Pink's Bottom Line on Media, Money and Sports

Video streaming, office occupancy and baseball's Shohei Ohtani

In today’s newsletter, I discuss video streaming, office occupancy and baseball’s Shohei Ohtani.

MEDIA: Video Streaming Subscribers

While the pandemic likely rapidly accelerated the adoption of video streaming in 2020, it looks like the breakneck growth in subscriptions to those services has slowed this year.

According to a survey from the UBS Evidence Lab as reported in MediaPost, 75% of those surveyed said they subscribe to at least one video streaming service, up from 71% a year ago.

However, that 75% number is flat compared to the end of last year, according to that UBS survey as reported in MediaPost.

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Those survey results also suggest potential market saturation for video streaming, which in turn suggests that these services could soon face pricing pressure.

If pricing pressure does begin to happen, it could set off a wave of even stiffer competition in an already wildly competitive video streaming market.

As such, look for some consolidation to begin occur among video streaming services as soon as the end of the year.

MONEY: More on Office Occupancy

In Sunday’s newsletter, I discussed office occupancy rates around the country using data from the Kastle Back to Work Barometer from Kastle Systems, a property technology security company.

That newsletter item sparked a lot of interest among subscribers and, as Kastle updated its data this week, I thought I would revisit the topic again today.

The Kastle data this week now shows that office occupancy in ten major cities in the US stands at 32%, down from 32.1% last week.

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Notably, the rates of occupancy are highest in three cities in Texas, where they hover around the 50% mark.

Meanwhile, San Francisco, San Jose and New York all have the lowest occupancy rates, according to Kastle.

While it is a bit of a leap of an assumption to make, it does appear that the difficulty of a commute in a given city is correlating to a low office occupancy rate — just about anyone who lives in New York or San Francisco can attest to just how brutal the commutes in those cities can be.

SPORTS: Baseball’s Shohei Otani

For those unfamiliar with Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels, he is one of the first two-way players in major league baseball in many years — that means he is both a position player and a pitcher.

While being a two-way player is a remarkable feat unto itself, Ohtani’s season this year is even more remarkable considering that, as of this morning, he leads the major leagues in home runs with 28, and as a pitcher, he sports a 3-1 record with 82 strikeouts in 59 1/3 innings.

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Ohtani’s talent and abilities are breathtaking, and he has emerged as perhaps the most compelling superstar in baseball in many years.

Additionally, Ohtani along with Vlad Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays and Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres are leading a new wave of exciting, young players in major league baseball.

If baseball is to thrive in the next decade, it will need superstars like these three players in order to prop up the sagging popularity of the sport.

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Jeremy Pink is currently COO of Geniecast, a leading virtual content and experience company. He is the former CEO of private-equity backed Broadcast Sports International where he helped lead the company to a successful sale and exit during his tenure there. He is also a former CNBC television executive in New York, London and Singapore.

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.

(Newsletter Editor: Karina Pink)