Pink's Bottom Line on Media, Money and Sports
Ratings for presidential debates, college enrollment and the Kentucky connection
The Los Angeles Lakers are playing the Denver Nuggets tonight in Game 4 of the NBA’s Western Conference Finals. Denver guard Jamal Murray has emerged as a superstar for the Nuggets during the playoffs, and I discuss Murray and other emerging young NBA stars in today’s newsletter.
MEDIA: Presidential Debate Ratings
The first John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon presidential debate will mark its 60th anniversary on Saturday.
It was the first presidential debate ever broadcast on television, it is widely considered to have ushered in the era of presidential campaigning on television and that debate is often cited a key reason why Kennedy won the election in 1960.
Pink's Bottom Line
While the Kennedy-Nixon debate truly was historic, presidential debates on television still have managed to come a long way since then.
In 2016, the first Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton debate attracted more roughly 84 million viewers, the most watched debate in history.
I expect viewership of the first Trump and Joe Biden debate five days from now to shatter that record.
This year’s Super Bowl, the most watched television program of the year, attracted just north of 100 million viewers. I think there’s a chance that the Trump-Biden debate next Tuesday approaches that level, but falls just short of it.
MONEY: College Enrollment
Fewer undergraduate students students enrolled in colleges and universities this fall, according to a new report, which might indicate a potential financial strain both on students and on the higher education institutions themselves.
The National Student Clearinghouse released data showing that fewer 2.5% fewer undergrads enrolled in colleges or universities this fall compared to last year. (Note: Graduate student enrollment rose 3.9% this year compared to last.)
Pink's Bottom Line
Notably, enrollment at community colleges suffered the most, down 8% this fall compared to last year, according to the report.
That sharp decline in enrollment at community colleges suggests that the weaker economy, due largely to the coronavirus pandemic, is having an outsized impact on these institutions and their students’ ability to attend them.
That is a worrying development.
SPORTS: Kentucky Connection
In this year’s NBA playoffs, four young players — Denver’s Jamal Murray, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis and Miami’s Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro — have all shined.
They also have two other things in common — all four played college basketball at the University of Kentucky and each played only one year there.
All four played under the so-called one and done rule — to oversimplify, that essentially means most players choose to play a year of college basketball ilamd then become eligible for the NBA Draft.
Pink's Bottom Line
Kentucky does a remarkable job of recruiting and usually identifies the best young high school players — like Adebayo, Davis, Herro and Murray — who often turn in to some of the top NBA Players.
However, it looks like one-and-done will end in 2022 and players likely will then be eligible to enter the NBA Draft directly from high school.
That change should have profound effects on top college basketball programs like Kentucky.
It will also shine the light on NBA teams’ abilities to identify top talent without the filter of the top colleges identifying that talent for them first.
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.
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