Pink's Bottom Line on Media, Money and Sports
Disney and video streaming, personal finance apps and the PGA Championship
In today’s newsletter, I discuss Disney and video streaming, personal finance apps and the PGA Championship.
MEDIA: Disney and Streaming
Disney said in its quarterly earnings report today that its Disney+ video streaming service has 103.6 million subscribers — that’s up from 33.5 million a year ago, and ahead from 94 million from last quarter.
(Click here to read the latest quarterly earnings news release from Disney.)
Notably, Disney said in early March that subscribers had already topped the 100 million mark, so the pace of subscriber growth of Disney+ appears to be slowing.
Pink's Bottom Line
In any case, the days of a breakneck pace of subscriber growth in video streaming appear to have ended.
As such, look for more pricing pressure among video streaming services for the rest of the year — and perhaps even a contraction in subscribers to less popular services.
MONEY: Personal Finance Apps
I noticed on App Annie earlier today that Gas Buddy was the top app in Apple’s App Store while Crypto.com was the top app in the Google Play store.
Gas Buddy helps consumers locate inexpensive gasoline prices, and Crypto.com allows users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.
(Note: App Annie is a leading mobile app data and analytics firm, and it posts daily rankings of top apps.)
Pink's Bottom Line
Gas Buddy and Crypto.com are soaring in popularity at the moment for two very specific reasons.
First, consumers are paying more at the pump these days — the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the United States earlier this week topped $3 for the first time in nearly seven years.
Meanwhile, many cryptocurrencies have delivered outsized returns compared to other asset classes for investors in 2021.
As such, the popularity of personal finance related apps — like Gas Buddy and Crypto.com — seem like they are becoming good barometers of overall consumer and investor sentiment.
SPORTS: PGA Championship
Golf’s second major of the year, the PGA Championship, begins a week from today at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina.
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, world number seven Rory McIlroy is the favorite to win the PGA this year at +1100 and world number three Jon Rahm is the second favorite at +1200.
They’re followed by three golfers — Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas — who are all at +1400, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Pink's Bottom Line
Notably, Spieth and McIlroy each have won events recently on the PGA Tour following title droughts for both of them.
Last month, Spieth won a tournament for the first time in four years while last week McIlroy won for the first time in 18 months.
As such, I look for both Spieth and McIlroy to have a strong PGA tournaments and for one of those two players to capture the title.
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)