Markus Templer has passed away
Friends, peers and colleagues from the media and advertising industries had plenty of happy memories of Markus Templer to share after he passed away suddenly in June.
Templer had most recently been head of tech and telco marketing solutions at LinkedIn since 2016. Over the course of his career, he also had senior roles at numerous advertising, technology and data companies, including Gravity4, Rocket Fuel and Torstar’s Olive Media.
Current and former LinkedIn staff, as well as clients and other peers in the industry, took to the platform to share memories of Templer as both a colleague and a friend. A common refrain among them was Templer’s “infectious energy” that brought people together.
A GoFundMe page set up to raise funds for Templer’s mother, sisters and nephews raised over $68,000, well above its initial $10,000 goal.
Ehm&Co. acquired by Toys”R”Us owner
Putman Investments, which scooped up Toys”R”Us Canada in 2021, entered the media realm this year when it purchased content agency Ehm&Co., along with its flagship property YMC.ca.
The big draw of Ehm&Co’s assets – led by content created for and by moms and a community of more than 55,000 micro-influencers – was the potential for integration with Toys”R”Us and Babies”R”Us. Founder Erica Ehm stayed with the company as chief innovation officer, with plans to do things like offer more experiential opportunities for the brands Ehm&Co. works with on the marketing services front, more product testing with a larger pool of parents and offering an additional platform for Toys”R”Us and Babies”R”Us suppliers to reach a new audience.
How Global’s The Morning Show rose to the top of the ratings
The Morning Show has become the highest-rated late-morning show in Canada since going national in 2013, thanks to a mix of lifestyle content and hard news stories that isn’t typically seen on its competition.
This profile dove into the decisions that led it to this point, from a 2019 revamp to pandemic-era pivots to crafting lifestyle segments in a way that is most friendly to the advertisers featured.
Michael Melling placed on leave from Bell Media
Sexism, ageism and morale in Canada’s newsrooms was put into harsh relief this summer when CTV’s lead anchor Lisa LaFlamme was suddenly let go from Bell Media. Amid the reports to emerge following the well-loved journalist’s departure was that Bell Media’s head of news Michael Melling had allegedly made comments about LaFlamme’s hair colour on-air, which many in the industry and the viewing public interpreted as both sexist and ageist. Other reports from those working within CTV said morale was a major issue, due to recent rounds of layoffs, management interference in news coverage and losing one of the newroom’s biggest defenders in LaFlamme.
The situation led Melling to go on leave from the company, and also instigated an independent third-party review into the newsroom culture at Bell Media. Melling was permanently replaced as head of news by Richard Grey earlier this week.
Which radio stations are tops in Canada’s mid-sized markets?
People returning to their office commutes has helped terrestrial radio listenership keep its audience numbers steady, despite the rise of digital and streaming audio, so MiC readers were keen to know which stations had the strongest hold on listeners.
As he does every time there is a new book release, Bray & Partners president David Bray dove into the numbers in the fall numbers from RadioCounts, which began providing market share data when Numeris discontinued its services in several small- and mid-sized cities across Canada. The big finding? CBC Radio One is strong in the communities it serves. (And if you’re interested in the larger markets, Bray covered that for us as well).
