By David Farrell
Tired of high cellphone and internet bills? This election is full of promise(s)
Wireless and broadband internet prices — and access to data and the web — have become an important theme of the 2019 election. — Erica Alini, Global News
TV is shifting to impressions measurement. Will radio follow?
While there hasn’t been any visible resistance to the idea in radio circles, there doesn’t appear to be any significant impetus either among broadcasters to up-end the metrics that radio has traded on for decades. It’s not yet clear what the implications for radio would be of migrating to this approach and how that might impact the essential ad campaign building blocks of reach and frequency. But TV stepping on the impressions accelerator could be a wakeup call for the radio industry to focus on the issue so it’s not the only media using an old school metric. — Paul Heine & Frank Saxe, InsideRadio
On-demand audio-video seen as a gamechanger for radio
Much of the talk regarding on-demand content centers around longer form episodic programs, with the goal of growing that base and increasing downloads. While the focus has been to move away from repurposing on-air content into on-demand form in favor of creating something original and new, some stations are using the latest available technology to reinforce what makes live radio great in the first place – special guests and celebrity interviews, for instance. Groups utilizing the latest digital tools say creating appealing, platform-agnostic, on-demand videos of on-air audio pieces is a game-changer. — Jay Gleason, InsideRadio
Nonprofit news outlets see revenue increase in 2018 YOY
The news outlets generated $100 million more revenue in 2018 than the previous year, according to a study from the Institute for Nonprofit News.
The annual INN Index surveyed 108 of its members (60%) to analyze their finances and operations. The study found the nonprofit news outlets brought in $450 million in annual revenue in 2018. — Sara Guaglione, Publishers Daily
Governments still struggling to contend with weaponized social media platforms
Since the 2016 US Presidential Election, social media platforms have been more proactive about addressing security gaps and stopping the kind of state-run psychological operations that were endemic over the last decade.
Despite their efforts to focus on security, experts say these kinds of digital psychological operations by governments are evolving in ways that will require sophisticated, multi-pronged security efforts. — Jonathan Greig, Tech Republic
Congressional committee says copyright safe harbour shouldn’t be included in new US trade agreement with Canada and Mexico
The American record industry has already had a good moan about the decision to include the safe harbour from US copyright law in that new Donald Trump instigated free trade agreement. Its inclusion would force Canadian and Mexican lawmakers to ensure that their copyright systems are in line with US law when it comes to protecting internet companies from liability for the copyright infringement of their customers. — Chris Cooke, CMU
DIY radio app that pulls music from Spotify or Apple adds on-demand programmes
Stationhead has enabled live radio shows since its launch last November, but now users can record shows and store them, so that other people can tune in and listen at any time. Stationhead DJs chat away through the app while also picking tracks from the Spotify or Apple Music catalogues (whichever they subscribe to). When people listen back to their shows, those tracks will be played via the listener’s Spotify or Apple Music account. — Chris Cooke, CMU
Cannabis mags report varied success
Cannabis is a booming business. Retail sales of medical and recreational cannabis in the United States are forecast to hit $12 billion by the end of 2019 — up 35% over 2018 … but the same rise may not hold for cannabis consumer magazines, notes the New York Post. — Fern Siegel, Publishers Daily
