reorganizes executive team
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has completed its corporate reorganization process, with a number of current team members assuming new leadership positions, including Sandra Collins, previously chief financial officer and VP of operations, taking on the expanded role of chief operating officer. – TVCanada
CHCH celebrates 65 years of broadcasting to Hamilton, Halton and Niagara
Inuktitut radio program begins broadcasting in Ottawa
Jessie Kangok and Janet Evvik host Uqallagvik, Ottawa's only Inuktitut radio show, from CKCU's studios. The format combines the host's introductions in Inuktitut with interviews conducted mostly in English. Kangok says that allows the show to be inclusive of "Inuit who haven't grown up speaking the language," while still celebrating the Inuktitut language. – John Last, CBC News
Netflix Canada announces partnerships to support Indigenous creators
Netflix has announced its plans to partner with organizations like imagineNATIVE, The Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) and Wapikoni Mobile to encourage Indigenous creators across Canada. On June 11, in the Banff World Media Festival, the partner organizations announced that they will undertake programs to serve a wide range of creative development: from screenwriting intensives to apprenticeship programs. – Bedatri Choudhury, Forbes
GG Journalism finalists and awards this evening
Julie Payette, Governor General of Canada, will host the presentation ceremony of the Michener Award for meritorious public service in journalism and the Michener-Deacon Fellowships for Investigative Journalism. The event will take place at 6 p.m., at Rideau Hall. – GG media release
What marketers need to know from Mary Meeker's 2019 Internet Trends report
There are 3.8 billion internet users globally, marking the first time that more than half of the world's population is online, according to Mary Meeker's 2019 Internet Trends report, which was first shared at Recode's Code Conference on Tuesday. That figure, representing 6% year-over-year (YOY) growth, is solid but slowing, the 333-slide presentation by the Bond Capital general partner said, indicating broader disruptions hitting the online ecosystem.
Meeker's closely-watched annual trends report this year underpins some tectonic shifts hitting the digital advertising economy as growth begins to slow or decelerate in key areas and heavyweight platforms, like Google and Facebook, see their dominance tested amid an influx of competitors and new regulatory hurdles. The report captures just how fast private, encrypted messaging is gaining traction as a response to data privacy scrutiny. Eighty-seven percent of global web traffic was encrypted in Q1 2019 versus 53% three years ago, as noted in Fast Company. Significantly, Facebook in March announced it would pivot its app network of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram in this direction. – Peter Adams, Marketing Dive
Spotify takes aim at radio, again
Spotify has launched a radio-like feature set for premium subscribers in the US called Your Daily Drive. Although it is only positioned as a playlist, the content mix includes podcast news content and plays music the listener already likes with a sprinkling of new tracks. This might not sound that special, but this ‘recurrent heavy’, news-anchored programming is Spotify taking the essence of US drive time radio and translating it into a playlist. As we wrote back in early 2018, radio is streaming’s next frontier, and nowhere is that more true than in the US. – Mark Mulligan, Music Industry Blog
