Madwire only adds to the Madness at One YongeHi All,
Adding to the increasingly long list of failures. Describing the Madwire agreement as part of the “growing series of transformation initiatives at Torstar” is true. It’s how you take a once successful organization and through an unbroken series of incompetent decisions and transform it into financial ruin.
The Voting Trust has to look at this abbreviated list that does not include my earlier listing of all the failures and ask “what the hell are we doing?” Another question for the AGM.
April 2020 – Madwire Partnership - Torstar Corporation announced today it has signed an agreement with Madwire, LLC, a Colorado-based software company, to be the exclusive partner in Canada of its innovative sales and marketing software for small- and medium-sized businesses.
Through its proprietary technology Marketing 360™, Madwire helps small and medium business owners to manage and grow their businesses with a suite of powerful and easy-to-use technologies, all in a single platform known as Marketing 360™. Torstar plans to offer Madwire’s innovative software to its roster of approximately 30,000 small- and medium-sized clients.
This agreement is the latest in a growing series of transformation initiatives at Torstar targeted at improving and launching digital products for consumers and clients, supported by investments in new digital platforms, new digital partnerships and first-party data capabilities.
“Madwire is a leading technology and marketing services provider for small and medium businesses, providing integrated digital services to thousands of global clients,” said Pary Bell, Torstar’s Senior Vice President, Commercial Products and Sales Operations.
Q1 2019 – Apple News+ - We continue to make progress on the transformation of our business. During the first quarter of 2019, we entered into an agreement with Apple to provide Toronto Star content on Apple News+, Apple's new paid subscription service that launched in Canada and the United States on March 25, 2019. Under this agreement, we receive a share of Apple News+ subscriber revenue and can also sell advertising against our content on the Apple News+ platform.
Oct 2018 – Fredic Karen SVP Editorial - “We are pleased that Fredric Karen has agreed to serve as Senior Vice-President, Editorial of Torstar,” said John Boynton, President and Chief Executive Officer of Torstar Corporation. “He is a proven leader with a passion for news and a global reputation as a reporter, editor, publisher and digital media innovator.
“He brings to Torstar a deep commitment to quality journalism, a determination to address difficult times in the media industry and a proven record of digital innovation that will help our company as we move to a more digital future,” he added.
September 2018 - iPolitics - “We are pleased to announce a transaction to acquire iPolitics, which has a proven record of providing extensive online coverage of federal and provincial politics and government policies across Canada,” said John Boynton, President and Chief Executive Officer of Torstar Corporation and Publisher of the Toronto Star. “It’s considered an invaluable information source by many of Canada’s top business leaders, elected politicians, government officials, public policy influencers and decision-makers.”
Launched in 2010 by Founder and Editor James Baxter, iPolitics Inc. is a digital media company that serves its subscribers through a network of digital and social media sites, providing daily political news and industry briefs, a quarterly magazine, policy-oriented podcasts and specialized parliamentary monitoring services.
“This acquisition will complement our award-winning political coverage by the Toronto Star’s Ottawa bureau, offering our customers across Torstar an exclusive online and print package unmatched by other news outlets,” Boynton said. “At the same time, Torstar is committed to serving existing iPolitics subscribers and to enhancing current product offerings on iPolitics.ca.”
June 2018 - Wall Street Journal – “The world of business is becoming increasingly global and this exclusive partnership with The Wall Street Journal offers our customers, particularly aspiring and established business leaders, a unique and informative perspective on news they can use,” said John Boynton, President of Torstar Corporation and Publisher of the Toronto Star.
“This collaboration with The Wall Street Journal is an important element in Torstar’s overall transformation initiative – with a lot more to come,” he said.
April 2018 - Star Metro – Torstar Corporation announced today it is launching a major national expansion with a reinvention of its Metro urban commuter newspapers and more robust digital offerings in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Halifax and nationally.
The move represents a major investment in journalism, with Torstar hiring 20 new reporters to join existing Metro newsrooms in western Canada.
Effective Tuesday, April 10, the Metro free daily newspapers will be rebranded as StarMetro Vancouver, StarMetro Calgary, StarMetro Edmonton, StarMetro Toronto and StarMetro Halifax.
At the same time Torstar is significantly expanding its digital offerings in the five cities, backed by the award-winning journalism of the Toronto Star and thestar.com. Readers in each city will be directed to a city-specific version of thestar.com that will feature news of their city and region along with the investigations, columns, national and international news for which thestar.com is known. Consumers outside the target markets will see a national edition of thestar.com.
MW