Pink's Bottom Line on Media, Money and Sports

Quibi's future, art auction prices and baseball playoffs

If you read my newsletter last week, you know that I expected the ratings for last Sunday night’s Primetime Emmys show to be flat at best. Unfortunately, I was right as those ratings actually declined even further from their record low set last year. In today’s newsletter, I make a couple of more predictions.

MEDIA: Quibi Questions

While many streaming video services are performing nicely these days, Quibi, the short-length video streaming service, hasn’t fared as well in the roughly six months it’s been available.

Now, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the firm might be considering a sale. It’s quite a comedown for the service that was launched with much fanfare in April.

Pink's Bottom Line

Quibi launched at the beginning of a pandemic, and never quite got the traction it expected.

Additionally, the short length of its programming — shows run usually between seven and ten minutes on Quibi — does not appear to have created a strong affinity with viewers.

In any case, I do expect a sale or a major modification of the service soon, and I think a large tech company (Google, Amazon, Microsoft or others) will likely be involved significantly.

MONEY: Fine Art Auction Sales

As you might expect, fine art sales from auctions, like nearly everything else, have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Artnet, in its latest Intelligence Report, says that from the period of January 1 to July 10, sales at auctions declined 58.3% compared to the first six months of last year. Also, according to this report, the average price of a single piece of art also fell sharply, down 41.3% this year compared to last year over the same time frames.

Pink's Bottom Line

While the fine art auction market clearly struggled the first half of the year, I do expect that market to show strong resilience in the coming months.

Traditional buyers are likely more liquid and confident now, thanks to the recent strong performance in the stock market.

As such, I expect that we’ll see both the total dollar amount sold at auction — and the average price per piece — to increase sharply in the next two quarters.

SPORTS: Baseball Playoff Picture

As major league baseball’s regular season ends this Sunday, the current playoff picture is gradually becoming clearer though it’s still uncertain, particularly in the National League.

The next few days will determine who’s in, and who goes home next spring.

(Note: The playoffs have expanded to 16 teams from the normal ten teams this year due to the shortened regular season.)

Pink's Bottom Line

I expect this year’s postseason in baseball to remind me of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in many ways.

I think we might see a lower seeded team beat a higher seeded team in an early round playoff series, and I suspect that lower seed could advance all the way to either the American or National League Champion Series. That will create a great storyline similar to when a two-seed beats a 15-seed in the NCAA tournament, for example.

Ultimately, though, I expect one of baseball’s top seeded teams to prevail and win the World Series, which is what almost always happens in the NCAA tournament — a one, two or three seed is usually cutting down the nets at the end of the tournament.

That said, bring on October Madness.

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Jeremy Pink is former CEO of private-equity backed Broadcast Sports International where he led the company to a successful sale and exit during his tenure there. He is also a former CNBC executive in New York, London and Singapore. He currently serves as an advisor to companies in media, technology, sports and financial tech.

The information contained in this communication is strictly for general informational and entertainment purposes and is not meant to be construed as financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. This communication is not a solicitation to buy or sell any securities. I am not a financial advisor or offering professional advice of any kind. Users should not act upon the content or information found within this communication without first seeking professional advice appropriate for their individual situation. Decisions based on information contained in this communication are the sole responsibility of the user, and use of this communication and its contents constitutes an explicit understanding and acceptance of the foregoing disclaimers.