Pink's Bottom Line on Media, Money and Sports
Republican Convention ratings, drug testing in the workplace and NBA players lead the way
NBA players are leading the way. Here’s today’s newsletter.
MEDIA: Republican Convention Ratings
Ratings for Monday’s Day 1 of the Republican National Convention (RNC) fell compared to Day 1 of the 2016 RNC, according to data from Nielsen.
More than 17 million watched the RNC on television Monday night, down 26% from 23 million in 2016. (Note that these numbers to not take into account viewing on digital platforms.)
Day 1 television viewership of the RNC was also lower that Day 1 viewership of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) last week, where more than 19.7 million viewers watched at least some of the DNC on tv.
Pink’s Bottom Line
Like the DNC, the most important tv viewership numbers for the RNC will be from tonight, when Vice President Mike Pence speaks, and from tomorrow, when President Donald Trump delivers his address.
I’ll be watching those the RNC numbers closely both to see how they compare to Days 3 and 4 of 2016’s RNC and to Days 3 and 4 of the DNC last week.
MONEY: Drug Testing
A drug screening test has become a common requirement for many new employees before they join their new company. Quest Diagnostics, a lab that administers many of these tests, says that the drug testing positivity rate last year climbed to 4.5%, the highest level since 2003, according to the company’s data.
Interestingly, positive tests in the Midwest were higher particularly for methamphetamines and cocaine, according to the study.
Among US workers tested, marijuana was the drug that most commonly showed a positive test result, according to Quest.
Pink’s Bottom Line
These are test results from 2019, so they don’t account for tests administered during the pandemic.
When Quest shows similar data for 2020, it will be fascinating to see if those drug positivity test rates are higher or lower than in 2019 and just what impact, if any, the pandemic had on those rates.
SPORTS: NBA Players Lead the Way
Earlier today in the NBA, the Milwaukee Bucks’ players didn’t step foot on the court and didn’t play Game 5 of their first round playoff series against the Orlando Magic.
They took this action in protest of Sunday’s shooting of Jacob Blake, an African-American man, by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a town south of Milwaukee.
The other two playoff games in the NBA scheduled for tonight were also postponed. The WNBA isn’t playing its games today, either.
Pink’s Bottom Line
NBA players are displaying tremendous leadership on the issue of racial injustice, and are sending a powerful message to the country that such injustice won’t be tolerated.
NBA players are becoming some of the most important agents of change in US society today.
Jeremy Pink is former CEO of Broadcast Sports International and a former CNBC executive in New York, London and Singapore. He currently serves as an advisor to companies in media, sports and financial tech.
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