Pink's Bottom Line on Media, Money and Sports
Movies on demand, Hershey's sweet earnings and the college football playoff
In today’s newsletter, I discuss the most popular movies on video streaming services, Hershey’s sweet earnings report and the college football playoff.
MEDIA: Movies on Demand
Hamilton: The Movie, which you can find on Disney+, is the most viewed movie via a subscription video streaming service this year, according to a report from the Variety Intelligence Platform, which obtained its data from ScreenEngine/ASI.
Borat 2: Subsequent Moviefilm and My Spy, both found on Amazon Prime Video, rank second and third, respectively, according to that report.
Pink's Bottom LineThe data shows that the movie content of Netflix and Disney+ appears to be resonating most with viewers as those two streaming services had the most movies rank among the top 30 most viewed —Netflix had 13 of the top 30 while Disney+ had eight, according to that data.
Notably, the data also suggests that there can be numerous winners in the video streaming space as, in addition to Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV+, HBO Max and Hulu all had movies rank in the top 30.
MONEY: Hershey’s Sweet Performance
The Hershey Company Friday reported quarterly earnings that topped expectations of many Wall Street analysts. (Click here to read Hershey’s earnings press release.)
Hershey cited strong sales of its chocolate candy as well as its baking products as two factors behind its good performance last quarter.
Pink's Bottom LineHowever, in yet another sign that the coronavirus pandemic impacts just about everything, it was Hershey’s statement about its refreshment products — mints — that caught my attention.
Sales of those refreshment products declined 19.2% last quarter, the company wrote in its press release, “… as the functional need for breath freshening has lessened with social distancing.”
That’s a statement that I could never have imagined seeing in an earnings report a year ago.
SPORTS: College Football Playoff
In college football Saturday night, Notre Dame snapped Clemson’s 36-game regular season winning streak with a 47-40 double overtime victory.
Clemson entered that game as the top ranked team in the country while Notre Dame was ranked fourth.
Pink's Bottom LineWhile Clemson did lose last night, the Tigers played without Trevor Lawrence, the top quarterback in the country, and still took Notre Dame to double overtime.
As such, the Tigers should still stand a good chance to become one of the four teams selected for the College Football Playoff. Alabama, Notre Dame and Ohio State are likely the other three.
Plus, I don’t think Clemson’s loss to Notre Dame changes the national title picture in any way.
Look for Clemson to play Ohio State for the national championship, which will be a match-up of the top two quarterbacks in the country — Lawrence and Justin Fields of Ohio State.
Jeremy Pink currently serves as an advisor to companies in media and financial tech. He is 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. Jeremy 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)